La Contenta

Chef Luis Arce Mota brings years of skill, experience and ambition to the kitchen of La Contenta. At La Contenta it is his goal to showcase his Mexican roots and his classical French culinary training, offering Mexican cuisine with French accents. Chef Mota’s story is archetypal, that of someone starting at the bottom and determinedly working his way up. Emigrating to the United States from Mazatlán, Mexico in the early 1990’s, Luis began his culinary career as a dishwasher in Carmine’s Restaurant in Times Square. His early exposure to and love for family cooking and traditions in Mexico primed his eagerness to learn more in New York at every opportunity.

Chef Mota’s initiative and performance were rewarded, and he gained experience in many famous Manhattan kitchens, under the tutelage of renowned chefs including Cesar Ramirez, David Bouley, Michael Lomonaco, and Michael Romano. In between stints at Bouley, Windows on the World, Union Square Café and Jefferson Restaurant, Luis received formal culinary education at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.