We are all familiar with the major restaurateurs in Milwaukee, from Bianchini to Vassallo and beyond, but we're only really starting to get acquainted with the men and women that keep their kitchens running and create their menus.

Juan Urbieta, who helms the kitchens at Ristorante Bartolotta and Pizzeria Piccola has been key to the success of those Wauwatosa restaurants for nearly a decade.

Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Urbieta came to the United States in 1993 to work as a prep cook at Zipangu Japanese restaurant by day and as a grill cook at Rosie's BBQ and Grill at night.

After moving around a bit, Urbieta finally landed his dream job working for Paul Bartolotta at Spiaggia in Chicago. The rest, as they say, is history. Bartolotta sent him to work under Chef Valentino Marcattilii at Imola's San Domenico restaurant and in 1998 Urbieta began working at Ristorante Bartolotta.

We asked him to tell us his story for this Milwaukee Talks, but we also talked about the restaurant scene in Milwaukee and gave him a list of questions that we also posed to other area chefs for OnMilwaukee.com's Dining Month.

OMC: Can you tell us a bit about how you came to the kitchen? Did you know you always wanted to do it?

JU: I actually always wanted to be a commercial airline pilot, as my dad worked for an airline for 33 years and retired from there, and I grew up in that environment of airplanes, airports and things of the sort. I was turned down by the Mexican Air Force -- we actually have one -- because of a minor surgery I had undergone while I was 2 or 3 years old, and they don't accept anyone with any surgeries of any kind.

At that point I made my move to Los Angeles where my brother was living at the time and started working in restaurants as a dishwasher. I always enjoyed the cooking of my mother and grandma, helping out and watching, but never realized how much I loved cooking until I started working in restaurants. I knew I liked cooking, but not to the point of making it my career.

It was only then that I decided I wanted to be chef. With that in mind I became very focused in learning and started working my way up the ranks to prep cook, saucier, line cook, sous, etc. and moved from city to city in the process like Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago (and to) Italy.

OMC: Is there someone in particular that really encouraged you along the way or maybe someone you looked up to that you wanted to emulate?

JU: Oddly enough, early inspiration came from a negative source. There were a couple of guys who liked to taunt me when I was only a dishwasher, they used to tell me that "they were really good line cooks" and I was only a dishwasher, and that, it was always going to be like that, that I was never going to move up, and they used to toss a salad or a pasta in a sauté pan in a fancy way in front of me to make their point.

Back then, at 17 years old, I promised myself that I was going to prove them wrong. On the positive side, my mentor Paul Bartolotta in Chicago was always the guy I always looked up to. I must have applied at Spiaggia in Chicago eight or 10 times before I got a job with him. That's how much I wanted to work for him.

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3 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by mitchgat on Oct. 2, 2007 at 12:01 p.m. (report)

I like Apollo Cafe on Brady or Ouzo on Milwaukee St. Both have good food and service.

Posted by laurafern11 on Oct. 2, 2007 at 11:57 a.m. (report)

What about Apollo Cafe on Brady?

Posted by danno on Oct. 2, 2007 at 9:20 a.m. (report)

Great article. Can one find a real Greek Salad in Milwaukee anymore since Kostas closed?