Chef from Bangs competing for award in Dallas
Growing up in Bangs, Christian Bosquez learned to cook as a middle school student – and never stopped.
Now the 26-year-old’s culinary skills have put him in the running for the nomination of rising star chef of the year in Dallas.
Bosquez, a 2013 graduate of Bangs High School, has been with the Omni Hotel in Dallas for 7 1/2 years. He is a chef at Cafe Herrera am Lamar, one of seven restaurants in the Omni. Cafe Herrera presents fine Mexican cuisine, as visitdallas.com states.
CultureMap Dallas, which covers restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth and other lifestyle locations, has nominated Bosquez and nine other chefs for the award. The winners in several competition categories – including Rising Star Chef of the Year – will be announced at the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards on August 19. The awards will be part of the Fashion Industry Gallery.
“So nervous – but it’s super exciting,” said Bosquez, politely, optimistically and easily on the phone. “It’s a huge opportunity – I never expected a day in my life. It just came out of nowhere. It is exciting.”
Bosquez and his wife Julissa, his high school mistress from Bangs, live in Glenn Heights, a town of about 12,000 in Dallas County.
Bosquez said he grew up in a house where his aunt cooked. When she died, Bosquez began learning to cook. “I started cooking outside a lot,” said Bosquez. “I enjoyed barbecuing outdoors. I remember taking my friends outside after school, after football games, and we would go out and have a barbecue. “
After graduating from Bangs, Bosquez enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Dallas.
“I actually spent six months in cooking school,” said Bosquez. “I came to the Omni after about two months in cookery school and started getting promoted there. I didn’t have enough money to finish cooking school, so I decided to put my head in the Omni and see what I can learn here. ”
Bosquez said working as a chef was “a great passion”.
“It’s difficult, it’s exhausting, but I would love nothing more than to cook and enjoy my friends, all in the kitchen,” said Bosquez. “It’s a very different environment.”
Anyone can be a good cook – if you’re willing to do the job, said Bosquez.
“I think it takes passion for the industry,” he said. “If you want to be good, you can be good. Lots of training, lots of hours … you’ll miss every weekend and every family event. You forget what holidays are.
“If you enjoy doing it every day, it’s worth it. But I always say anyone can do it, if you are willing to do the work, to focus and pay attention. “
Bosquez said he and his wife are still visiting Bangs, where Bosquez was the captain of the Dragons football team and Julissa was the drum major for the marching band.
Life in the big city is “good, but you always miss home,” said Bosquez. “It’s much faster here. It starts. Bangs, Texas is so much more relaxed. “
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