For 15 years and counting, judges like Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef have granted numerous aspiring and promising chefs a platform to show off their skills and have gifted winners a $250,000 grand cash prize.Gabe Erales was the season 18 winner and the latest top chef joining the likes of Floyd Cardoz, the Season 3 winner, who unfortunately succumbed to COVID-19 in 2020. Erales' top skills doubtlessly deserve a spot in the class of winners, as he's one of the most talented chefs to appear on the show.Due to a ton of experience in cooking, as Gabe Erales started cooking at age 15, he earned a position as the CEO of Comedor Restaurant. Additionally, Erales is very educated. He's a graduate of the following programs, BS Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas and from the University of Oklahoma, Master's of Science, Mechanical Engineering. He also studied Culinary Arts at Le Cordon Bleu. Erales has recently been trending for the wrong reasons, as he was allegedly involved in a sexual scandal. Here are eight things to know about Gabe Erales.
8 Gabe Erales' Marriage
Season 18 Bravo's Top Chef is married to Linda Young. Young studied a Bachelor of Education in Spanish at the University of Eastern New Mexico and graduated. She was even a member of the Omega fraternity and the president of the Spanish club back then.
After school, Linda Young moved to Texas as a recruiter for Goodwill between 2014 and 2015, and that is when she met Gabe Erales. The duo lives in Austin, Texas as a family, and together they have been blessed with three kids. Currently, she works as a technical source for Facebook.
7 Gabe Erales Is An Engineer By Profession
Culinary sciences are not the only things that Chef Gabe Erales is a professional in. He's also a trained engineer. Erale's bio on Bravo TV says that he went to the University of Texas and pursued a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.
Later he advanced his studies and did a master's degree in the same. However, although he's a trained engineer, his love for cooking led him to professional cooking, and he's now proud working as a chef.
6 Gabe Erales' Experience In The Kitchen
Gabe Erales began working in restaurants at the age of 15 in El Paso, Texas. According to Bravo TV, cooking was Erales first job, and he started it even before joining the university.
Despite having knowledge in the lucrative career of engineering, Erales focused on his calling, which was in the kitchen.
All that time he continued cooking and also went to a culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, Austin. Due to the influence from his parents who are of Mexican roots, he started preparing Mexican cuisine, which he's perfected since then.
5 Gabe Erales Has Been A C.E.O Of Comedor Restaurant
One of the most recent jobs Gabe Erales took on was as the Chief Executive Officer for the Comedor Restaurant. With a great desire to serve customers with Mexican cuisines, Erales has thrived in the business and is one of the best chefs.
He managed this by creating strong relationships with the local and foreign suppliers and farmers. That ensured Erales always had access to unique ingredients from different parts of America and Mexico. While he was the CEO, Comedor was voted Best New Restaurant by Esquire Magazine and Austin Monthly in 2019 and Texas Monthly in 2020.
4 Gabe Erales' Sexual Harassment Scandal
When news broke that season 18 Top Chef winner Gabe Erales was involved in sexual harassment, there was a lot of public outroar. Just like a former winner, Paul Qui, the controversy disgraced Erales after winning the title because his win had a bitter taste surrounding it now.
The allegations were made known when he was working as the executive chef of the Comedor Restaurant. He later revealed that he had a consensual relationship with a member of his staff in summer 2020 before filming Top Chef. The relationship ended, but he continued to keep in touch unprofessionally.
3 Gabe Erales Fired From Comedor And Issues An Apology
According to Entertainment Weekly, Erales's former boss said he fired the chef for repeatedly violating policies against harassment of women. Since the season ended in October and Erales was fired in December, no more details on the kind of violations were disclosed.
After some time, Erales took to Instagram and spoke to the statesman where he apologized for having a consensual relationship with a co-worker and later reducing her work hours. He stated that he was deeply sorry for the impact that his poor decisions had on those involved.
2 Gabe Erales Created A Culinary School
Gabe Erales' mission is to empower Hispanics for career growth through elite culinary education. While most of his time was spent working in restaurants, proceeded to complete culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu.
A realization dawned on Erales that many young Hispanics and immigrants working in restaurants dreamed of attending elite culinary schools, but it was difficult due to financial difficulties. The goal of Niños De Maíz is to ease the financial burden, as well as offer mentorship.
1 Gabe Erales Set To Open A Mexican Eatery
Gabe Erales is set to open a Mexican-inspired eatery called Bacalar, sometime this summer. This is a partnership between Erales and Austin-based owner and CEO of Urbanspace Real Estate and Interiors, Kevin Burns, plus the company's lead designer Meril Alley.
The restaurant's menu is still under construction but will mostly be based on Erales family memories and experiences in Bacalar. Recently, Erales has been crowned Prince of pork two years in a row. This was after he won both the 2018 and 2019 Cochon 555 culinary competitions in Austin.
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