About Chef Jorge Luis Hernández
Jorge Luis Hernández is the Corporate Chef and Director of Culinary Innovation for Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group in Austin, Texas. A San Antonio native of Mexican and Greek heritage, he studied at the Culinary Institute of America and spent over 15 years inside ThinkFoodGroup — the culinary organization built by Chef José Andrés. He rose to Head Chef at minibar by José Andrés, the two-Michelin-starred Washington D.C. restaurant widely regarded as one of the most technically demanding and creatively innovative kitchens in the United States. He subsequently served as Executive Chef at Hotel Emma at Pearl in San Antonio before moving into his current role overseeing culinary innovation and R&D across the Emmer & Rye group.
Episode Overview
Michelin-level cooking looks like magic from the outside. Inside, it is a system — built through mentorship, relentless iteration, documentation, and collaboration. In this episode, Jorge Luis Hernández breaks down exactly how innovation is constructed in high-level kitchens: how ideas are developed and tested, what a real culinary R&D process looks like, why mentorship is the single most important force multiplier in a chef’s career, and what the José Andrés model of creativity and leadership actually taught him about building something that lasts.
What You Will Learn in This Episode
- How Michelin Innovation Is Actually Built — The behind-the-scenes process of developing dishes and menus at the highest level, and why iteration and documentation are more important than inspiration.
- Working Inside ThinkFoodGroup — What it was like to spend over 15 years inside José Andrés’s culinary organization, and what that environment taught Jorge about creativity, leadership, and food as storytelling.
- Running Culinary R&D — How a formal research and development process works inside a serious restaurant group, and how chefs can apply those principles at any scale.
- Mentorship as a System — How the best chefs develop the people around them, and why being a great mentor is itself a skill that has to be learned and practiced.
- Collaboration Over Solo Genius — Why the most innovative kitchens in the world are team sports, and what chefs who want to lead creative operations need to understand about building a culture of shared ideas.
- From Michelin to Hospitality Group Leadership — What the transition from running a single flagship kitchen to overseeing culinary direction across multiple concepts actually requires.
Connect With Chef Jorge Luis Hernández
- Instagram: @jlfhernandez
Listen and Watch
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Audible
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