# @pittsburghpg on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DUZUTnsDcXN
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/55498289-pittsburghpg-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/fc0e658c53.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-02-06T00:01:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (@pittsburghpg) — https://gondola.cc/pittsburghpg

## Caption

Fernando Canales officially started his culinary career more than 20 years ago at a tourism school more than 2,600 miles from Pittsburgh. But the roots of his education, he says, actually reach back to his childhood in Tlaxcala, a Mexican city with colonial roots about an hour east of Mexico City. 

His mother, Velia, the 41-year-old executive chef recalls, loved nothing as much as she loved being in the kitchen. She even danced on occasion as she prepared the traditional Mexican foods the family had made and loved for generations. 

Stuffing poblanos with cheese to make chile rellenos or stirring together a classic mole “made her really happy,” he recalls with a smile in Fairmont Pittsburgh’s (fairmontpittsburgh) gleaming commercial kitchen, where he has served as executive chef since February 2024. Job duties include developing the menu at its upscale restaurant, fl.2, and managing all back-of-house operations for the hotel, including banquets.

📝: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette
📸: Sebastian Foltz/Post-Gazette

#pittsburgh #pghfood #pgheats

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## Tags

pgheats, pghfood, pittsburgh

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