Homaro Cantu
| Homaro Cantu | |
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Cantu at the 2008 Cusp Conference
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| Born |
Homaro Cantu Jr. September 23, 1976 Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | April 14, 2015 (aged 38) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Education | Western Culinary Institute |
| Home town | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Katie McGowan (m. 2003–15) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | www |
| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | Molecular gastronomy |
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Homaro "Omar" Cantu Jr. (September 23, 1976 – April 14, 2015) was an American chef and inventor known for his use of molecular gastronomy. As a child, Cantu was fascinated with science and engineering. While working in a fast food restaurant, he discovered the similarities between science and cooking and decided to become a chef. In 1999, he was hired by his idol, Chicago chef Charlie Trotter. In 2003, Cantu became the first chef of Moto, which he later purchased.
Through Moto, Cantu explored his unusual ideas about cooking including edible menus, carbonated fruit, and food cooked with a laser. Initially seen as a novelty only, Moto eventually earned critical praise and, in 2012, a Michelin star. Cantu's second restaurant, iNG, and his coffee house, Berrista, focused on the use of "miracle berries" to make sour food taste sweet. He was working on opening a brewery called Crooked Fork at the time of his suicide in 2015.
In addition to being a chef, Cantu was a media personality, appearing regularly on TV shows, and an inventor. In 2010, he produced and co-hosted a show called Future Food. Through his media appearances, he advocated for an end to world hunger and thought his edible paper creation and the miracle berry could play a significant role in that goal. Cantu volunteered his time and money to a variety of charities and patented several food gadgets.
Cantu was born in Tacoma, Washington, on September 23, 1976. His father was a fabrication engineer and Cantu developed a passion for science and engineering at a young age. He disassembled the family lawn mower three times to learn how it worked, and his "Christmas gifts would wind up in a million pieces."
A self-described problem child, Cantu grew up in Portland, Oregon. From the age of six to nine, he was homeless with his mother Laurie Cantu and sister Angela Cantu. He would later credit the homelessness for his inspiration to make food and become a social entrepreneur. At the age of twelve, Cantu was nearly jailed for starting a large fire near his apartment. That same year, he took his first job, working in fried-food fast food restaurant (he lied on the application and said he was 16) to earn money to buy gadgets such as remote-controlled airplanes. When the owner bought a tandoori oven, Cantu's life was changed; he saw that cooking was similar to working in a science lab. "It is chemistry and physics and biology all wrapped into one," Cantu later remarked as an adult. "What other field can I experiment on something different every single day?"
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Wikipedia