About
At 7 years of age, Chef Martin Munguia’s passion for crafting culinary experiences began with making breakfast in bed for his mother on her birthday. This was just the beginning of what would become an undeniably successful career.
After many home-cooking experiences over the next 7 years, Munguia realized at the age of 14 that baking was a form of culinary arts that quickly drew him in. In 2013, he officially enrolled at The Culinary Institute of San Diego. During his studies he held two part time jobs and competed in baking competitions awarding him with multiple top 3 victories.
While completing his degree in Science of Culinary Arts, Munguia began as a dessert platter at Searsucker in Del Mar and within 3 months was rapidly promoted to Pastry Lead. It was in this role where Munguia was able to implement many of the trades he was taught in school alongside his natural born talents which enabled him to be promoted to Sous Chef in his first year.
Mr. Munguia’s relentless pursuit of perfection didn’t stop as the Sous Chef of Searsucker as he maintained three other part-time jobs. With the unique combination of crafting both dinner and dessert experiences, in September of 2019 Chef Martin was offered the position as Executive Chef of RED O Restaurant in La Jolla located directly across Westfield UTC off of La Jolla Village Drive. RED O provides an Elevated Mexican Cuisine experience where you will taste, see, and feel the best of Mexico’s sought after regions.
Chef Martin’s passion drives him to be competitive with himself, to be a better chef, a better boss, a better coworker, and ultimately a better human being. As Executive Chef of RED O, his focus is to create memories for his guests. He is often heard saying “I live for the two seconds after a guest takes their first bite. They close their eyes and enjoy my food”.
Currently, Chef Martin’s favorite item at RED O is the “Ceviche Negro”. It was created in memory of his hometown, Tepic Nayarit, Mexico. It has everything that he loves to enjoy: fresh fish, savory sauce with the right amount of spice and is balanced with fresh mango.
