Fried Chicken, Paella, and More At Citrus at the Valencia Hotel Recipe

Let the good times roll at Citrus in the Valencia Hotel.

Chef Ocean Orssten acknowledges his parents were hippies who happened to be living in Capitola at the time he was born. Hence his unusual first name.

But the chef with the water-themed moniker also knows the land equally well. He grew up in the Napa Valley, raising heritage breed pigs at age 12 and developed a love for agriculture.

Is it any wonder that by the time he was a young teen, he knew he wanted to be a chef?

After stints at Arcadia in San Jose, La Folie in San Francisco, and Campton Place restaurant in San Francisco, Orssten took over the helm at Citrus at the Valencia Hotel in San Jose’s Santana Row in 2011.

It’s a restaurant I’ve longed wish…