About Me
My name is Khalieb Rufael, many know me as Chef Khalieb or Cheff Truffle! I first began cooking in college while working on my bachelor's degree in Business Management. I knew I wanted to be in business, I just didn't know what for. I took what basic knowledge I had in the kitchen, and the creative sense I had as an artist, and quickly fell in love with a career that would become my passion.
My family's story begins in Asmara, Eritrea, a small country located in the horn of Africa. A country that has struggled with famine caused by colonization and civil unrest between tribes and neighboring Ethiopia. Faced with a deadly ultimatum, my Grandfather was forced to relocate his family to Italy by way of refuge.
In 2019, after staging in a top Houston restaurant unpaid for 6 months, I traveled to France to study sustainable farming while on a volunteer exchange program and ended up learning more about culinary than I would have imagined. Since then I’ve worked in some top restaurants in the city of Houston, and I have also taken the time to learn, not only traditional Italian dishes from my Grandmother but also staple Eritrean dishes that have been passed down from generation to generation while spending a summer with her in Rome.
2024 has been my busiest year so far as a Chef, as I have really begun to hunker down and take every opportunity that comes my way. This year, I entered and won a cooking competition in Austin during SXSW, and was featured in a short documentary by a local filmmaker about my experience in the competition. The film is entitled ‘ROUND ROCK’ and is now available on YouTube.
I find that my purpose in life is to uplift my community by sharing stories, and good food that will spark a conversation for positive change.
Cheers.
EXPERIENCE
2023
Houston - Europe -
Africa - Houston
I kicked off the year being blessed with the opportunity to cook with Ope from ChopnBlok at the James Beard Foundation dinner at POST HTX. I executed the 5th course -- a brûléed plantain bread with a crème anglaise base and fresh strawberries. With a slight slowdown in events, I decided to take the opportunity to travel to Rome to spend time with my grandmother and document her recipes and the fascinating correlation between Eritrean and Italian food.
2022
Houston
I began to get hired for all sorts of events. Baby showers, birthday parties, cocktail parties, and helping out my friends in the industry by cooking with them or helping them run their businesses. I still have an urge to get back into the swing of a wild dinner rush in a restaurant kitchen, but my urge to learn all facets of the industry kept me from goin back so soon. During a birthday event I met Yems aka Chef Olayemi T.
We linked up in a recreational way and put together a brunch, calling ourselves the SpiceBoyz. We started to collaborate with different groups in the city hosting supper club events and D&Ds (Dinner & Discussion). My first time in a cooking competition was the Oxtail Mashup 2022, where I placed 2nd in both categories out of 17 chefs from around the country. 1st place was Joseph Boudreaux and 3rd place being Chef Picky from Brooklyn.
2020-2021
Houston
I started off the year traveling to Oklahoma to cook with my mentor Chef Tobi Smith of ADUN. later on, I got the opportunity to be the caterer for a 25 day fitness challenge taken on by a nurse's office downtown, while simultaneously, working part time at the french bistro Brasserie 19 in the River Oaks. The last day of the program was the first day of the nationwide covid lockdown mandate. I was lost with no guidance, I was let go from the restaurant and the clinic was no longer patronizing my business. I began writing about food and my experiences to cope with the monotony of quarantine. I wrote a business plan for a food truck and started taking instagram a bit more seriously. I leaned in and focused on what I knew how to do best, and that's cook food that I love and write about it. Towards the end of the year, the clinic reached out to me and told me they wanted me to cook lunch twice a week, I was back in business.
2019
Houston - France - Houston
After spending a year working in the kitchen, I spent a summer traveling the country side of France and working on farms harvesting vegetables, making wine, and baking bread at the advisory of my chef/mentors. I then returned to Houston to continue working in restaurants and earned a head Chef position in a vegan restaurant.
2018
Texas State University,
San Marcos, Texas
I discovered a passion for cooking while learning how to feed my roommates and myself in college, one year before graduating with a bachelors degree in business management, focused in entrepreneurial studies. I returned to Houston after graduation and worked as an unpaid intern in the kitchen of Arturo Boada.