Hugo Valdez’s story starts in Georgia, detours through Mexico, and returns to Marietta just in time for the 1996 Olympics—because nothing says “welcome home” like global traffic and souvenir T-shirts. He’s been in Marietta ever since, surviving the full Cobb County educational obstacle course and graduating from Chattahoochee Tech’s dearly departed culinary program (which, he insists, did not shut down because of him).

He started washing dishes at fifteen—the classic gateway drug to kitchen life—before moving into hotel banquets and eventually landing behind the line. By twenty-two he was running a steakhouse. It was a glorious disaster, but he still thought, “Yes, this is my calling.”

Hugo eventually dove into Asian cuisine, helping launch sushi bars, Asian concepts, and food halls across Atlanta. If you’ve eaten something in the city that made you say “This slaps,” he might be the reason.

He comes from a close family: one sister saves lives, the other saves spreadsheets, Mom teaches Spanish, and Dad is always ready to supervise a steak or rack of ribs. Together, they hunt for great BBQ like it’s buried treasure.

During the pandemic, Hugo and his family launched Viva La Masa, a tamale pop-up that escalated into a 1,500-tamale marathon fueled by caffeine and stubbornness. Donations poured in nationwide, and they fed out-of-work restaurant workers, medical staff, and anyone needing edible comfort.

Post-pandemic, Hugo became Culinary Director for an Atlanta Asian restaurant group, helping open and streamline multiple spots at once—because one restaurant apparently wasn’t stressful enough. He also worked with Food Network chefs, which is glamorous if you ignore the chaos behind the scenes.

Personality-wise, he’s part Bobby from Bobby’s World (imagination) and part Dennis the Menace (pranks). He genuinely enjoys being pranked as much as pranking others—a trait shared mostly by cartoon characters and goblins.

He’s also artistic: origami, drawing, spray paint, calligraphy. He nearly went to graphic design school and once landed his high school a sponsorship from Best Buy with a shirt design. Yes, that Best Buy.

His coolest dining experience was at Alinea in Chicago, where he learned food can hang from ceilings, explode, or emotionally manipulate you. At home, his go-to is a bougie steak dinner with confit shiitakes, shoyu red wine reduction or yuzu koshu chimichurri, miso pommes purée, and yakitori-grilled asparagus. He does not mess around.

If handed a credit card to max out, he’d head straight to an antique or classic car dealership to buy and rebuild his dream cars with his dad, a nod to his mechanic grandfather.

He’d revive Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and Rocko’s Modern Life—all shows his parents banned, which explains a lot. He’s also a committed rhino fan who used to feed Mumbles, Zoo Atlanta’s most charismatic tank on legs.

His bucket list: rebuild those dream cars, backpack across Mexico, and—hardest of all—learn to sit still.

Hugo also collects funny socks (100+ pairs) and makes extremely detailed 30-second food mini-movies that take three hours to create, because of course they do.

Through it all—food, family, creativity, pranks, rhinos, and socks—Hugo Valdez shows up with heart, humor, and stainless-steel hustle. He feeds people, makes them laugh, and builds community wherever he goes.