Nelson Millán

Chef Nelson Millán’s career has taken him from his roots in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico—home to El Yunque, to one of the last remaining rain forests of the world— throughout the United States. Millán’s roots in Latin Caribbean cuisine, combined with French techniques, have proven to be a successful combination. His career took off when he began competing nationally and internationally as part of the Junior, and later Senior, Team of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). In 2004, he traveled to New York City, with a select few Ocean Reef Club chefs to cook a memorable Latin Caribbean dinner at the prestigious James Beard House.

In 2010, Millán moved to San Antonio, TX, to be the executive chef of the San Antonio Country Club. He was later invited to join The Culinary Institute of America to help build a Latin Cuisine curriculum and to teach the Latin Caribbean Cuisine course, as an adjunct instructor at the college’s Texas campus. In June 2019, he left the CIA and moved to Atlanta, GA, to become corporate executive chef for Gourmet Culinary Partners. In May 2021, Chef Millán and his family moved back to Texas, this time to the Dallas/Fort Worth area to join the Vaquero Club culinary team as their executive chef.