Gerald Sombright

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Chef Gerald fell in love with the process of cooking at a young age. In 2022, Chef Gerald became the first Black man to earn a Michelin Star. Gerald worked his way up from dishwasher to Chef de Cuisine at the Westin St. Louis Cupples Station. He then went to work for Chef Lou Rook at the iconic St. Louis restaurant, Annie Gunn’s. Inside the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, Gerald worked under Chef Fabrzio Schenardi learning the “Italian Hand” at Cielo restaurant.

Gerald’s path then took him to the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore to open Chef Michal Mina’s award winning, Wit and Wisdom. There he worked under Chef Clayton Miller. Gerald was tapped to open PBG at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando in 2014 where he honed his skills working over live fire and rotisserie. Gerald next made his way to Southwest Florida to take the helm of Ario Steakhouse at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, where he created Ario’s signature dry aged beef program. During his time at the JW, Gerald also lead the team at Tesoro, a modern Mediterranean restaurant in the resort’s first exclusive adult only tower.

In 2016, Chef Gerald was chosen to be one of eight “rookie “contestants on Bravo’s Top Chef Season 14, “Rookies vs. Veterans” filmed in Charleston, South Carolina. Gerald was invited to the eponymous James Beard House to headline his own dinner in 2017. 2020 brought Chef Gerald back to Central Florida where he became the opening chef at Knife & Spoon inside the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes (A John Tesar Restaurant).

Gerald is currently the Executive Chef with the private club industry leader, Troon. In addition to being on Top Chef, Gerald had been featured on the season one of Food Network’s “The Globe” and was invited to participate in Guy Fieri’s “Tournament of Champions” season five. Gerald has been a contributing writer with Food & Wine Magazine, as well as “Cooking From Our Roots” cookbook. Gerald has been featured at Aspen Food & Wine, Pebble Beach, SXSW, Charleston Food & Wine in addition to several food festivals across the nation. Gerald is also a level two WSET Sommelier.