Carl Ruiz

Carl Ruiz was an American celebrity chef who gained a widespread following by making frequent appearances on the Food Network, in addition to running a number of restaurants in both New York City and New Jersey. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, Ruiz's love of food began as a small child. He would often sit in the family kitchen, watching his Cuban grandmother and mother cook for hours on end, while he absorbed all their techniques with a watchful eye. It was these innocent moments as a child that Ruiz first knew that he wanted to become a chef. While working at his parents' tire shop in Passaic throughout his teens, Ruiz would spend his free time experimenting in the kitchen with the recipes he learned from his mom and grandmother. He would later go on to receive his formal training from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, eventually earning his culinary degree from the school. After graduation, Ruiz was ready to embark on a career as a chef. He got his start working as a sous chef at Dish in Clifton, New Jersey, and would later go on to become the executive chef at New Jersey's Sabor restaurant in 2002. In the late 2000s Ruiz moved to New York City to serve as the executive chef of the Cuban-themed restaurant Son Cubano, but that restaurant eventually closed. After moving back to New Jersey, Ruiz, along with his then-wife Marie Riccio, opened up Marie's Italian Specialties, an old-time Italian deli and café. The place was a huge hit with customers, and eventually caught the attention of celebrity chef Guy Fieri, who featured Marie's Italian Specialties on his popular food series "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" (Food Network, 2007-). Ruiz and Fieri quickly hit it off, and before long Fieri had asked him to appear as a judge on his new food competition series "Guy's Grocery Games" (Food Network, 2016-18). Ruiz agreed, and during his tenure on the show his profile grew. Ruiz eventually divorced from his wife Marie, with her retaining ownership of Marie's Italian Specialties. However, Ruiz's popularity as a celebrity chef continued to grow. In addition to making frequent appearances on Sirius XM satellite radio, where he entertained listeners with his sometimes humorous insights on the business of cooking food for a living, Ruiz also opened a Cuban-themed restaurant called La Cubana in New York City's Meatpacking District in the summer of 2019. Sadly however, with his career reaching its high point, Carl Ruiz died in his sleep from a heart attack on September 21, 2019. His sudden death shocked the restaurant world, as well as the numerous fans who watched him on the Food Network. After his death, La Cubana established a scholarship fund in his name, which aimed to assist aspiring chefs with funding for their culinary education. At the time of his death, Carl Ruiz was 44.