Chef Lawrence Acosta: 2026 Southwest Chef Series
On weekends in El Paso, Chef Lawrence Acosta watched his great-grandmother and grandmother make tortillas, salsa, guisados, beans and menudo for family gatherings. His great-grandmother lost her sight in her thirties and kept cooking by smell, taste, and touch. Watching her taught him how much you can learn about cooking by paying attention to what’s in front of you.
Years later, one of those family recipes found its way into his cooking at Ámbar Restaurante. The mole colorado he serves with a wood-grilled pork tomahawk takes its cue from his grandmother’s chile colorado.
2026 BOSW Southwest Chef Series Hub
Chef Lawrence Acosta at a glance
- Restaurant: Ámbar Restaurante at The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park
- Location: El Paso, Texas
- Cuisine: Contemporary Mexican cooking with Texas and other borderland influences
- Signature dishes: Pork tomahawk and tenderloin en mole negro
- Website: Ámbar Restaurante
- Instagram: @ambarelpaso
From his family’s kitchen to Ámbar
The Mexican dishes Acosta grew up eating form the foundation of his cooking. His grandfather introduced him to another set of family favorites, including fried chicken, which remains one of his favorite comfort foods.
At Ámbar, Acosta also draws on the backgrounds of the people he cooks with. Their experiences help shape a menu that brings Mexican techniques, Texas barbecue influences and other regional traditions together in ways that feel at home in El Paso.
Recipe for success
The open kitchen at Ámbar puts the wood-fired grills in view of the dining room. The fire lets Acosta bring the flavor of Texas barbecue into dishes built around Mexican preparations such as mole and masa. Elsewhere on the menu, handmade tortillas made with heirloom corn masa sit alongside whole-animal asado and fresh ceviches.
Chef Lawrence Acosta’s impact on Texas dining
At Ámbar, Acosta introduces visitors to El Paso through the foods he grew up with. For diners who know those flavors, a dish like the pork tomahawk might bring back memories of a family meal. For someone tasting mole Colorado for the first time, it offers a starting point for getting to know the city’s cooking.
Signature dishes: Pork tomahawk and tenderloin en mole negro
Acosta grills the pork tomahawk over wood fire and serves it with mole colorado, potato and herb chochoyotes, local mushrooms, kale and cotija. Pickled onions and shaved radish add brightness to the dish, where the deepest flavor goes back to his grandmother’s kitchen.
The tenderloin en mole negro shows where Acosta is taking his cooking today. He grills the 10-ounce cut over wood fire and serves it with herbed bone marrow butter, potatoes smashed with queso añejo, local mushrooms and a birria-stuffed tetela. Oaxacan coffee deepens the mole negro, while the masa pocket filled with birria makes the accompaniment as much a part of the dish as the steak.
Explore the 2026 Southwest Chef Series
This profile is part of The Best of the Southwest’s 2026 Southwest Chef Series, celebrating the chefs and culinary leaders shaping dining across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas and Southern California.
