Michael Costa
Michael Costa is the Concept Chef at Zaytinya, a José Andrés restaurant with locations in Downtown, Washington, D.C., New York City, and soon, South Beach, Miami. Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, Costa received a degree in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. After graduating, he moved to Dallas, Texas with his brother, where he enrolled in culinary school at El Centro College. Though he previously spent time waiting tables throughout high school and college, it was his enrollment in culinary school that lead him to realize his true passion for cooking. He began his culinary career at Abacus in Dallas, then later moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as a private dining chef at Citronelle before moving to the Michelin-starred restaurant, Michel Rostang, in Paris to work as the chef de partie. Once back in the U.S., Costa took an executive chef position at Pazo in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was nominated for Chef of the Year by the Maryland Restaurant Association in 2010.
Costa joined the Zaytinya team in 2010 and has been an integral part of developing the innovative mezze menu inspired by Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese cuisines. Through years of working closely with José Andrés, as well as extensive research and travel, Costa continuously curates authentic and diverse dishes, always focusing on what he finds to be the most important characteristics of a dish: its taste, beauty, and story.
Beyond cooking, Costa’s favorite part the industry is having the opportunity to mentor younger chefs, and positively impacting them to achieve their own goals. When he’s not in the kitchen at Zaytinya, Costa enjoys spending time with his two daughters, cooking for his family, and broadening his cooking expertise with podcasts and books.
