Gregory Gourdet, an Iron Chef of Haitian descent, was a finalist on Season 17 of Top Chef All-Stars in Los Angeles and a runner-up on Season 12 of Top Chef in Boston. The chef will appear as one of the Challenger Chefs on Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend on Netflix.
Gregory Gourdet will fight alongside Mason Hereford, Mei Lin, Claudette Zepeda, Curt Duffy, Esther Choi, and Yia Vang in Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend for the title of ‘Iron Legend.’
Gregory Gourdet from the television show Iron Chef
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Gourdet is a well-known chef, best-selling author, and television personality who was born in Queens, New York. He is the owner of the popular pop-up restaurant Kann PDX and the former executive chef and culinary director of Portland, Oregon’s Departure at The Nines.
Gourdet was born to Haitian immigrants in New York City and attended St. Andrew’s High School (Delaware). After completing one year of pre-med at New York University (NYU), he studied animal biology at the University of Montana (UM) before earning a degree in French.
Gourdet discovered his passion for cooking while attending UM. He then enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America, where he was the first student to intern for the renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Gourdet developed his culinary abilities under the Masterchef for almost seven years while working at three of Jean-Georges’ businesses. Before arriving in Portland in 2008, he began as an intern and worked his way up to become one of the chef de cuisines.
He was the owner of Departure Restaurant + Lounge for ten years before leaving in 2019 to focus on opening Kann, a wood-fired restaurant where he planned to offer Haitian and Caribbean diaspora cuisine to American diners.
Due to the outbreak, his plans to open a restaurant were put on wait, although he did organize a Portland Kann pop-up.
Gourdet, a three-time James Beard Award contender, was also named “Chef of the Year” by Eater Portland and the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
In 2021, his first cookbook combining gluten-free and Paleo-friendly recipes, Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health, was a nationwide bestseller.
He has just received the James Beard Award for Best General Cookbook for the same book. Gourdet, who recently shocked everyone with his weight loss transformation, enjoys trail running and yoga to maintain his physical and mental wellness.
The broadcast journey of Iron Chef Gregory Gourdet
Gourdet rose to popularity after placing second in Season 12 of Bravo’s Top Chef in 2015.
He also appeared as a guest judge on several Top Chef spin-offs, including Top Chef: All-Stars L.A., where he was a finalist, as well as Top Chef (18th Season), Top Chef Amateurs, and Top Chef Family Style.
He has also participated in Extreme Chef and Iron Chef Showdown, among other culinary competitions.
The struggle of Iron Chef Gregory Gourdet to lose weight
Gregory Gourdet astonished everyone with his weight loss transformation before to the 15 February 2022 premiere of Luda Can’t Cook on Discovery+. Gourdet appeared as a guest on the program of Chris “Ludacris” Bridges.
During the epidemic, the chef gained weight, and when he recognized he had reached his heaviest, he resolved to lose weight through yoga and intermittent fasting.
However, his strategies “just weren’t working,” so he incorporated a few extra routines, such as power walking, keto, and fasting, resulting in a 40-pound weight loss, from 212 to 172 pounds. Wednesday, you can watch Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend on Netflix to observe Gourdet in the kitchen.
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