Chef Val Cantú

Culinary Director

A homecoming told through food. Chef Val Cantú brings his three-Michelin-starred pedigree — earned at San Francisco's Californios — back to the region where his culinary story began. Raised in Brownwood, TX, where his father owned a Mexican restaurant, Cantú's connection to food runs generations deep, rooted in the tortillas he learned to make alongside his grandmother and father. ⁠ ⁠At Estella, that heritage meets a lighter, more distilled expression of his craft. Cantú describes the menu as bright, fresh, and clean — food built on seasonality and thoughtful sourcing, designed to make guests feel as good after the meal as they did going in. It’s a return to the flavors and traditions that shaped him, brought to life in the Hill Country he now calls home again.