Juan Rodriguez

Executive Chef

As one of the eldest of 14 children, City Limits Diner Chef de Cuisine Juan Rodriguez was often at his mother’s side preparing meals for his siblings at their home in El Salvador. Later, in his teen years, he harvested produce on a nearby farm. “Spending time on the farm gave me an appreciation for organic products,” he says. “I learned the importance of choosing ingredients by hand at just the right time.”

Chef Juan moved to the U.S. in 1982 and started at Hohokus Inn in Hohokus, NJ, with Chef Jim Galileo. In 1985, the duo joined the team at the newly established Livanos Restaurant in White Plains. Starting in the prep kitchen, he was eventually elevated to prep kitchen supervisor where he was responsible for the butchering, purchasing and receiving for the restaurant, as well as all prep duties, including the on-premise smokehouse production. His knowledge and experience with fresh produce was evident in his creations, and Chef Galileo soon promoted him to Sous Chef.

When Chef Galileo and the Livanos family started their next venture opening Oceana in Manhattan in 1992, Chef Juan joined his mentor’s inaugural staff for a brief stint as a butcher while simultaneously serving as Sous Chef at Livanos Restaurant. In 1994, he returned to the Livanos Restaurant full-time, initially assisting then Executive Chef Peter Assue with the transformation of the restaurant into City Limits Diner. He later became Chef de Cuisine of the White Plains location.

Now, Chef Juan is City Limits’ Executive Chef – more than 30 years after he initially joined the Livanos Restaurant Group. “I’m doing what I love on a daily basis in working with the City Limits family,” he says. “Food is community, and I feel lucky to be a part of this one.”