Carlos Vazquez prepares flat iron steak, a dish that is served with squash and roasted potatoes.[/caption]

Carlos Vazquez, the new head chef at Hyatt Market Street, said he likes to express himself through the hotel’s menu, a goal he accomplishes through innovative dishes he creates.
“It’s a trial based on error,” Vazquez said. “A lot of times [a dish] doesn’t come out like I want to, so I keep changing it up to see what works.”
When Vazquez was a child, his grandmother owned a cafeteria in Puerto Rico. When she died, Vazquez’s mother took over the cafeteria’s operation.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I was running around the kitchen,” Vazquez said.
He always thought he would enlist in the Navy after high school, but his plans changed after he studied Hotel Restaurant Management through an internship program at Culinary Institute LeNôtre in Houston.
“When I landed in the kitchen, everything came to me,” he said. “From that moment on, I knew I wanted to be a chef.”
Vazquez said he creates each dish on the menu with an emphasis on seasonal and local ingredients, including the use of fresh homegrown herbs.
A receptive instructor, Vazquez uses his associates’ influence to guide him, letting them teach him as well as using his own instincts as culinary tools.
Hyatt Market Street where he has worked is ideal for his creativity, he said.
“The sky’s the limit,” Vazquez said. “I can create anything I want to. There’s no restrictions on the menu.”

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Chef highlights

Chef Carlos Vazquez expresses his creativity in the kitchen with three new popular dishes:

`Vegetarian flatbread

This flatbread features artichokes, red onions, red tomatoes, bell peppers cilantro pesto, Cotija cheese. ($14)

Flat iron steak

Topped with peach chimichurri sauce, the dish comes with squash and roasted herb potatoes. ($34)

Smoked Gouda Crostini

The appetizer features smoked Gouda, mayonnaise, roasted bell peppers, sour cream and “a lot of love” ($8).

Herbal flair

Vazquez grows his own herbs in an on-site garden just a few feet from his kitchen, including:

• Chocolate mint

• Thyme

• Rosemary