Homaro "Omar" Cantu Jr. (September 23, 1976 – April 14, 2015) was an American chef and inventor known for his use of molecular gastronomy. As a child, Cantu was fascinated with science and engineering. While working in a fast food restaurant, he discovered the similarities between science and cooking and decided to become a chef. In 1999, he was hired by his idol, Chicago chef Charlie Trotter. In 2003, Cantu became the first chef of Moto, which he later purchased. Through Moto, Cantu explored his unusual ideas about cooking including edible menus, carbonated fruit, and food cooked with a laser. Initially seen as a novelty only, Moto eventually earned critical praise and, in 2012, a Michelin star. Cantu's second restaurant, iNG, and his coffee house, Berrista, focused on the use of "miracle berries" to make sour food taste sweet. He was working on opening a brewery called Crooked Fork at the time of his suicide in 2015. In addition to being a chef, Cantu was a media personality, appearing regularly on TV shows, and an inventor. In 2010, he produced and co-hosted a show called Future Food. Through his media appearances, he advocated for an end to world hunger and thought his edible paper creation and the miracle berry could play a significant role in that goal. Cantu volunteered his time and money to a variety of charities and patented several food gadgets. Early life Cantu was born in Tacoma, Washington, on September 23, 1976. His father was a fabrication engineer and Cantu developed a passion for science and engineering at a young age. He disassembled the family lawn mower three times to learn how it worked, and his "Christmas gifts would wind up in a million pieces." A self-described problem child, Cantu grew up in Portland, Oregon. From the age of six to nine, he was homeless. He would later credit the homelessness for his inspiration to make food and become a social entrepreneur. At the age of twelve, Cantu was nearly jailed for starting a large fire near his fathers house and began working at a fast food restaurant. Cantu later described the owner's purchase of a tandoori oven as spurring his interest in cooking. After he completed high school, Bill and Jan Miller, a couple who took in troubled teens, offered Cantu a place to live under the condition that he attend culinary school. Cooking career Cantu