Famous Chicago Chef Homaro Cantu Found Dead After Committing Suicide
World renowned Chef Homaro Cantu was found dead on Tuesday after hanging himself in a building where he planned to open a new brewery on the Northwest Side of Chicago.
The 38-year-old chef, who famously blended science and cuisine, owned and operated the Cantu Designs Firm and critically acclaimed Moto Restaurant in Chicago.
"I loved him dearly. It's really terrible to see him go in this way. I'm going to miss him a lot," said Cantu's friend and business partner, Trevor Rose-Hamblin, to The Sun-Times.
On Wednesday, an autopsy conducted by the Cook County medical examiner's ruled his death a suicide committed by hanging, reports CBS Chicago.
Cantu was best known for his inventive molecular gastronomy and his creative cuisine that included edible menus, carbonated fruit and a fish preparation that cooked in a tabletop polymer box. He was also known for "flavor tripping," which uses a miracle berry to trick people into think something sour is sweet.
After enduring homelessness while growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Cantu combined food and science as a solution to the world's problems, like hunger.
Cantu aksi spent four years working under his idol Chef Charlie Trotter at the famed Lincoln Park restaurant before opening Moto. Following Trotter's death in 2013, Cantu and other chefs created the Trotter Project, a three-year capital campaign with former Trotter employees and family members.
"Please everyone, send your thoughts/prayers to the family & loved ones of chef Homaro Cantu. A great friend, a horrible loss; speechless," tweeted Cantu's friend, Chef Graham Elliot.
"The whole city -- It's not going to be the same place without him," said Rose-Hamblin.
Cantu is survived by his wife, Katie McGowan, and their two young daughters, Fox News reports.
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