Profile - Chef Michael Mann Pelligrino

Executive Chef Max’s Wine Dive, Houston Tx

Chef Michael Pelligrino is Executive Chef at the renowned Max’s Wine Dive in Houston, Texas. He is a featured competitor in the regional Chef’s Under Fire Competition and was recently profiled in the Houston Press.

Chef Michael was raised in Detroit but learned Mexican Cuisine from his grandmother and it was because of his grandparents that he came back to Texas to go to culinary school in Austin.

“I really love the creative side of cooking. We had very small class sizes in school and a great deal of interaction with the instructors. They let me dig deeper in my areas of particular interest and I learned a great deal from that”

“Culinary School was not a cookie cutter experience. I always learned from the curriculum but I was able to experiment on my own. The chef instructors let us focus on areas that particularly interested us”

“My experience in culinary school was great. Everything I learned was helpful to me in my career. From learning the classical names of sauces to the temperature when an egg is cooked. I learned insight into the industry and the way we do things as chefs and why we do them”

“My advice for aspiring chefs: …continue to be inspired. Continue to take it all in. You are going to work hard but if you are passionate about cooking you will love going to work”