| Andrew Gruel | |
| Birth Place: | Bridgewater, New Jersey |
| Style: | Seafood, chicken, vegan |
| Education: | Bates College Johnson & Wales University |
| Children: | 4 |
| Restaurants: | Big Parm Two Birds Butterleaf Calico Fish House |
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
| Year | Series | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Endless Feast | BBC | Guest |
| 2012 | Eat St. | Cooking Channel | Guest |
| 2013 | On the Rocks | Food Network | Consulting chef |
| 2014 | Food Truck Face Off | Food Network | Judge (season 1, 5 episodes) |
| Today | NBC | Guest | |
| 2015 | Say It To My Face! | FYI | Host (season 1, 15 episodes) |
| 2016 | Chopped Junior | Food Network | Guest (season 3, episode 3) |
| 2016-20 | Home & Family | Hallmark Channel | Guest (8 episodes) |
| 2020 | Food Paradise | Food Network | Guest |
| The Issue Is | Fox | Guest | |
| Justice with Judge Jeanine | Fox News | Guest | |
| The Ingraham Angle | Fox News | Guest | |
| 2020-21 | Fox & Friends | Fox News | Guest (3 episodes) |
| 2020-22 | Tucker Carlson Tonight | Fox News | Guest (3 episodes) |
| 2021 | The Chris Salcedo Show | Newsmax TV | Guest |
| Fox & Friends First | Fox News | Guest | |
| Fox News Primetime | Fox News | Guest | |
| NBC Nightly News | NBC | Guest | |
| 2022 | Jesse Watters Primetime | Fox News | Guest (8 episodes) |
Gruel and his wife Lauren Gruel have four children.[8] [15]