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Aarón Sánchez (born February 12, 1976) is a Mexican-American
celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...
, restaurateur, cookbook author, television personality host, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the executive head chef and part-owner of the Mexican restaurant Johnny Sánchez in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. He co-starred on Food Network's hit series '' Chopped'' and '' Chopped Jr.'' and hosted Cooking Channel's Emmy-nominated '' Taco Trip''. He has appeared on ''
Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...
'', and is one of the few chefs whose battles have ended in a draw, tying with
Masaharu Morimoto is a Japanese chef, best known as an Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show ''Iron Chef'' and its spinoff ''Iron Chef America''. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food. Career Morimoto was born in Hiroshima, where he rece ...
in "Battle Black Bass" in season 2. He was also a contestant on '' The Next Iron Chef''. He is the author of two cookbooks, and had a memoir released October 1, 2019. He launched the Aarón Sánchez Scholarship Fund to empower aspiring chefs from the Latin community to follow their dreams and attend
culinary school A cooking school is an institution devoted to education in the art and science of cooking and food preparation. There are many different types of cooking schools around the world, some devoted to training professional chefs, others aimed at amat ...
. In the spring of 2017, he became a full-time judge co-hosting FOX's hit reality-TV culinary competition series ''
MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...
'' for Season 8, which aired over the summer of 2017 alongside
Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...
,
Joe Bastianich Joseph Bastianich (born September 17, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author and television personality. He, along with his mother and business partner Lidia Bastianich, co-owns thirty restaurants in four countries, including Osteria Mozza i ...
and Christina Tosi after previously guest-starring in season 7 as a guest judge until his departure from the show after Season 14. He has also joined the judging panel of ''
MasterChef Junior ''MasterChef Junior'' is an American cooking competition involving children from the ages of 8–13 that premiered on Fox on September 27, 2013. It is based on the format of the British series '' Junior MasterChef''. In October 2023, the seri ...
'' since its 7th season, which debuted in March 2019, after guest-starring in season 5, which debuted early 2017.


Personal life

Aarón and his twin brother Rodrigo, an attorney in New York City, were born in 1976, in Chihuahua, Mexico, to
Zarela Martínez Zarela Martínez is an American restaurateur and cookbook author. She learned cooking from her mother Aida Gabilondo. Martínez serves on the board of directors for the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York. Biography Martínez has been instrum ...
, a restaurateur and the author of several cookbooks, and Adolfo Sanchez.The Untold Truth Of MasterChef's Aaron Sanchez
/ref> He began cooking at an early age, helping his mother prepare traditional
Mexican foods Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agricultural communities, ...
for her catering business. In 1984, the family moved to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, and his mother launched the acclaimed Café Marimba, where Sánchez began to cook in a professional kitchen. At age 16, Sánchez's mother sent him to New Orleans to spend the summer working with Chef
Paul Prudhomme Paul Prudhomme (July 13, 1940 – October 8, 2015), also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef propriet ...
. In 1994, Sánchez graduated from
Dwight School Dwight School is a private independent for-profit college preparatory school located on Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City. Dwight offers the International Baccalaureate curriculum to students ages two through grade twelve. History Fou ...
, and began to work full-time for Prudhomme in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. Sánchez was married to singer Ifé Mora from 2009 until 2012. He has a son named Yuma. On episode 21 of ''MasterChef'' season 9, he revealed that his mentor was Jonathan Waxman.


Career

In 1996, after working under Prudhomme, Aarón returned north to study culinary arts at
Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its cam ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
. In 1996, he returned to New York, and worked in the kitchen at Patria under nuevo-Latino chef, Douglas Rodriguez. Sánchez met his future business partner, Alex Garcia while working there. Garcia left Patria in 1996 to open Erizo Latino, taking Sánchez to help open the restaurant. Reviews were positive, referring to the restaurant as "casual" and "earthy," and "the fare is enticingly wholesome, and the kitchen's best dishes make a fine introduction to the cooking of Central and South America." Sánchez then became executive chef at L-Ray, which specialized in foods from the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
. This was followed by another executive chef position at Isla, a restaurant inspired by pre-Revolutionary
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. Sanchez then moved to San Francisco, working under Chef
Reed Hearon Reed Hearon (born 1957) is an American chef, cookbook author, businessperson, and restauranteur. During the 1990s dot-com bubble, he opened many notable restaurants in San Francisco, California, including LuLu, Rose Pistola, Rose's Cafe, Cafe Mar ...
at
Rose Pistola Rose Pistola was an Italian restaurant in the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco. Specializing in cuisine from the Ligurian region of Italy, it opened in 1996, by Reed Hearon, a Texas-born chef, and received the James Beard Foundation ...
. Eamon Furlong hired Sánchez in 2000, to open Paladar, a pan-Latin restaurant on the Lower East Side. It opened in February 2001, and won
Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...
's award for Best New Lower East Side Restaurant that year. It went on to be named the Best Latin American Restaurant in their 2002 Eating and Drinking Guide. Paladar had been reviewed as being "colorful, lively circus of a restaurant that’s equal parts serious cooking and serious partying," and was named a Critic's Pick by ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
'' magazine. Sánchez sold his interest in the Paladar restaurant in 2010. Sánchez went on to become chef of Mexican New York eatery Centrico, which closed in 2012. He opened the restaurant Johnny Sánchez in Baltimore with fellow chef
John Besh John Besh (born May 14, 1968) is an American chef, TV personality, philanthropist, restaurateur and author. He is known for his efforts in preserving the culinary heritage of New Orleans cuisine. Background Besh was born in Meridian, Mississippi ...
in August 2014. The Baltimore location closed in September 2017. The pair opened a second Johnny Sánchez location in October 2014 in New Orleans. As of February 2019, Besh is no longer a part of Johnny Sánchez; Aarón Sánchez and partners, Miles Landrem and Drew Mire, purchased and now own the restaurant. The three partners also are planning to develop a second restaurant in New Orleans, eyeing the Mid-City area, though the name and location have not been announced. In 2017, he joined ''MasterChef'' US Season 8 as a judge alongside
Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...
and Christina Tosi, replacing Graham Elliot, to taste and help judge contestants' cooking and baking with Ramsay and Tosi in order to crown the next MasterChef. He is an expert in many cooking techniques and global cuisines, but his specialty of cooking traditional Mexican cuisine is often used throughout the season. In 2019, he guest-starred on the first episode of ''
Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back ''Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back'' is an American reality television series that aired on Fox from June 13, 2018 to May 12, 2020. Starring chef Gordon Ramsay, the show features his travels across the United States, visiting failing ...
'' season 2 as an extra expeditor, and revealed he lives nearby to The Trolley Café in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. Sánchez released a memoir, ''Where I Come From: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef,'' on October 1, 2019. In 2020, he guest judged a Mexican food challenge on season 19 of ''
Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...
''.


Television appearances


Bibliography

Cookbooks *''La Comida del Barrio: Latin-American Cooking in the U.S.A.'', 2003, *''Simple Food Big Flavor: Unforgettable Mexican-Inspired Recipes from My Kitchen to Yours'', 2011, Memoir *''Where I Come From: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef'', 2019,


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Aaron American male chefs American television chefs Dwight School alumni Living people People from El Paso, Texas 1976 births Food Network chefs American people of Mexican descent Johnson & Wales University alumni Judges in American reality television series