With a bachelor’s degree in gastronomy from the Autonomous Mexico State University, Quetzal began working in the kitchens of several popular restaurants in Mexico City in 2006. It only took her a year to begin her international journey in Chicago and land her first job as a line cook prep at Carnivale, a latin fusion restaurant in River North. Her passion for cooking and learning about different cuisines led her to accept new opportunities as a pastry chef at Nabuki, a Japanese restaurant in the suburbs, and then at Barbakoa, a Latin and Spanish-inspired restaurant in 2013. It was throughout this journey while navigating through different restaurants, when Quetzal fined-tuned her time-management skills in busy kitchens creating innovative desserts with a Latin flavor.

Attracted by the warm and family-style leadership, Quetzal joined La Josie in 2017. Since then, she has been dedicated to curating the pastry program and is committed to sourcing vibrant local ingredients, weaving influences from our Mexican roots into a menu that is worthy of Mama Josie’s kitchen.