this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2024
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Well, not a Hispanic chef. An Italian chef living in Tijuana.
Considering Hispaniola was never a thing, and Caesar was a naturalized citizen of Mexico. You can just say Mexican chef
That's certainly more accurate than "Hispanic chef" which is just entirely wrong, but I still think that's not the best way to describe him. Do you have a source for his Mexican citizenship? I can't find it anywhere.
All I can find is basically a residential history. Born 1896 in Baveno, Italy; moved around a lot in the 1910s (Italy --> Montreal --> back to Italy --> Sacramento --> San Diego). As he moved around California he was involved in the restaurant business and eventually established restaurants in Tijuana to get around Prohibition. So that must have been early 1920s, then he eventually moved back to California in 1936 and stayed there (occasionally moving cities) until his death in 1956.
I think "Italian chef" is certainly the least ambiguous way to describe him. "Italian immigrant chef in Tijuana" is a bit of a mouthful.
Edit: honestly it's not even clear if he lived in Tijuana or still lived in San Diego and just worked in Tijuana (initially because of Prohibition). He got married in Santa Ana in 1924 (same year as the credited Caesar salad invention). His daughter was born in San Diego in 1928.