Andrew Gruel


Andrew Gruel 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 Spray it on My Face!, and is the founder, CEO and executive chef of Slapfish, a seafood restaurant franchise based out of Huntington Beach, California.

Early life and education

Gruel was born and raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey. 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. While attending Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, he worked in lobster restaurants in the area. He received his culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts.

Career

Cooking

Gruel began his career working in fine dining restaurants, hotels and diners in New Jersey, as a cook at the Ritz Carlton in Boston and at Jack's of New London in New London, New Hampshire. 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.

Television

Gruel's first television appearance was on the BBC show The Endless Feast in 2007. He served as a judge on the Food Channel's Food Truck Face Off in 2014, and also appeared on Eat St. on the Cooking Channel, Today on NBC, and On the Rocks on the Food Network. In 2015, Gruel starred as a host on season 1 of the reality television show Say It To My Face!

Radio

Gruel hosted a culinary radio show called Cooking with Gruel in 2015. He was a guest host on the weekly The SoCal Restaurant Show on KLAA, which launched in 2012.

Television appearances

Personal life

Gruel is married with three children.