Chef Robert Ruiz has over 20 years of experience in the Culinary Industry. Training in classic French, Hawaiian, Japanese and Baja Cuisine. His inventiveness, mindful determination, and meticulous care has earned him recognition as one of the nation’s progressive culinary minds. Chef Ruiz has humble roots in San Diego, CA., and a decade on the Big Island of Hawaii. There he trained under James Beard Award Winner, and founder of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, Chef Alan Wong and earned an Apprenticeship and training under Master Sushi Chef Etsuji Umezu.
Ruiz spent 2011/12 working in Japan, traveling thru Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Shibuya, and Nagoya, with special access granted to the Tsukiji Fish Market. After 6 years of operating his signature restaurant, The Land & Water Co. in Carlsbad CA., and the pandemic that shuttered the restaurant industry, Ruiz moved to Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, to train with Michelin Starred Chef Drew Deckman, at his restaurant, Deckman’s en el Mogor. Chef Ruiz, and Chef Drew Deckman have collaborated to launch their newest project, Ensō Omakase, a fully sustainable, farm to table Omakase experience, located in the Heart of Valle de Guadalupe.
2010 he earned the title of “Chef of the Fest” at the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival.
2011/12 Japan-Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Shibuya, Nagoya, Tsukiji Market.
2012 and 2013 Ruiz served as the Executive Chef for the Party in the Valley at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
Ruiz also began working extensively with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 2013.
In 2014 Ruiz opened his signature restaurant, The Land & Water Co., recognized in the cities top 10, and San Diego Magazine Critics Choice Best Sushi in San Diego 2014, 2015, 2016.
2016 Chef Ruiz worked with Slowfood, and Chef Drew Deckman, as a Chef Delegate, representing the USA at Terra Madre, Salon de Gusto, Turin, Italy.
2016 Chef Ruiz was recognized as “Chef of the Year” by the San Diego Union Tribune.
Chef Ruiz received global recognition for his dedication to improving seafood industry practices at the 2016 Ocean Awards, in London, presented by the Blue Marine Foundation.
October 2017 Ruiz was featured at the StarChefs annual Chefs Congress in Brooklyn, NYC.
2018 The Land & Water Co., is featured in Alice Waters book, “Truth, Love, and Clean Cutlery”.
2019 Ruiz was certified as a Leader for the James Beard Foundation’s SmartCatch Program.
2019 Featured Chef at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival.
2022-23 Deckmans en el Mogor.