The Pubbelly Restaurant Group
José Mendín is the director of culinary operations for The Pubbelly Restaurant Group, the team who many Miami foodies credit for the local chef movement. Mendín, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, worked for many well-known restaurants including Nobu and Sushi Samba, before opening Pubbelly Gastropub in Miami Beach with his Pubbelly Group partners Andreas Schreiner and Sergio Navarro. Since then, the Pubbelly Group has experienced incredible success and has expanded to include four more restaurants — PB Steak, Pubbelly Sushi, Barceloneta and the newest, L’Echon Brasserie. In 2012 and again this year, Mendín was distinguished as a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef South, and most recently won Miami Cochon 555, a regional all-out pork cooking frenzy, and will compete in the Grand Cochon competition this summer.