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Jackson’s reputation as a culinary mecca is growing. When Chef Oscar Ortega moved to Jackson in 2004, the Mexican-born, European-trained chef didn’t feel he fit into the American culinary scene. So, he carved out his own space.
Ortega opened his first chocolate shop, Atelier Ortega, in Jackson – now, he’s a finalist for the 2025 James Beard Award for outstanding bakery. Since the ‘90s, the food and beverage awards have been top marks of prestige in the United States. Ortega sits down with KHOL News’ Madeline Lauver to chat about his career, culinary inspirations, and what’s coming up.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Madeline Lauver: What inspired you to become a pastry chef and chocolatier?
Oscar Ortega: I think there are many things that inspire somebody in life. I first became a savory cook, and then I went to the culinary school in Italy called CAST Alimenti in the north of Milan. I had the opportunity to see the last practice of the national pastry team from Italy that will go to compete at a very important international pastry competition. I was already working as a cook over there in Europe. And then I saw the culinary perfection of absolutely everything those guys did. And I was just like, “Wow, this is absolutely, completely another level in the culinary world. I want to be one of them, I really want to be like the best of the best in the world.” The next day, I went to the director of the school, and I said, “I wanted to change my course [of study]. I want to change it for a pastry course.”
Pastries fill the display case at Atelier Ortega in downtown Jackson, Wyoming. (Madeline Lauver / KHOL)
ML: When you finished school, is that when you came to Jackson? Or did you work in other kitchens before?
OO: No, I actually did keep working over there. I came to Jackson a little bit more than 20 years ago. I love to snowboard, and I came here in a winter. I remember going to a little travel agency in Piccadilly in London and asking for an airplane ticket to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The woman was looking at me, like, “Where are you going?” And then finally, I came here. I arrived in Jackson, and I was like, what am I doing? So the next morning, everything was snow and white. And I guess I had exactly the same impression that anybody who comes to Jackson and sees the mountains, sees the snow, sees the atmosphere, the air, the everything – I decided to stay here.
ML: What inspired you to open Atelier Ortega here?
OO: I had the opportunity to work as a private chef for some people, and this gentleman always told me, “You should open your own business. You always talk about desserts. You always talk about chocolate.” I wanted to be in Jackson, but the culinary scene wasn’t inspiring me, so I was just like, “Well, I’m gonna have to be my own.” And that’s what I did, I opened my very first chocolate shop. It used to be called Cioccolato – I call it in Italian, I was thinking, I mean, a chocolate shop from a Latino guy in Jackson, Wyoming? Nobody’s gonna buy anything. So that’s why I put Cioccolato. And it worked — now it’s what it is.
ML: And now you can call it with your own name.
OO: Exactly.
ML: I wanted to flash forward to today. How would you define your pastry style or your chocolate style?
OO: I don’t think anybody has asked me what my style is before, but it’s just myself. It’s passionate. I like to see people eating [my chocolates] and enjoying them. I like to see people eating them and finishing it.
ML: Speaking of chocolate, what do you love about working with that medium?
OO: It’s a product that allows you to do everything you want. Absolutely everything – from a sculpture to something soft, to something liquid, to combine it with anything. That’s a fascinating thing. This is what I love about chocolate. It has been a challenge for me to design and create desserts without chocolate. That is the most difficult thing.
ML: Congratulations on the James Beard nomination.
OO: Thank you.
The team at Atelier Ortega. (Madeline Lauver / KHOL)
ML: Could you speak a bit about what that means to you?
OO: I never really thought somebody was going to look at me in my little shop in Wyoming for an award like that. One day, I got a text from one of my very good friends, and she’s like, “I just can’t believe it, I saw your name in the James Beard Awards.” And it’s like, okay, whatever. And then a couple of months passed, and then there were three or four more text messages and emails, and it’s like, Oscar, you are making it into the semi-finals for the James Beard Awards. And then I just realized that, yes, it’s kind of a big deal. And then when I went to the finals, my email and my text messages and my phones didn’t stop ringing. So I was telling my wife, this is kind of a big deal. And she said, “Of course, it’s a big deal!”
When I came here to Jackson and I saw the craziness in the American kitchens, I knew I was going to have a huge challenge for my career as a chef in this specific place. But that was actually one of the things that encouraged me to decide to continue and be able to put Jackson Hole on the culinary map in the world. And Jackson has absolutely everything to become a culinary mecca. And it’s not just me, it’s all Jackson. It’s all the people who have been in my shop over so many years. All these people who believe in me. All those people, all that community is what makes a James Beard award winner. It’s 16 years of being in business in Jackson.
