Bruno cooking at The Palette

The Mississippi Museum of Art announced Luis Bruno as the new executive chef of The Palette Café by Viking, which is located in the museum. Bruno is a native of Bronx, N.Y., and as a boy, left home at age 13 to work in his brother’s pizzeria in upstate New York. In 1993, he moved to Florida to earn a degree in culinary arts, where he met his wife, Kathleen.

Three years later, the couple relocated to Kathleen’s hometown of Jackson where Bruno was appointed executive chef at the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion during the Kirk Fordice administration.

Bruno left the Governor’s Mansion in 2001 to open his restaurant, Bruno’s Eclectic Cuisine. Unfortunately, the eatery closed in 2003 due to Bruno’s health issues.

A year later, Bruno reprised his role as executive chef at the Governor’s Mansion under Gov. Haley Barbour.