MOUNT STERLING, KENTUCKY / HEAD CHEF SINCE 2023

NIGHTHAWK.

SETH ROMEROHead chef at Romero’s

The work speaks first.

Explore the work ↗

A conversation across the restaurant kitchen pass, with the head chef on the kitchen side. — At the passROMERO’S, KENTUCKY

THE CHEF / NOT THE MYTH

He earned the kitchen.
Then made it his own.

Seth “Nighthawk” Romero is the head chef of Romero’s in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. He began in the dish pit, worked through the kitchen and took its lead in 2023. Today he directs the menu and develops the kitchen’s present creative identity: scratch cooking informed by Italian and American traditions, Spanish influences, sauces, seasoning and deliberate layers of heat.

His father remains executive chef. Seth is the head chef, responsible for the kitchen’s current menu and creative direction.

A line of finished plates beside the cooks at the working range. — Service at Romero’sPhotography: George C. Romero

THE METHOD

Built on the line.
Finished at the pass.

Italian and American influences meet Spanish-informed sauce work, deliberate seasoning and layered heat. The point of view takes shape through the food—not a list of borrowed credentials.

01
From the dish pit.
Seth began with the work of the kitchen before taking its lead.
02
Head chef, 2023.
Responsibility for service. Room to develop the menu.
03
A menu made his own.
Some dishes began with his father’s recipes; others began with Seth. Their present development and execution belong to the head chef.

SELECTED WORK