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New Documentary Examines The Innovative Career Of Late Chicago Chef

(CBS) -- His death in 2015 here in Chicago was ruled a suicide and it rocked the culinary world.

CBS 2's Vince Gerasole has a look at a new documentary that takes a look at the visionary mind of Chef Homaro Cantu. The film premiered in Chicago Monday.

From his Highland Park editing suite, director Brett Schwartz reflects on a friend's life.

"He wanted to make the world a better place," Schwartz says.

Cantu earned international acclaim creating foods that surprised the senses, but that was just the beginning.

He would go on to finesse a natural berry that could turn sour foods sweet, making them palatable for patients on chemotherapy. He'd also create indoor farms to feed the homeless.

"Sometimes he would be like a fire hose, spurting out a lot of ideas," Scwhartz says.

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 life.

Schwartz eventually finished the film, called "Insatiable: The Homaro Cantu Story." It chronicles Cantu's rise from rough beginnings growing up in a homeless family.

"It was really special to be with someone who thought the way he did and dreamed the way he did," the director says.

 

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