The first flavors that Rogelio Garcia remembers are from his mother’s kitchen: homemade enchiladas, Mexican rice, stuffed chiles, mole and, for dessert, a creamy flan. For an immigrant child, those dishes were not just food, but a bond to his culture, keeping him connected to his roots as he made his way in a new country.
Garcia arrived in the U.S. when he was 2 years old. He was raised in Los Angeles by his single mother. In the city of angels with its Latino stars, it’s easy to understand why a kid with American dreams saw himself as the next Edward J. Olmos. It wasn’t until years later, when Garcia’s mom moved the family to Northern California to be near his tía, that the teenager abandoned ideas of becoming an actor.
He found a new path in the kitchen of a Napa Valley restaurant.
Garcia started as a dishwasher. A 15-year-old earning money to help his family and breathing in new cuisines that built on the love of his own Mexican heritage. His experiences working his way up in restaurants marked the beginning of Garcia’s culinary career influenced by European cuisine.
Garcia is 38 now. He has children of his own. Two boys, and many aspiring young chefs who love working with and learning from an unlikely celebrity chef.
“I never thought that, starting in this career, I would cook with people I only watched on television, or that they would invite me to give presentations in Arizona with other authors,” he told Arizona Luminaria.
“It’s a dream, really.”
Today, Garcia is the executive chef of Auro, a restaurant serving contemporary American cuisine with global influences. He opened the eatery at the Four Seasons in Calistoga, a city in Napa Valley known for its vineyards, hot springs and luxurious resorts.
Garcia knew he wanted Auro to honor his mother’s cooking and the ways he’s built on the tastes of his heritage. He also knew he wanted Auro to be the best. And the best in cuisine comes with coveted stars earned by a rare few.
Under Garcia’s leadership, Auro opened in 2023 and earned a Michelin star in the restaurant’s first year. The prestigious accolade — reserved for the best restaurants in the world — came again in 2024.
In the middle of working with his Auro team toward a shared celebrity status, Garcia rarely slept. He had more deadlines and big dreams. He was writing his first international cookbook.
This month, Garcia is among the hundreds of authors and artists from around the globe sharing their life and work at the Tucson Festival of Books, March 15-16, on the University of Arizona campus. Garcia’s panel is coined: “Breaking Traditions: Modern Mexico.” He’ll host a culinary class, showing how to embrace traditional Mexican cuisine with a fresh and elegant approach, inviting families to join him around the table.
With the 2024 publication of his first cookbook, “Convivir: Modern Mexican Cuisine in California’s Wine Country”, Garcia cements his journey from an immigrant teen washing restaurant dishes to becoming one of the best chefs in the world.
Convivir in English means “living together,” a mantra for the chef who grew up in a country he calls home and in which he lacks citizenship.
Born in Mexico City, Garcia is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The 2012 Obama-era policy provided many young immigrants, who grew up in the U.S., freedom from deportation and the chance to legally work in the country.
Garcia writes about parts of his life beyond becoming a celebrated chef. Parts he has long kept secret: A scared undocumented kid. A proud son realizing what his mother sacrificed. A father still living without citizenship.
Your Social Security number has been denied, and you need to call the Social Security office.
This is my first memory of being rejected for a job at a high-end restaurant where I really wanted to work. I felt a knot in my stomach. As I walked out, my eyes filled with tears.
This memory, albeit painful, is at the heart of what has inspired me to write this cookbook. At some point, I felt compelled to tell my story and share my immigrant experience through food — the journey of what it means to be born in Mexico and grow up in Northern California.
My mother, Irma Robles was twenty-six years old when she crossed the border in 1988, a single mother with two small children. I was two and my sister was seven. Much later, I realized the magnitude of what she had done for us, and eventually found myself wondering, How bad could Mexico have been for her to leave everything behind?
My mother came to this country with no money and no way to call home to let her family know how she was. The border crossing is treacherous, and every year, hundreds of migrants die, the relics of their lives strewn across the deserts where northern Mexico meets the southern border of the United States or washed up on the banks of the Rio Grande. Given both the inhospitable landscape and the distance, the reality is that the family you leave in Mexico may never see you again. I’ve long asked myself how my mother did this and what drove her. Irma, you are a brave woman.
To some of my friends, this may sound incongruous with the Rogelio they know. They may not understand that the very basic opportunities that most Americans enjoy are the same ones I have been seeking and can never take for granted. When I was younger, I was ashamed to talk about my immigration situation. Today, I want to share the deep pain I feel about being unable to truly be a part of this country.
This became a painful truth for me early in 2023 when my DACA renewal application was delayed due to a governmental backlog. I had been employed as the executive chef of a new fine-dining restaurant for less than two months when I was forced to take an “administrative leave.” While the leave lasted for only three weeks, it seemed like an eternity. I felt the panic and the uncertainty all over again. Even though I still had my legal status and could move freely, I once again felt like that sixteen-year-old kid who was denied a job because he didn’t have a Social Security number — that kid who was afraid that one driving error could result in deportation.
I know that I will not be free from this awful feeling until I have my US citizenship. Nor will I feel secure until we are all secure — until there is a path to citizenship for all DACA recipients and, beyond that, for the many Mexicans and Mexican Americans who make up the labor force that runs this country’s restaurant kitchens. I dedicate this book to them.
That’s also how I approach food. At the heart of my cuisine is Mexico, but the ingredients, discipline and techniques are pure California. It is through food that I am able to translate my experiences and tell my story.
—Excerpt from Garcia’s cookbook
Convivir
Scrolling through the pages of Garcia’s recipe book, one finds instructions to prepare tacos, tostadas, sopes, huaraches, tlacoyos y tetelas but with a delicate touch. Ingredients like Sonoma artichoke, corn, smoked duck, and casserole mushrooms accent traditional flavors.
“I wanted to make recipes that I grew up eating, recipes inspired by my mother, others that are more adventurous, with more refined touches, but respecting the ingredients of the Napa Valley,” he said.
Garcia was a Top Chef contestant (Season 15) and James Beard Award finalist. He wanted his book to reflect his history, his community – at home with his Mexican family and in the kitchens of Northern California.
“It was a very extensive and fun project, with a lot of feeling and emotions that go into it. I wanted to tell my story, tell the story of immigrants, of the people who have supported me in the Napa Valley,” he said. “More than anything, it was a tribute to Mexico.”
After his culinary demonstration at the Tucson Festival of Books, Chef Garcia will sign copies of “Convivir.”
“The language of food is something we all feel, and it is something that can unite us at the table, with ideas, reaching mutual agreements, with respect,” Garcia said. “That is the spirit of living together, it is the reason for what I wanted to do.”
Journalist Dianna M. Náñez contributed to this article
TFOB: Authors, ideas, music, and books and more books
The Tucson Festival of Books offers the opportunity to listen, learn and contribute.
Topics range from children’s books, food, politics, fiction, business, literature, fine arts, photography, graphic novels, history and biography to comedy, memoir, essays, music, performing arts, mystery, thriller, nature, poetry, technology, romance, fantasy, sports, travel, true crime, and more.
Come visit Arizona Luminaria at our tent on the mall and check out more than 300 authors, artists and public figures, including best-selling writers such as Sandra Brown, Scott Turow, Sebastian Junger and Julia Phillips. The event will welcome personalities from politics and entertainment, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and actor Edward Burns.
Craig Johnson, the best-selling author of the mystery series “Longmire”, which inspired the popular television show, will be recognized with the 2025 Festival Founders Award.
The festival is free, but Fast Passes help
As the third largest literary festival in the country, the two-day event has been held since 2009 and is free to enter, but a Fast Pass will ensure you get to see everything you want.
What is a Fast Pass?
The Fast Passes allow attendees priority access to the festival’s most popular events. Those who reserve a pass, will be able to enter the most popular venues before attendees in the general admission line, as long as they arrive at least 20 minutes before the event starts.
How to get a pass?
- Friends of the Festival: Depending on the donation level, you will have access to up to eight Fast Passes starting at noon, March 5.
- General public: Fast passes will be available to all starting at noon, March 10.
- Deadline to reserve Fast Passes: Noon, March 14.
Schedule changes
There have been some changes to the sessions since the announcement of the preliminary schedule. If your desired session appears to have changed, check the schedule on the website.
Plan your attendance in the festival mobile app
Attendees can get help planning and navigating the festival through a mobile app, which includes times and locations, author profiles, a parking map, a list of food vendors, and more. The application is available in the Apple Store and in Google Play .
Get advice for attending the festival
A panel discussion titled Navigating the Tucson Festival of Books will be held on Monday, March 10 at 6 p.m. in Tucson Medical Center’s Marshall Auditorium, 5301 E. Grant Road.
Visit tucsonfestivalofbooks.org for more information.
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