Lorena Garcia
| Lorena Garcia | |
|---|---|
| Born | Caracas, Venezuela |
| Education | Santa Maria University in Venezuela Johnson and Wales University |
| Website | http://www.cheflorenagarcia.com/ |
Lorena Garcia is a Venezuelan chef who has opened multiple restaurants and became famous through appearances on multiple television shows. She is known for the restaurants she currently owns in airports across the United States of America, and for competing on the show Top Chef Masters. Garcia has put out her own cookbook and a line of kitchenware, while also making strides in her life to help end obesity.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Lorena grew up around her family. Her mother is Blanca Ibáñez, a Venezuelan politician and served as secretary to former Venezuelan president Jaime Lusinchi. Ibáñez married Lusinchi in September 1991. Lusinchi was since Lorena’s stepfather until his death in May 2014. As a child, she would cook for them at their family gatherings. She entertained her family by cooking for them and credits her success to these gatherings.
Originally seeking to become a lawyer, Garcia attended Santa Maria University in Caracas, Venezuela and earned her law degree. She then relocated to the United States to earn an associate degree in Paralegal Studies and took a class on speaking English. However, Garcia soon sensed that her passion wasn’t in the field of law and felt the need to change her career path. She decided to convert her career choice into becoming a chef and enrolled at Johnson & Wales University to earn her degree in culinary arts.
Garcia’s passion for food came from her family and their gatherings in her hometown. Her mother and her mother’s perseverance inspired Garcia to expand on this passion of hers and become a chef. Garcia aimed to inspire others as well. She chose to develop nutritional programs for childhood obesity to inspire families to reduce childhood health issues. Garcia finds it to be fulfilling to watch families make changes and gain their own inspiration through her programs. Garcia’s main inspiration as a chef is to bring loved ones together to enjoy wonderful food, just how it would bring her own family together.
After receiving her degree in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales University, Garcia began her career as a chef through an apprenticeship at the Ritz-Carlton in Paris, France. After working at the Ritz-Carlton, Garcia went on a tour through several cities known for their culinary cuisine and landed culinary jobs in several countries, including Italy, Japan, Korea, Thailand and China. Through these jobs Garcia was able to get an exposure to world cuisine and was able to work with world-renowned chefs such as Pascal Audin.
...
Wikipedia