Renowned Chicago chef Homaro Cantu found dead

Innovative chef Homaro Cantu was found dead Tuesday afternoon on Chicago’s Northwest Side, according to authorities. Police are investigating the death as apparent suicide by the 38-year-old chef and part owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant Moto. 

Cantu was know for his avant-garde cuisine that feature edible menus and carbonated fruit, but he had ambtions that extended beyond being a renowned chef. Motivated by his family’s homelessness when he was a child, “Cantu presented food and science as a way to solve the world’s problems, particularly hunger.”

His former restaurant iNG and recently opened coffee shop Berrista prominently featured the miracle berry, a fruit that makes sour foods taste sweet. Cantu felt the fruit could eliminate the need for sugar and in 2013 he wrote a cookbook touting the miracle berry’s benefits.

Cantu worked in acclaimed chef Charlie Trotter’s kitchen for four years before becoming Moto’s chef in 2004. He later became an owner of Moto, which has been honored with one Michelin star since the 2012 guide. After Trotter died in 2013, Cantu served on the board of the foundation established in the famed chef’s name.

In March Cantu was sued by a former investor in Moto and iNG, Alexander Espalin, who claimed Cantu improperly used Moto’s business bank account for personal use, including trips, meals and personal business. Espalin also alleged that Cantu was using profits from Moto to prop up other failing businesses.