Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1510004
14 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | NOVEMBER 2023 I'm Richard Gabriel, a transplant from the quiet East Coast town of Enfield, Connecticut. I was born and raised there along with a brother and three sisters. I began my cooking career in high school in a fledgling food service class. My class was the first to take that course. The career as a chef was appealing to me so I enrolled and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, in 1977. My career path took me to platinum country clubs, fine dining in French and Italian restaurants in Connecticut and New York including the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Central Park South. I decided to switch paths and taught for 11 years at the Culinary Institute in 1989. I have participated in food competitions my whole life, both nationally and internationally. I have won several awards for my efforts over the years, but the friendships and knowledge that I gained were worth more than anything else. I raised a family in Bethel, Connecticut. I have three young men ages 38, 35 and 33. My eldest son, John, is a corporate pilot for the Tishman Architectural Company and flies a Gulfstream 650. My second son, Bob, is in marketing in Virginia. My youngest, Jeffrey, works for Kraft Foods as a Category Manager in Chicago and was just married in July 2023. My boys have made me a grandfather with three grandsons and a lovely granddaughter. I came to California in 2011 to teach Culinary Arts at Riverside City College where I am presently a faculty member and I plan on retiring in December 2024. Lisa and I met on Match.com in 2012. The interesting part was that her profile was not supposed to be able to be seen, yet I was able to wink at her. We met and are still going strong. I am very fortunate that the glitch allowed me to view her. I'm happy for our good fortune. We moved here during the mass power outage in Beaumont in August of 2021. Lisa fell in love with the listing of our house and we moved rapidly to set up a showing. We made an offer that was accepted and we were happy beyond words. It took Rich 20 years to get this bachelor's and it means more to him than his master's Lisa on her 2000 Harley Davidson Road King eat, dance, Rich (center) teaching at the Culinary Institute of America in New York