{{Short description|Ecuadorian American chef and restaurateur}}{{Infobox chef | honorific_prefix = | name = Jose Garces | honorific_suffix = | image = Jose Garces (sq cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt =Garces wearing a white shirt, smiling | caption = Garces in 2011 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | education = Kendall College | spouse = Dr. Beatriz Garces | style = Latin cuisine | ratings = | restaurants = {{plainlist| * Amada (2005-) * Tinto (2007 -) * Mercat a la Planxa (2008 - ) * Distrito Cantina (2008 - ) * Village Whiskey (2009 - ) * JG Domestic (2010 - ) * Volvér (2014 - ) * The Olde Bar (2015 - ) * Buena Onda (2015 - ) * Olón (2017 - ) * Okatshe (2017 - ) }} | prevrests = {{plainlist| * Hook & Master (2021 - 2023) * Garces Trading Company (2008 - 2018) * Chifa (2009 - 2013) * Old Town Whiskey (2011 - 2013) * El Jefe (2013 - 2016) * Rural Society (2014 -2017) * 24 (2017 -2018) }} | television = {{plainlist| * ''Iron Chef America'' (2008 as a challenger, 2010 - 2018 as an Iron Chef) * ''The Next Iron Chef'' (2009) * ''Tournament of Champions'' (2023) }} | awards = {{plainlist| * James Beard Foundation Award – 2009 }} | website = {{URL|https://www.chefgarces.com/}} | module = }}
'''Jose Garces''' is an American -Ecuadorian - Spanish chef, restaurant owner, and Iron Chef. He was born in Chicago to Ecuadorian parents. He won in the second season of ''The Next Iron Chef''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-next-iron-chef/index.html |title=The Next Iron Chef |website=www.foodnetwork.com |access-date=26 November 2009}}</ref>
==Early life== Garces was born in the early 1970s in Chicago, Illinois. He is the second of three children born to parents Jorge and Magdalena Garces and is of Ecuadorian heritage. He played varsity football and wrestled as a student at Gordon Technical High School.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nichols |first1=Rick |title=Jose Garces: Tapa by delicious tapa, a true Latino empire |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/food/restaurants/20080925_On_the_Side_.html |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=25 September 2008 |page=F01 |quote=He played varsity football (guard and linebacker on the Gordon Tech Rams), and in 1990 was the wrestling champ, 178-pound class, in Chicago's Catholic League where, just a few years later, Donovan McNabb lit up the field.}}</ref> Garces studied Culinary Arts at Kendall College in Chicago, graduating in 1996.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Toussaint |first1=Jensen |title=Jose Garces, cultivating the best of two worlds through food |url=https://aldianews.com/en/leadership/entrepreneurs/power-food |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=AL DÍA |date=14 September 2022}}</ref>
After graduating from college, Garces traveled to Spain to gain experience in European-style cooking and cuisine, returning to the United States a few years later to work in New York City.
==Career== Chef Douglas Rodriguez opened Alma de Cuba in Philadelphia with Garces as his executive chef in 2001.
Garces opened his first restaurant in 2005, Amada, named after his grandmother. The Spanish tapas restaurant was followed by restaurant concepts with locations in Philadelphia, Chicago, Arizona,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Jen |title=Wandering Chef: Jose Garces in Scottsdale |url=https://www.afar.com/magazine/wandering-chef-jose-garces-in-scottsdale |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=AFAR |date=23 February 2012}}</ref> New Jersey, Palm Springs,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Descant |first1=Skip |title=Saguaro ending relationship with chef Jose Garces |url=https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2016/01/15/saguaro-palm-springs-jose-garces/78857658/ |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=The Desert Sun |date=15 January 2016}}</ref> Washington, D.C., and New York City.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fabricant |first1=Florence |title=Jose Garces Opens Amada on Familiar Turf Downtown |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/dining/jose-garces-amada-downtown.html |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=New York Times |date=26 April 2016}}</ref> Following a few years of financial and legal challenges,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Attrino |first1=Anthony |title=Celebrity chef closes 2 restaurants, he'll serve as an exec at his others |url=https://www.nj.com/news/2018/07/celebrity_chef_closing_2_philly_restaurants_this_w.html |access-date=20 March 2023 |publisher=Advance Local Media |date=11 July 2018}}</ref> Garces filed for bankruptcy in 2018<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nurin |first1=Tara |title=Iron Chef Jose Garces Nearly Lost His Restaurant Empire; Instead He's Going Back To The Basics |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/taranurin/2018/12/31/iron-chef-jose-garces-nearly-lost-his-restaurant-empire-instead-hes-going-back-to-the-basics/?sh=3528633e1615 |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=Forbes |date=31 December 2018}}</ref> and sold his restaurants to IdEATion Hospitality as part of a restructuring.
IdEATion, along with Chef Garces, now run seven restaurants in Philadelphia: Amada, Tinto, Village Whiskey, Garces Trading Company, JG Domestic, Volvér, and Buena Onda. IdEATion and Chef Garces also manage four restaurants at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey: Amada - Ocean, Distrito Cantina - Ocean, Olón - Tropicana, and Okatshe - Tropicana.
==Television== Garces has been a challenger on ''Iron Chef America'', defeating Bobby Flay on a 2008 episode featuring melon.<ref name="CourierTimes">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/bcct/phillys-jose-garces-beats-iron-chef/ |title=Philly's Jose Garces beats Iron Chef |last=Cichy |first=Betty |work=Courier Times |publisher=Calkins Media |date=2008-08-19 |accessdate=2009-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924001552/http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/bcct/phillys-jose-garces-beats-iron-chef/ |archive-date=2009-09-24 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He also competed in the second season of ''The Next Iron Chef'' and he was selected the sixth Iron Chef after defeating opponent chef Jehangir Mehta on November 22, 2009.<ref name="Phily.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20091008_______Jose_Garces.html |title=Chatting with Jose Garces |last=LaBan |first=Craig |date=2009-10-08 |work=philly.com |accessdate=2009-10-14 |archive-date=2009-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009224107/http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20091008_______Jose_Garces.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Garces debuted as an Iron Chef on January 17, 2010, when he defeated Seattle chef Rachel Yang in Battle Hawaiian Moi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-next-iron-chef/index.html|title = The Next Iron Chef}}</ref> In 2023, Garces was a competitor in season 4 of ''Tournament of Champions''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=DeBianchi |first1=Antonia |title=Get a First Look at Guy Fieri's 'Tournament of Champions' Season 4 with the 'Best Roster Yet' |url=https://people.com/food/guy-fieri-tournament-of-champions-season-4-trailer-exclusive/ |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=People |date=2 February 2023}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 2002, he married Beatriz Garces, an executive in his Garces Group.{{citation needed|date=December 2024|reason=The SJ Magazine article only mention his children and not their mother. For all we know, Garces may have married several times or even never married .}} The couple has a daughter, Olivia, and a son, Andres.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Akman |first1=Terri |title=Chef Jose Garces: The family man behind the restaurant empire |url=https://sjmagazine.net/october-2014/garces |access-date=20 March 2023 |magazine=SJ Magazine |date=October 2014}}</ref>
==Awards and honors== * 2009: Best Chef Mid-Atlantic, James Beard Foundation<ref name="Citypaper">{{cite news|url=http://citypaper.net/blogs/mealticket/2009/05/04/chef-jose-garces-wins-best-chef-mid-atlantic-at-james-beard-awards/ |title=Chef Jose Garces wins Best Chef Mid-Atlantic at James Beard Awards |last=Lazor |first=Drew |work=Philadelphia City Paper |date=2009-05-04 |accessdate=2009-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007174317/http://citypaper.net/blogs/mealticket/2009/05/04/chef-jose-garces-wins-best-chef-mid-atlantic-at-james-beard-awards/ |archive-date=2009-10-07 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.garcesgroup.com/ Garces Group] *[http://www.revelresorts.com/dining/signature/amada Amada - Atlantic City]
{{The Next Iron Chef}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garces, Jose}} Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Chefs from Chicago Category:Kendall College alumni Category:American people of Ecuadorian descent Category:Food Network chefs Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners Category:Reality cooking competition winners
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