Anthony Serrano, former owner and chef of El Palacio Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, has joined Ginger Monkey in south Chandler as a temporary guest chef and culinary consultant.
Serrano says he is helping the two-year-old Ginger Monkey with ‘‘planning an amazing new menu and making several cool changes that we know the community is going to love.’’
Ginger Monkey, situated on the southwest corner of Arizona and Ocotillo, has offered a menu of burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, pasta, and a few entrees. The unspecified changes will be rolled out over the upcoming weeks and months.
Serrano, whose family owns a small chain of Mexican restaurants in western Arizona, made his Valley debut in 2008 with Bella Vino, an Italian restaurant on the southeast corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights in south Chandler.
In 2009, though, he switched the menu to Mexican, changed the name to El Palacio, and relocated the restaurant next to the Harkins Theatres on the northwest corner of Gilbert and Germann in Chandler.
Serrano rose to prominence by advancing to the finals of the World Food Championships in 2016. He later competed on two Food Network shows: ‘‘Ginormous’’ and ‘‘Chopped.’’
El Palacio closed in January 2018.
