Jul. 21—When Gordon Ramsay sent 19-year-old Gabriel Lewis home from “Master-Chef” in 2017, the gasp from his competitors was audible. Not because his cannelloni hadn’t fallen short, but because the teen had stood tall up to that point, his youth and innocence stealing the hearts of the home cooks who were his competitors and viewers nationwide.

But the bad news didn’t last long. In nearly the same breath as he sent Lewis home, Ramsay offered to pay Lewis’ way through culinary school, and chef Aaron Sanchez offered him a job in New Orleans when he graduated.

Cue waterworks, and television gold was struck in the reality TV realm.

In real life, after finishing at Francis Tuttle’s School of Culinary Arts, Lewis moved to Denver to attend Johnson & Wales, graduating in summer 2019. He spent time doing some private chef work, picking up opportunities through relationships he’d made during his time on the Fox reality cooking show.

Plans to move to New Orleans and work for Sanchez were the next step, starting in early 2020. But Lewis, like the rest of the world, quickly learned about the disruptive powers of a pandemic.

Lewis had a decision to make, and he chose to get creative.

Dealing with the loss of his mother and the uncertainty COVID-19 spread, Lewis leaned into social media to share his skills and passion for the culinary arts. His videos, photos and website gradually created a market for private dining experiences, demonstrations and cooking classes.

“I was doing weekend dinners for family and friends making sure people don’t have to get out to eat,” he said. “When things started opening back up, I started doing what I was doing pre-COVID, which is private dining experiences.”

Lewis said many of his events are staged in Airbnb venues.

“I cook all the ingredients fresh, so if I’m doing a salmon dish, I’m getting it pulled out of the water that morning.”

He said his events range from formal affairs to casual instruction.

“I just show people how they can create this scene in their home,” he said.

Outside of leading folks into their inner culinary artist, Lewis said he’s found a niche in the booming real estate market. No open house is complete without a chef’s touch, sending mouthwatering aromas through an available property and leading prospective buyers to a smorgasbord of snacks.

Lewis and his sister, Diana, who is a photographer, have collaborated to create a dynamic website, chefgabeonline.com. There you can watch videos, see pictures and book events.

“So we started making different photos and videos,” he explained. “How-to videos, recipes and working with brands nationally to create content for their social channels, as well as mine.”

That collaboration has led to his next move, a book and video project Lewis hopes to complete early next year.

“It’s an homage to my mother, my grandmother and my great aunt,” he said. “They were all three instrumental and provided me with that fire,” he said.

Lewis said videos will support the recipes he shares and help answer questions.

“One thing I hate about cookbooks is you can read this recipe, but it doesn’t come out right,” he said. “But if they had a video right next to it by the chef who made the recipe that says this is exactly how you do this and do that, it helps.”

Lewis said he plans to eventually take Sanchez up on his offer to work in New Orleans, if only for the chance to learn. He said his long-term future may or may not lie in a restaurant.

Whatever he does with his career, Lewis is determined that it will be a collaborative effort.

“Symbiotic relationships are the way that things are supposed to go and so anytime that I’m working with somebody in media or production, same thing,” he said. “My sister and I have a collaboration. It’s a 50-50 split because it’s equal, right? Symbiosis is how people grow. When it becomes parasitism, one person is going to die out while the other one grows until they find another to latch onto.”

Wise words from the millennial generation. Wisdom seeded early on in Lewis’s consciousness not only from family, but mentors at the Francis Tuttle School of Culinary Art.

Lewis met me in a kitchen lab at Francis Tuttle. A lab where he first learned to express the stress and insecurity of being a teen onto a plate. Lewis has been using kitchen labs for recipe development and video production, which will be part of his book project.

Lewis’ success and approach to the future are a testament to the success of Francis Tuttle’s cooking school, and to the efforts Oklahoma’s hospitality industry in ensuring its future.

On Thursday, I was master of ceremonies for the first leg of the Odyssey de Culinaire, which culminates Thursday in Tulsa’s Rivers Spirit Casino. The two-night, cross-state event raises money for the Oklahoma Hospitality Foundation’s efforts to support ProStart, which is a national program that supports culinary education nationwide.

Between what I’ve witnessed thus far (details next week) and the direction chef Lewis is headed, the future of Oklahoma’s hospitality industry looks bright despite the storm and stress it continues to endure in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.