Le Colonial

Joseph Villanueva, Executive Chef

Le Colonial’s Executive Chef Joe Villanueva has been interested in the culinary arts since childhood, when he could often be found helping his grandmother roll lumpia, cleaning vegetables at family dinners or spending Saturday mornings watching Great Chefs and Jacques Pepin’s Kitchen on KQED.

Chef Joe attended junior college while working several non-food industry jobs. A layoff from a corporate job created an opportunity for Joe to realign himself with his childhood dreams. He decided to apply his severance check towards tuition at the California Culinary Academy.

Joe joined the Le Colonial family in 2001 as a part-time food runner during his training at CCA, and has since rocketed to the position of Executive Chef. Over the last five years, he has worked his way through the kitchen, mastering each position while learning closely from Chef Kelly Nguyen-Rabanit and later, Chef Mike Yakura. Chef Joe looks forward to combining knowledge, creativity and authenticity into a memorable Le Colonial San Francisco experience.