By Mary Thayer Haugen

Jorge Salmeron’s fascination with restaurants began early in life, growing up in El Salvador and California. “It was a tradition for my family to go out to dinner every Saturday night.

“As we were growing up we would talk about school, and then later about what we wanted to do in the future. My parents would talk about their jobs and how that was going,” Jorge explains.

“I always enjoyed that and I was also curious about how restaurants make all that food and present it so nicely,” Jorge adds.

Early Curiosity Wins Out

It seems that interest in food never left him. Even though he began to study medicine in college, he eventually switched to the food industry. He began his career at the Hilton in Los Angeles, California.

At Greenspring, he heads up the Woodland Skies restaurant. “I really enjoy working here because I enjoy meeting the people. There are quite a few people who live here who are originally from other countries. I also enjoy cooking for theme nights because it gives me an opportunity to cook all types of food,” Jorge says.

Like Father, Like Daughter

In fact, he enjoys cooking so much he even does it on his days off. “I love to cook! People can’t believe I cook on my time off, but I do. And now my daughter is old enough to help me. There’s nothing better than to be in the kitchen cooking with her by my side,” he says.

Salmon and Mussel Skewer