Chef Homaro Cantu's Life Depicted In Documentary Premiering At Chicago Film Fest
CHICAGO (CBS) -- His death in 2015 here in Chicago, was ruled a suicide, and it rocked the culinary world.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports on a new documentary, premiering in Chicago tonight, that takes a look at the visionary mind of Chef Homaro Cantu.
From his Highland Park edit sweet, director Brett Schwartz reflects on a friend's life.
"He wanted to make the world a better place," he says.
Cantu earned international acclaim creating foods that surprised the senses, but that was just the beginning.
As Schwartz explains, "He was a chef, but he stopped using that title. After a while, he wanted out make the world a better place."
He'd go on to finesse a natural berry that could turn sour foods sweet, making them palatable for patients on chemotherapy.
"I think his genius was the ability to think big," Schwartz says.
He'd also create indoor farms to feed the homeless.
"Sometimes he'd be like a firehouse spouting out ideas and some of them couldn't come to fruition," Schwartz adds.
And 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 own life.
Schwartz eventually finished the film. Called "Insatiable," it chronicles Cantu's rise from a rough beginning
Insatiable: The Homaro Cantu story, premiered locally at the Chicago International Film Festival Tuesday. It will be shown again next Monday, with a tribute dinner to Cantu that will follow.