Restaurants & Gigs: La Chispa (Television), Carmen the Restaurant, Carmen at the Danforth
Position: Chef and Television Personality
Cuisine focus: Modern American cuisine with Latin influences
Notable Awards: “Best New Restaurant” by Esquire Magazine and Florida Trends, AAA’s Four Diamond Award, Bravo TV’s “Top Chef Masters”, features in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Food Arts, and more.
Celebrated Chef and culinary artist Carmen Gonzalez has been spicing up kitchens and gracing dining rooms for more than 25 years. Chef Carmen’s unique blend of modern American cuisine with Latin influences has garnered national recognition while also giving her a platform to support a variety of culinary and non-culinary charitable organizations across the country. In 2003, she opened Carmen the Restaurant in Miami to critical acclaim, being named a “Best New Restaurant” by Esquire magazine. Other accolades for the restaurant included Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence 2004-2006, AAA’s coveted Four Diamond Award in 2005 and 2006, Florida Trend’s “Best New Restaurants,” and coverage in the New York Times, Miami Herald, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Food Arts and more. In 2010, Chef Carmen was seen in the champions round on season two of Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters,” where she raised $10,000 for her charity, ASPCA. Chef Carmen’s Spanish language TV show “La Chispa de Chef Carmen Gonzalez” with MGM Latin America debuted on September 13, 2012 on Casa Club TV in the U.S. and Canal Ella, reaching more than 20 countries in over 20 million households in Latin America. Now concluding its second season, the ratings of the second season “La Chispa” exceeded the first.
1. What’s your regular comfort meal?
2. Tell us about one Kitchen Disaster story.
3. Do you have any kitchen battle scars?
4. If your last day was tomorrow, what would be your last meal?
5. What is and who makes your favorite knife?
6. Finish this sentence:
7. After a long work day, what do you do to decompress?
8. What do you wish you had more time to do?
9. Besides cooking, do you have any other talents?
10. What is your culinary “best case” scenario?
The one that I have at that moment.
Learn more about Chef Carmen Gonzalez on her Chef’s Roll profile here.
Chef Carmen Gonzalez will be participating at Puerto Rico Meets NYC in October 2015. Learn more about the event by clicking on the image below.
