In the heart of Southwest Detroit near Mexicantown, you’ll find one of Detroit’s most celebrated chefs in both Mexican and Italian Milano cuisine, Chef Norberto Garita.

Chef Norberto immigrated to New York City when he was 16 years old after spending the first part of his life working on his parents farm in Puebla, Mexico. Once he was in NYC, Norberto cooked in Italian restaurants where he fell in love with that style of cooking. He made his way to Detroit and landed a job working at Il Posto Ristorante Italiano located in Southfield in 1997, which quickly became one of Metro Detroit's most celebrated Italian restaurants, and where Chef Norberto was able to learn more about authentic Italian cooking.

In 2007, Chef Norberto and his wife Silvia Rosario Garita, a wonderful cook herself, and his mother, opened El Barzón Restaurante. Chef Norberto created a dining experience that paid homage to his homeland of Mexico with rich traditional dishes created with his brilliant cooking style and high standards of excellence. There is even an Italian side of the menu with a throwback to many of the dishes from his days at Il Posto.

Despite facing challenges in Detroit's earlier years, Chef Norberto and his wife persevered, even if they only served 10 people on any given day, they never gave up.

Today, Chef Norberto doesn’t need to worry about customers finding their way to his kitchen door. If anything, you'll be lucky to get a seat at his charming Hacienda style outside patio. For our day of filming, Chef Norberto was hosting several lunch parties, one in particular was made up of the mover and shakers of the Hispanic community. The lunch was topped off with pictures being taken with the celebrated chef who has been featured in many local and national publications.

When asked why he still cooks, now that he is turning 60, Norberto offers a boyish smile with a sparkle in his eye as he touches his heart, "I cook because I love to see people happy."

We are thrilled to be able to feature Chef Norberto and El Barzon in our story about Detroit's rich culinary heritage.