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Gary Baca, is the Vice President and Executive Chef of Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, an ICON® LLC restaurant, located at 60 East Grand in Chicago. Gary originally joined Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc.® (LEYE) in 1995 as the Executive Chef of Scoozi! Restaurant.
Baca brings over 15 years of experience in the restaurant business to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. Joe's marks the first project for ICON, a partnership between restaurateurs Richard Melman and Gerard Centioli. Gary's role as Executive Chef is to guarantee that the integrity of the original Joe's Stone Crab of South Miami Beach is maintained here in Chicago. After collaborating with the Weiss family, founders of the original Joe's Stone Crab, Gary has seen first hand why this restaurant has become a four-generation legend.
Baca realized his passion for cooking at a young age by spending time with his grandmothers, one who cooked the same meals with complete precision, the other feeding 26 grandchildren with what seemed like nothing in the refrigerator. Gary began his restaurant career as the Corporate Sous Chef for Milano's Italian Kitchen of California. While performing his duties as Executive Chef at Scoozi!, Baca simultaneously worked with LEYE consulting with such restaurants as Cajun Kitchen, McDonald's and the Compass Group as well as assisting with several LEYE restaurant openings. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the Santa Barbara City Culinary College in December of 1987.
As a California native, Baca now enjoys all of the diversity in restaurants and Midwestern hospitality that Chicago has to offer. Gary prides himself on using rustic, yet simple, ingredients that allow him to cook dishes that maintain the integrity of their ethnic origin.
Gary is married with four daughters - Isabella, Ava, Lola and Gabriella. He enjoys golfing, hiking, traveling and dining out. | 