A Denver chef was recently named one of the country’s most exciting culinary personalities by The Food Network, and he hopes to offer living proof of the value immigrants contribute to the United States.
Byron Gomez is the executive chef at Brutø, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and a familiar face on TV shows such as “Top Chef” and “Last Bite Hotel.” Soon, he’ll make his debut as one of the new judges on hit series “Chopped.” This week, he was among 25 people spotlighted on The Food Network’s annual Hot List, billed as a window into the “exciting food personalities and up-and-coming culinary rock stars” making their mark in food media.
A native of Costa Rica, Gomez is also a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” are immigrants without permanent legal status who arrived in the U.S. as children. As President Donald Trump seeks to follow through with his campaign promise of mass deportations, Gomez wants to change the narrative about immigrants and show they are vital not only to local workforces, but also the ethos of American prosperity.
“My biggest message that I could tell people is please educate yourself before you take any drastic actions or any judgment upon someone else. My example is a prime one: I am a contributor to the economy, I am a contributor to the society here in the United States,” Gomez said. “I am living my American dream. It could turn into a nightmare at any point, but I’m still going to keep on fighting.”
Gomez moved with his family to Long Island, in New York, when he was eight years old, and at age 15, he got his first job at Burger King. Despite lacking any formal training as a chef, Gomez progressed in the restaurant industry, eventually landing roles at Michelin-starred restaurants like Café Boulud, Atera and Eleven Madison Park.
After cutting his teeth in New York, Gomez moved to Colorado, where he served as executive chef of the now-closed 7908 Aspen supper club. In 2021, Gomez joined an elite cohort of chefs when he competed on the 18th season of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” which was based in Portland.
Last March, Gomez took over the kitchen at Brutø, which earned its first Michelin star in 2023. The 18-seat restaurant, which serves an 11-course tasting menu, maintained its star status at the most recent Michelin awards, announced in September.
That journey is what makes recognition from The Food Network a “pinch me kind of moment.”
“I’ve worked very hard my entire life to get where I’m at now,” Gomez said. “It’s very humbling.”
In his first year at Brutø, Gomez has embraced the restaurant’s commitment to sustainability and limiting food waste while also putting his original stamp on the menu. Guests who dine there soon get to taste both in action in many plates, including a Costa Rican-inspired dish featuring fish and bananas. It comes with a black banana puree made from peels and fruit that have been fermented for nine days, as well as a sauce made from dehydrated scallop skirts, the shellfish’s muscular membrane that’s usually trimmed and discarded.
The menu is not limited to serving Costa Rican cuisine, however, so anyone expecting that will be “rudely awakened into realizing you’re going to have an experience of world cuisine using many techniques,” Gomez said. Leaning into fermentation and investing in certain ingredients that will be ready months or years down the road has satisfied his passion for kitchen alchemy. But the biggest adjustment, Gomez said, has been adapting his cooking to Brutø’s wood-fired oven.
“We don’t have the equipment that most restaurants do, so it’s also very astonishing the amount of talent and ideation that goes behind each dish,” Gomez said.
As Brutø shoots for a second Michelin star, Gomez and restauranteur Kelly Whitaker are looking for innovative ways to collaborate with other artists in the culinary world and beyond. In January, for example, they hosted a dinner that paired courses with tracks from a food-inspired hip-hop album entitled, “michelinman,” by rapper Blvck Svm. Each song played multiple times – twice with lyrics and once instrumental, Gomez said – allowing guests about seven to 10 minutes to finish each plate.
On March 31, Brutø will team up with Oklahoma City restaurant Nonesuch, which earned a James Beard nomination this year after Whitaker’s Id Est Hospitality Group purchased it in 2024. The dinner will highlight locally sourced ingredients that showcase terroir from each locale’s respective state, Gomez said. Tickets cost $95 on OpenTable, with optional beverage pairings ranging from $65 to $80.
Gomez considers food a bridge that connects humans despite their differences. He hopes to help the sense of community found around a dinner table ripple throughout other aspects of life.
“All this hatred, all this anxiety that’s going on, food bridges all of that. Everybody needs to eat at the end of the day. Everyone needs to have that warm dish that reminds them of some sort of comfort. So if I’m able to speak up on that through these platforms of a plate of food, then I’m doing my part in society,” Gomez said.