Andrew Gruel
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Bridgewater, New Jersey
EducationBates College
Johnson & Wales University
Spouse
Lauren Gruel
​
(m. 2013)​
Children4
Culinary career
Cooking styleSeafood, chicken, vegan
Current restaurant(s)
  • Big Parm
    Two Birds
    Butterleaf
    Calico Fish House
Websitechefgruel.com

Andrew Gruel (born 1980) is an American chef and television personality, based in Orange County, California. He appeared as a judge on Food Network's Food Truck Face Off and as a host of FYI's Say It to My Face!, and is the founder of Slapfish,[1] a seafood restaurant franchise that he launched in 2012 and sold to Mac Haik Enterprises in 2022.[2] He is the founder, CEO and executive chef of Big Parm, a pizza restaurant in Tustin, California;[3] Two Birds, a chicken restaurant in Irvine, California;[4] Butterleaf, a plant-based restaurant in Irvine, California;[5] and Calico Fish House, a casual seafood restaurant in Huntington Beach, California.[2]

Early life and education

Gruel was born and raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey[6] and graduated from the Pingry School in 1998.[7] He said that his affinity towards cooking started at an early age, when he would fake sick to stay home from school and watch cooking shows on public-access television.[8] While attending Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, he worked in lobster restaurants in the area.[9][10] He received his culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts.[11]

Career

Cooking

Gruel began his career working in fine dining restaurants, hotels and diners in New Jersey, as a cook at the Ritz Carlton in Boston[11][12] and at Jack's of New London in New London, New Hampshire.[11] He left the East Coast in 2009 to work as director of Seafood for the Future, a nonprofit program at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.[6][13]

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced many restaurants to shut down, Gruel started a fund in December 2020 to raise money for out-of-work restaurant industry employees, raising over $230,000 in the first three weeks.[14][15][16] The fund, called 86 Restaurant Struggle, is a nonprofit charity that helps struggling and unemployed restaurant workers.[17]

Television

Gruel speaking at an event in June 2022

Gruel's first television appearance was on the BBC show The Endless Feast in 2007.[13] He served as a judge on the Food Channel's Food Truck Face Off[8] and Chopped Junior,[18] and also appeared on Eat St. on the Cooking Channel,[19] Today on NBC,[20] and On the Rocks on the Food Network.[6] In 2015, Gruel starred as a host on season 1 of the reality television show Say It To My Face![21] Since 2020, he has been a frequent guest on various national news programs.[17]

Radio

Gruel hosted a culinary radio show called Cooking with Gruel in 2015.[8] He co-hosts the weekly The SoCal Restaurant Show on KLAA, which launched in 2012.[22]

Television appearances

Year Series Network Notes
2007 The Endless Feast BBC Guest
2012 Eat St. Cooking Channel Guest
2013 On the Rocks Food Network Consulting chef
2014 Food Truck Face Off Food Network Judge (season 1, 5 episodes)
Today NBC Guest
2015 Say It To My Face! FYI Host (season 1, 15 episodes)
2016 Chopped Junior Food Network Guest (season 3, episode 3)
2016-20 Home & Family Hallmark Channel Guest (8 episodes)
2020 Food Paradise Food Network Guest
The Issue Is Fox Guest
Justice with Judge Jeanine Fox News Guest
The Ingraham Angle Fox News Guest
2020-21 Fox & Friends Fox News Guest (3 episodes)
2020-22 Tucker Carlson Tonight Fox News Guest (3 episodes)
2021 The Chris Salcedo Show Newsmax TV Guest
Fox & Friends First Fox News Guest
Fox News Primetime Fox News Guest
NBC Nightly News NBC Guest
2022 Jesse Watters Primetime Fox News Guest (8 episodes)

Personal life

Gruel and his wife Lauren Gruel have four children.[8][15]

References

  1. ↑ "Andrew Gruel of Slapfish restaurant on how the seafood chain has adjusted during the coronavirus pandemic". Nation's Restaurant News. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 Ruggless, Ron (6 July 2022). "Founders sell Slapfish interest to Mac Haik investment group". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved Jul 6, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Mess Hall Has Soft Opened in Tustin". Orange County Register. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Trade, an Open Air Irvine Food Hall". Orange County Register. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  5. ↑ Jennings, Lisa (March 2017). "Slapfish founder to debut 2 new food-hall concepts". Restaurant Hospitality. Retrieved Dec 8, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Anthony Clark Carpio, "Slapfish set to jump into bigger pond," Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2014.
  7. ↑ "School Achievers; Bridgewater", Courier News, July 21, 1999. Accessed November 22, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Andrew Gruel, a freshman at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, was among 21 students who participated in the college's Steel Pan Ensemble spring performance.... Gruel is a 1998 graduate of Pingry School and the son of Frederick and Susan Gruel."
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Featured Chef of the Month, Andrew Gruel of Slapfish!". Tony Reverditto. Food Enthusiast Magazine. 2015-03-15. Archived from the original on 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  9. ↑ Bret Thorn, "Slapfish co-founder: 'Let’s make seafood sexy again'," Nation's Restaurant News, July 23, 2014.
  10. ↑ Susan Adams, "Started As A Food Truck, Slapfish Is Trying To Be The 'Chipotle Of Seafood'," Forbes, October 27, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 John Walters, "Jack's of New London: Where (almost) everybody knows your name," Kearsarge Magazine, Summer 2007, pp. 73-74.
  12. ↑ Nicole Russin-McFarland, "Food Network Featured Andrew Gruel: His Story and How the Slapfish Chain is Set to Conquer the Globe (Minus the 'Austin Powers' Sharks With Laser Beams," Archived 2014-12-12 at the Wayback Machine The Comeback, December 3, 2014.
  13. 1 2 "Try Amazing Sustainable Seafood at SlapFish". Christine Lynn Williamson. Locale Magazine. 2014-08-25. Archived from the original on 2015-05-22. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  14. ↑ "Chef Andrew Gruel raises funds for restaurant workforce struggling because of pandemic". ABC. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  15. 1 2 "Los Angeles chef, restaurant owner raises over $160,000 for others struggling in industry". Good Morning America. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "Slapfish Restaurant founder starts COVID-19 relief fund to help industry". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  17. 1 2 Valdespino, Anne. "NBC Nightly News features restaurateur Andrew Gruel of Slapfish tonight". The Orange County Register. Retrieved Mar 3, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Q&A with chef Andrew Gruel". Greer's. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  19. ↑ Michelle Woo, "Slapfish To Be Featured On The Cooking Channel's Eat Street Tonight," OC Weekly, August 21, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Grill up seafood! Surf 'n' turf burgers and shrimp cubano," Today, July 30, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Slapfish execs star in reality TV show," Fast Casual, July 15, 2015.
  22. ↑ "About the SoCal Restaurant Show," socalrestaurantshow.com. Accessed June 19, 2016.
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