Chef-Partner, Ometeo Restaurant; Tysons, VA and President and Executive Director, Hands Offering Hope; Trumbull, CT

Gabe Erales is chef and partner at Ometeo Restaurant and the president and executive director of the nonprofit organization, Hands Offering Hope. Born and raised in a small border town near El Paso, Texas, Erales’ parents moved to the U.S. from Quintana Roo, Mexico. Immersed in Mexican culture, Erales developed a passion for cooking early in his childhood and started working in restaurants when he was 15 years old. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, Erales recognized that his passion ultimately remained rooted in the kitchen. In 2010, he enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu and earned the prestigious Stephen Pyles Culinary Scholarship. Following graduation, the chef’s most notable work experience was working under Rene Redzepi for Noma's Mexico project in Tulum, Quintana Roo. In 2019, Erales joined the team at Comedor Restaurant as the opening executive chef; under his leadership, Comedor was named Best New Restaurant by Esquire and Texas Monthly. In 2021, Erales was crowned the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 18, becoming the first Mexican American to ever win the competition. He returned to the University of Texas at Austin in 2022 to pursue a certification in SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and later returned to Denmark, Copenhagen to complete Rene Redzepi’s MAD Academy Business & Leadership program.

In 2021, Erales partnered with Urbanspace to create Bacalar, a restaurant showcasing the diversity of the Yucatán Peninsula by paying homage to the influence of the region’s many other diasporas including Spanish, Lebanese, and Caribbean. Here, his cooking is inspired by comida milpera, which draws inspiration from Mexico’s milpa agriculture system and honors an ethos of deep-rooted relationships with farmers, suppliers, and partners. Chef Gabe also brought his talent to the East Coast with the opening of Ometeo, an upscale Tex-Mex restaurant located just outside Washington, D.C. in Tysons, VA. Passionate about giving back to his community, Erales created a scholarship fund for The Culinary Institute of America in 2021 called Ninos de Maiz, which provides Hispanic students with the support and tools needed to further their culinary education.