Lorena Garcia Biography
Lorena Garcia is a Venezuelan chef who has opened several restaurants and gained notoriety through appearances on various television shows. She is well-known for the restaurants she currently owns in airports across the United States, as well as her appearance on the reality show Top Chef Masters.
How old is Lorena Garcia? – Age
She is 52 years old as of 24 February 2023. She was born in 1971 in Caracas, Venezuela.
Lorena Garcia Family
Lorena grew up in a familial environment. Blanca Ibáez, a Venezuelan politician who served as secretary to former Venezuelan President Jaime Lusinchi, is her mother. In September of 1991, Ibáez married Lusinchi. Lorena’s stepfather till his death in May 2014 was Lusinchi. She used to cook for them at family gatherings when she was a kid. She kept her family entertained by cooking for them, and she attributes her success to these events.
Lorena Garcia Education
Garcia originally wanted to be a lawyer and attended Santa Maria University in Caracas, Venezuela, where she received her law degree. She subsequently moved to the United States to pursue an associate degree in Paralegal Studies and to take an English class. Garcia, on the other hand, quickly realized that her heart was not in the subject of law and felt compelled to change her career path. She decided to change her professional path and enrolled at Johnson & Wales University to get a degree in culinary arts.
Lorena Garcia Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $5 million.
Lorena Garcia Top Chef Masters
Garcia competed in the fourth season of Top Chef Masters, and she opted to represent the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Garcia completed nine episodes, winning two quickfire challenges and two elimination challenges. Lorena was constantly chastised by her opponents for her lack of classical training. Lorena Garcia’s last show, “Old School, New School,” had her educating a culinary student without becoming involved in the preparation, and her dish was defeated by Kerry Heffernan’s.
Lorena Garcia Restaurants
Garcia founded Food Café in Miami’s Design District in 2002. Later that year, she opened Elements Tierra in the Design District. Both restaurants’ cuisines were influenced by both Latin and Asian cooking traditions. Garcia sold both eateries in 2008.
Garcia got a position as an executive chef at Miami International Airport in February 2011. She realized the importance of providing comfort food to tired tourists. Garcia created her own restaurant in the airport’s American Airlines terminal to meet this demand. Lorena Garcia Cocina aims to present customers with a healthy spin on classic Latin cuisine.
Garcia Cocina serves meals such as Shrimp Ceviche, Baked Empanadas, and Caribbean Jerk Chicken to tourists in order to satisfy their appetites for wholesome and gourmet food while on the road. Lorena Garcia Tapas, her second travelers’ restaurant, debuted in August 2012 at Atlanta International Airport, Delta International. As of September 2016, Garcia had launched a third restaurant in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport.
In May 2017, Chef Lorena collaborated with John Kunkel of 50 Eggs (Yardbird, Swine, and others) to establish CHICA, an upmarket Latin American restaurant inside the opulent Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip. Garcia is the first female Latino chef to appear on the strip.
Lorena Garcia Chica
In May 2017, Chef Lorena collaborated with John Kunkel of 50 Eggs (Yardbird, Swine, and others) to establish CHICA, an upmarket Latin American restaurant inside the opulent Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip. Garcia is the first female Latino chef to appear on the strip.
Lorena Garcia Cookware
Lorena and Joy Mangano, president of Ingenious Design, launched their new cookware line, the Lorena Bella Kitchen Collection, on November 14, 2013. Cookware with Technolon Plus, Corningware oven to tabletop serveware, and a variety of smart accessories are among the items offered in the Lorena Bella Kitchen Collection for HSN.
Lorena debuted Food Hunters, an international reality show for children in which teams from Latin America compete for culinary scholarships, on October 14, 2016. The series ended on January 15, 2017.
Lorena Garcia America’s Next Great Restaurant
Garcia appeared on NBC’s “America’s Next Great Restaurant” as an investor and judge. Chefs Curtis Stone, Bobby Flay, and Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill, also judged the show. Despite coming from the makers of Top Chef Masters, this is not your typical cooking show. In actuality, it is a reality show in which participants compete for investors rather than directly competing in cooking competitions. Because of low ratings, NBC cancelled the show after one season on May 13, 2011.
Lorena Garcia Books
Garcia has a large number of recipes, many of which she has put into a cookbook. “Lorena Garcia’s New Latin Classics” is the title of the book. The hardcover book contains 256 pages of Latin food recipes, most of which use items like beans, rice, and salsa. She also wrote “Lorena Garcia’s New Taco Classics” (2015).