Chef J Gamboa holds a B.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration and earned his kitchen expertise from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park. He received the Bonlac Great Chefs of Asia award for the Philippines in 1996. Chef J is executive chef of Cirkulo Restaurant, Milkyway Café, AzuThai and Tsukiji Japanese Restaurants in Makati, Philippines.

Chef J was Team Manager for the LTB Philippines Culinary Team 2007 to 2011, having competed at the Hong Kong International Culinary Classic in 2007 and 2009, Food Hotel Asia Singapore 2008, Bocuse d'Or Asia Selection Shanghai 2010 and Oceanafest Perth Australia 2011. He was Team Director of Culinary Team Pilipinas 2016, winner of the Best Culinary Establishment Award at Food Hotel Asia Singapore 2016.

Chef J has done numerous food promotions in Singapore and has also conducted a Filipino food demonstration at the Cocina del Agua in Zaragoza, Spain in 2007. He has also judged numerous local culinary competitions as well as competitions in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia, and Singapore. Chef J is a WACS Accredited A level culinary judge. He also presented at Madrid Fusion Manila 2015 "Nose to Tail Eating in the Filipino-Spanish Menu".