33 Facts About Homaro Cantu

In 2003, Homaro Cantu became the first chef of Moto, which he later purchased.

Homaro Cantu was working on opening a brewery called Crooked Fork at the time of his suicide in 2015.

Homaro Cantu volunteered his time and money to a variety of charities and patented several food gadgets.

Homaro Cantu's father was a fabrication engineer and Cantu developed a passion for science and engineering at a young age.

At the age of twelve, Homaro Cantu was nearly jailed for starting a large fire near his fathers house and began working at a fast food restaurant.

Homaro Cantu later described the owner's purchase of a tandoori oven as spurring his interest in cooking.

Homaro Cantu graduated from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland and spent the next two years staging on the West Coast.

Homaro Cantu eventually worked his way up to become one of Trotter's sous chefs.

In 2003, Homaro Cantu learned of a chef opening at a soon-to-open restaurant called Moto.

However, after Homaro Cantu cooked an elaborate seven-course meal featuring an exploding ravioli and a small table-top box that cooked fish, De Vito instead hired Homaro Cantu.

Homaro Cantu was a prolific inventor, filing more than 100 patent applications, and signing deals with NASA and Whirlpool for use of his inventions.

Pete Wells credited Homaro Cantu with pioneering the use of intellectual property licensing as a source of income for chefs.

In 2007, Homaro Cantu appeared on Iron Chef America, defeating Masaharu Morimoto.

Homaro Cantu returned to the show in 2013, again facing off with Morimoto, this time in a battle of herring.

Also in 2007, Homaro Cantu was featured in the documentary series Unwrapped and on Dinner: Impossible.

Homaro Cantu appeared on Good Morning America and twice on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Homaro Cantu was featured on Roadtrip Nation in season six and was twice a guest judge on Hell's Kitchen.

Homaro Cantu appeared on the November 27,2011, episode of CNN's The Next List.

In 2010, Homaro Cantu produced and co-hosted a TV show called Future Food on Discovery's Planet Green.

Homaro Cantu was a prominent proponent of "miracle berries", which he believed could end hunger by allowing people to eat normally unpalatable food and end dependence on processed sugar.

On Future Food, Homaro Cantu demonstrated this idea by spending a week on a diet of miracle berries and common weeds, grass, and leaves he found in his backyard.

In 2013, Homaro Cantu founded the Trotter Project, a non-profit aimed at providing culinary education to students in poor neighborhoods.

Homaro Cantu donated up to 250 lunches a day to kids in the Old Irving Park neighborhood who picked them up at Berrista.

Espalin alleged that Homaro Cantu had misused restaurant funds for personal use and to promote Homaro Cantu's cookbook.

Homaro Cantu said he did not receive his share of Moto's profits and called for Cantu's ousting from Moto.

Homaro Cantu did not leave a note and had no history of depression or mental illness.

Homaro Cantu's wife said they had had "one of the best conversations of our life the other night about how we were going to fight [Espalin]" and that everything seemed fine.

Family friend and fellow chef Matthias Merges said Homaro Cantu seemed stressed in recent days, but was shocked by the news of Homaro Cantu's death.

Homaro Cantu had two daughters and two sisters Angela Cantu and Felicia Cantu.

Homaro Cantu was known for his generosity and positive attitude.

Homaro Cantu was described as a "celebrity chef" and his restaurants as "internationally renowned".

Farina said Homaro Cantu had created a "very inspirational environment" at Moto to which he would "always stay connected".

McGowan, who inherited Moto after her husband's death, said that the sale was a "bittersweet decision" that came "after deep reflection of the lasting impact" her late husband Homaro Cantu had made with his innovative restaurant.