American chef and television personality
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
[
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]
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
[
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]
Cooking
[
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]
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
[
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]
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
[
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]
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
[
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]
Personal life
[
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]
Gruel and his wife Lauren Gruel have four children.
[8]
[15]
References
[
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]
- ^
"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
.
- ^
a
b
Ruggless, Ron (6 July 2022).
"Founders sell Slapfish interest to Mac Haik investment group"
.
Nation's Restaurant News
. Retrieved
Jul 6,
2022
.
- ^
"Mess Hall Has Soft Opened in Tustin"
. Orange County Register. 5 July 2019
. Retrieved
18 January
2021
.
- ^
"Trade, an Open Air Irvine Food Hall"
. Orange County Register. 8 May 2017
. Retrieved
18 January
2021
.
- ^
Jennings, Lisa (March 2017).
"Slapfish founder to debut 2 new food-hall concepts"
.
Restaurant Hospitality
. Retrieved
Dec 8,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
Anthony Clark Carpio,
"Slapfish set to jump into bigger pond,"
Los Angeles Times
, January 8, 2014.
- ^
"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."
- ^
a
b
c
d
"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
.
- ^
Bret Thorn,
"Slapfish co-founder: 'Let’s make seafood sexy again',"
Nation's Restaurant News
, July 23, 2014.
- ^
Susan Adams,
"Started As A Food Truck, Slapfish Is Trying To Be The 'Chipotle Of Seafood',"
Forbes
, October 27, 2016.
- ^
a
b
c
John Walters,
"Jack's of New London: Where (almost) everybody knows your name,"
Kearsarge Magazine
, Summer 2007, pp. 73-74.
- ^
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.
- ^
a
b
"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
.
- ^
"Chef Andrew Gruel raises funds for restaurant workforce struggling because of pandemic"
. ABC. 5 January 2021
. Retrieved
18 January
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Los Angeles chef, restaurant owner raises over $160,000 for others struggling in industry"
. Good Morning America
. Retrieved
18 January
2021
.
- ^
"Slapfish Restaurant founder starts COVID-19 relief fund to help industry"
. Yahoo Finance
. Retrieved
18 January
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Valdespino, Anne.
"NBC Nightly News features restaurateur Andrew Gruel of Slapfish tonight"
.
The Orange County Register
. Retrieved
Mar 3,
2021
.
- ^
"Q&A with chef Andrew Gruel"
. Greer's
. Retrieved
18 January
2021
.
- ^
Michelle Woo,
"Slapfish To Be Featured On The Cooking Channel's Eat Street Tonight,"
OC Weekly
, August 21, 2012.
- ^
"Grill up seafood! Surf 'n' turf burgers and shrimp cubano,"
Today
, July 30, 2014.
- ^
"Slapfish execs star in reality TV show,"
Fast Casual
, July 15, 2015.
- ^
"About the SoCal Restaurant Show,"
socalrestaurantshow.com. Accessed June 19, 2016.
External links
[
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]