Janos Wilder

Janos Wilder is a Tucson icon and James Beard Award-winning chef who opened his first restaurant in Tucson in 1983 in the historic Hiram Steven’s house at the Tucson Museum of Art and has been cooking with ingredients indigenous to the Sonoran Desert ever since. While sourcing foods that have been foraged or cultivated here for thousands of years, Wilder cooks with an eye to the future. He creates sophisticated, modern dishes that explore the utility of cooking with ancient foods in response to climate change and aridity.

His current project, Studio Janos opened in 2023. In this art-filled space located downtown Wilder’s purpose-built kitchen opens onto an intimate dining space where multi-course meals are prepared in front his guests. Studio Janos is home to private dinners, cooking classes, and contains a complete video studio.

The chef is Board President of Tucson City of Gastronomy, former Board Chair of Native Seeds, SEARCH and lends his support and fundraising skills to numerous local organizations.