New Documentary Examines The Innovative Career Of Late Chicago Chef
(CBS) -- His death in 2015 here in Chicago was ruled a suicide and it rocked the culinary world.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole has a look at a new documentary that takes a look at the visionary mind of Chef Homaro Cantu. The film premiered in Chicago Monday.
From his Highland Park editing suite, director Brett Schwartz reflects on a friend's life.
"He wanted to make the world a better place," Schwartz says.
Cantu earned international acclaim creating foods that surprised the senses, but that was just the beginning.
He would go on to finesse a natural berry that could turn sour foods sweet, making them palatable for patients on chemotherapy. He'd also create indoor farms to feed the homeless.
"Sometimes he would be like a fire hose, spurting out a lot of ideas," Scwhartz says.
Then, at the height of his fame, in 2015, while Schwartz was working on a documentary with Cantu, the innovator suddenly and unexpectedly took his life.
Schwartz eventually finished the film, called "Insatiable: The Homaro Cantu Story." It chronicles Cantu's rise from rough beginnings growing up in a homeless family.
"It was really special to be with someone who thought the way he did and dreamed the way he did," the director says.