Pablo Gomez said he derives many joys from his job as corporate chef at Restless Palate in Katy.

“I get to be creative. I get to taste. I get to train my palate to taste different flavors,” Gomez said. “I wake up with a thrill every morning, thinking what’s my next best dish I can come up with today. I want to see the ‘wow factors.’ That’s what drives me.”

Gomez has been the corporate chef for Hospitality USA since 2013. The company is the parent firm to several restaurants in the Greater Houston area, including Baker St. Pub & Grill and Watson’s House of Ales.

“I’ve been doing this about              17 years now. I oversee the culinary of all locations,” Gomez said. “I actually started going to [medical] school. I got my first job dishwashing and making pizza. I did a full 360 [degree] on my career.”

A self-trained chef, Gomez said he took a variety of entry-level culinary arts classes but learned much of his knowledge and skills on the job. Despite being in charge of several restaurants, Gomez said he is still learning and evolving as a cook.

“A chef, to me, is a leader of the kitchen,” Gomez said. “What I do here is oversee the entire kitchen. It’s been pretty interesting, and it also helps me grow as a chef.”

With a wide range of experience cooking at many restaurants and in various cuisines, including Italian, South American, Spanish and the traditional new American style, Gomez said he is comfortable with most cuisines.

“I feel like if you’re going to be a chef, you have to be diverse,” he said.

The Restless Palate opened in La Centerra at Cinco Ranch on April 1. The restaurant focuses on a healthier style of cooking and also fresher ingredients—features that Pablo said challenge him as a chef on a daily basis.

“Restless Palate is this [style of] ever lasting chef-driven, [using] fresh ingredients, trying to use olive oil when possible, less butter, less cream,” Gomez said. “Some people call it ‘clear’ or ‘translucent’ menus. [That means] letting each ingredient stand on its own without saucing it or covering it up with all kinds of other ingredients.”

When he is at home, Pablo said he likes to cook his favorite food—eggs.

“I like to make different dishes with eggs,” he said. “I put them on everything.”

Although he is a Houston native, Pablo said he has not mastered Texas barbecue and smoked meats.

“Barbecue to me is one of the things that I want to take up and learn more,” Gomez said. “One of my favorites is spicy sausage.”

The daily challenge of making diners happy, exploring different cultures through food and continual learning are a few of the reasons he loves his job, Gomez said.

“I want to diversify myself with endless possibilities of food,” Gomez said. “[Cooking] is always challenging. How can I make the next dish better. You’re only as good as your last dish.”