Lorena Garcia facts for kids

Lorena Garcia is a famous chef from Venezuela. She has opened many restaurants and is well-known from her TV show appearances. Lorena is especially famous for her restaurants in airports across the United States. She also competed on the TV show Top Chef Masters. Besides cooking, Lorena Garcia has written cookbooks and created her own kitchen tools. She also works hard to help stop obesity in children.

Early Life and Education

Lorena Garcia was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She grew up cooking for her family at their gatherings. She says these family cooking times helped her become successful.

Becoming a Chef

Lorena first studied law at Santa Maria University in Caracas. She even moved to the United States to study paralegal studies and learn English. But soon, she realized her true passion was cooking. So, she decided to become a chef. She enrolled at Johnson and Wales University to get her degree in culinary arts.

Cooking Inspiration

Lorena's love for food came from her family gatherings. Her mother's hard work also inspired her to follow her cooking dreams. Lorena wanted to inspire others too. She created special programs to help families eat healthier. These programs aim to reduce childhood obesity. Lorena feels happy when families make healthy changes because of her programs. Her main goal as a chef is to bring people together with delicious food.

Lorena Garcia's Career

First Cooking Jobs

After finishing culinary school, Lorena started her career. She worked as an apprentice at the Ritz Carlton in Paris, France. After that, she traveled the world. She worked in many countries known for their food, like Italy, Japan, and China. These jobs helped her learn about different foods from all over the world. She also worked with famous chefs during this time.

Lorena's Restaurants

In 2002, Lorena opened her first restaurant, Food Café, in Miami. Later that year, she opened Elements Tierra. Both restaurants mixed Latin and Asian cooking styles. She sold both restaurants in 2008.

Restaurants at Airports

In 2011, Lorena became an executive chef at the Miami International Airport. She saw that travelers needed comforting food. So, she opened Lorena Garcia Cocina in the American Airlines terminal. This restaurant offers healthy versions of traditional Latin dishes. Travelers can enjoy meals like Shrimp Ceviche and Caribbean Jerk Chicken.

In 2012, she opened her second airport restaurant, Lorena Garcia Tapas. This one is at the Atlanta International Airport. By 2016, Lorena had opened a third restaurant at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

In 2017, Lorena opened CHICA in Las Vegas. It's an upscale Latin American restaurant. She is the first female Latin chef to have a restaurant on the famous Las Vegas Strip.

Helping with Obesity Campaigns

Big Chef, Little Chef

Lorena saw how obesity was a problem in many homes. She wanted to help, especially with children. So, she created "Big Chef, Little Chef." This is a non-profit group that helps kids learn to eat healthy from a young age. The program often uses healthy versions of Hispanic foods.

Taco Bell Partnership

Lorena also worked with Taco Bell to fight obesity. This partnership started in 2010. Lorena helped change Taco Bell's menu. She added 8 new ingredients to different dishes. On July 5, 2012, Taco Bell launched the new Cantina Bell menu, thanks to Lorena Garcia.

Other Health Efforts

In 2011, Lorena also created food for public schools. She did this through an organization called "Alliance for a Healthier Generation." She also partnered with Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2014. NASCAR driver Danica Patrick helped promote Lorena's work there.

Television Appearances

Spanish Cooking Shows

Because of her Latin background and cooking skills, Lorena has been on many Spanish TV channels. These include Telemundo and FoxLife. She hosted shows like "Vida Gourmet" and "Sazón con Lorena Garcia." She also judged cooking shows such as "Cocineros al limite."

Top Chef Masters

Lorena Garcia competed on season four of Top Chef Masters. This is a reality show on the Bravo network. She competed for the "Alliance for a Healthier Generation" charity. Lorena made it through nine episodes. She won two quick challenges and two main cooking challenges. She finished third among twelve chefs on the show.

NBC's America's Next Great Restaurant

Lorena Garcia was also a judge and investor on NBC's "America's Next Great Restaurant". Other judges included famous chefs like Bobby Flay. This show was a reality competition where people tried to get investors for their restaurant ideas. NBC canceled the show after its first season.

Other TV Shows

Lorena has appeared on many other TV shows. She was on talk shows like The Queen Latifah Show and The Talk. She also appeared on cooking shows like Guy's Grocery Games and The Chew. Lorena was a guest judge on Tournament of Champions. She even played a version of herself on the Nickelodeon show Talia in the Kitchen.

Products by Lorena Garcia

Cookbooks

Lorena Garcia has many recipes. She put many of them into her cookbook, "Lorena Garcia's New Latin Classics." This book has 256 pages of Latin recipes. These recipes often use ingredients like beans, rice, and salsa. She also wrote "Lorena Garcia's New Taco Classics" in 2015.

Kitchenware

In 2013, Lorena launched her own line of kitchen tools. It's called the Lorena Bella Kitchen Collection. This collection includes cookware and serving dishes. It was sold on HSN.

In 2016, Lorena launched an international reality show called Food Hunters. This was a cooking competition for children. Teams from Latin America competed for cooking scholarships. The show ended in 2017.

In 2022, Lorena Garcia received the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrants Award.

See also

In Spanish: Lorena García (cocinera) para niños