Who is Top Chef contestant Gabe Erales?
CHEF Gabe Erales has been competing on this season of Top Chef. On the show, he has become one of the finalists headed into the Season 18 finale of Top Chef. Gabe Erales is one of 15 contests of season 18 of Bravo TV's Top Chef. An El Paso, TX native, Erales began working in kitchens at just 15 years old. He graduated with his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas in 2002 before realizing his love of cooking and completed culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in 2006. According to his website, "Gabes cooking philosophy strives to focus on locality through strength in relationships with local farmers. Gabe also seeks honesty in his roots by sourcing unique varieties of landrace corn, chiles and other ingredients from different regions of Mexico." Erales currently owns his own restaurant, a Mexican-inspired eatery called Bacalar. It is slated to open in the Fall of 2021. 4 Gabe also owns his own restaurant Credit: Getty  Throughout his cooking career, Erales has received multiple awards for his restaurant including 2020 CultureMap Restaurant of the Year, Esquire's Best New Restaurant in America, Texas Monthly Best New Restaurant 2020, and was an Austin 40 Under 40 Nominee. A lot of how I look at food today is also largely influenced by my time working with Chef Jesse Griffiths [of Dai Due] and Rene Redzepi [of Noma], Erales told Forbes back in 2019. They both have an equally interesting talent of identifying the beauty in local products and bringing the absolute best out of them while minimizing waste.  He has been recognized by top food magazines including, Esquire, austin monthly, TRIBEZA, and TexasMonthly. According to his website, Erales also has a scholarship fund called Ninos De Maz, with the vision to "create educational and career opportunities for underprivileged Hispanic immigrants by creating a revenue source for secondary education at the Culinary Institute of America." Not much information on his family is available, but he is a husband and father. Erales also has a large social media following with over 18,000 followers on Instagram. The Season 18 finale of Top Chef will air on Thursday, July 1, 2021. The finale will be two back-to-back episodes beginning at 9pm ET on Bravo. The winner of the finale will receive $250,000. There are three finalists going into the July 1 finale. After 13 weeks of competition, those three contestants are: