But he'll have one more reason to celebrate this year. On Sunday, Garces, 37, was named winner of The Next Iron Chef on the Food Network, outcooking nine other talented chefs.

Though only Garces and a handful of people knew the outcome of the taped reality show, hundreds gathered for a viewing party Sunday night at Distrito, one of his five Philadelphia-area restaurants, hoping to celebrate Garces' victory and his ascension to the national stage. And celebrate they did.

For some people that would be enough of a celebration to last for the week, but next up is his annual pre-Thanksgiving party for his employees. Instead of a typical restaurant staff party, hosted a week before the holiday, Garces closes down all of his restaurants for lunch on the day before Thanksgiving and throws a big party.

"This is my way of giving my staff the chance to celebrate and get in the spirit of Thanksgiving," he says.

Born in Chicago to Ecuadorian parents, Garces watched and learned from his mother, or "Mamita," as Garces calls her, and his grandmother, Mamita Amada.

"I still remember watching them cook together all the time. My grandmother lived in Ecuador, but she would do stints in Chicago, and literally the whole time she was here she would cook."

It is food memories like this, and countless other ones spent in their Chicago kitchen, that inspired Garces to attend culinary school and still inspire him today as he opens more restaurants and expands people's perception and appreciation of Latin cuisine.

Though he is almost always called on to help with the Thanksgiving cooking, Garces celebrates the holiday with his family and three other couples, rotating homes each year. This year's festivities are being hosted at the Garces home in Philadelphia.

Nominating himself to cook the turkey, Garces brines his bird for 24 hours, then forgoes roasting for deep-frying, a method he believes is the best way to cook it.

"It locks in all the juice and flavors and cooks in much less time."

Garces also gets Mamita involved. He tasks her with making the chicken-liver stuffing, empanadas and sweet corn humitas, which are essentially tamales filled with cheese and a creative, flavorful substitute for cornbread.

To pull everything off, Garces tries to "prepare as much as possible the day before, and delegates the work. If you can learn to do that, then you'll have time to enjoy your family and friends, which is the most important part of Thanksgiving and the holidays."

T.J. Walter is an associate editor at USA WEEKEND magazine.

Enlarge By Scott Brinegar Jose Garces was named the new Iron Chef on Sunday.