10/08/2026
This is Jose Ochoa, Executive Chef at Natalie's, Camden Harbour Inn. He's competing at the Maine Lobster Chef of the Year on October 16 for the first time but we know he knows his way around lobster, Natalie's always has a lobster tasting menu as a dinner option!
Jose shared, "When I was a kid I used to help my mother picking herbs, fruits and vegetables from our garden at home. I watched her transforming the ingredients in simple, but tasty dishes. Somehow she understood to celebrate the flavor and texture of the ingredients without compromising a delicious evening meal. I started her helping cooking and at age 14 I took the opportunity to work at a local Italian deli and fell in love with the creativity, high energy and the technical aspects of preparing the perfect flavor combination, texture and temperature and most of all the compliments of guests enjoying what you had worked on, sometimes for days."
He studied at the French Culinary Institute in NY and made the decision to join Natalie's because "it was impossible to refuse the opportunity to work in a state I love so much, with access to some of the best seafood, foresters and farms and to be able to balance my career with an active lifestyle and be inspired by the seasons, and the close access to nature."
