What Chopped Winner Mario Tolentino Is Up To Now

Anyone who's seen Food Network's "Chopped" series is familiar with the feeling of rooting for a certain chef, if not straight up falling in love with them. Whether it be their personalities or what they bring to the kitchen. Or maybe it's a combination of both. Whatever the case may be, sooner or later your favorite "Chopped" contestants, winners or chopped, are bound to fade into memory. That doesn't mean they're finished, though.

"Chopped" winner Mario Tolentino has done quite a bit since his successful run in the fourth season in 2010 (via PopSugar). According to Chef's Feed, Tolentino started out running Michelin-rated restaurants across the farthest corners of the United States, from San Francisco to Miami to the Big Apple before he found himself on one of TV's biggest food contest shows. From a corporate sous chef to working as a personal chef, Tolentino has tons of experience specializing in elevating street food (via Grub Street). But where did Mario Tolentino go from there?

In 2018, Mario Tolentino returned right back in the Bay Area where he started, except it isn't at the kind of luxury hotel restaurant you'd necessarily think a champion chef would find himself running. As 7x7 reports, the owner of San Francisco's popular music venue, known as The Chapel (which was formerly a mortuary) had an idea. The plan was a little something called Curio Bar, a farm-to-table restaurant with shared plates. And who better to head up the operation than Mario Tolentino?

More recently, in an Instagram post by roomforty this February, the catering brand announced Tolentino would be joining the company as executive chef. As roomforty wrote, they were impressed with Tolentino's breadth of experience: "From leading vast and complex culinary departments at luxury hotels, to leading the kitchen at BLT Steak in Miami — Mario has done it all." What apparently appealed most to Tolentino about roomforty, and vice versa, was their common approach to hospitality, in itself. If their customers feel valued, the chef feels valued. So if you were missing Mario Tolentino's food on the screen, now you can actually get his catering in your own home.