A chef who rose from homelessness to own one of Chicago's most well-respected restaurants, Moto, was found dead on Tuesday, in the midst of a bitter lawsuit lodged by an investor. Homaro Cantu, 38, was found hanging inside Crooked Fork Brewery, the new restaurant he was opening up with his business partner on the north side of Chicago. An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday, but authorities have already said they are investigating the married father-of-two's death as a suicide. Scroll down for video . Tragic: Homaro Cantu, the owner of famed Chicago restaurant Moto, was found dead Tuesday from an apparent suicide . Apparent suicide: Chicago authorities say Cantu's body was found hanging inside of Crooked Fork Brewery, the brewpub he was planning to open with his business partner . Married father of two: Cantu leaves behind wife Katie McGowan (left) and their two young daughters. Cantu and McGowan met while he was working at Chicago restaurant Charlie Trotter's. The family pictured above in a photo posted to Cantu's Facebook . Friends say Cantu had recently become strained by a lawsuit filed by a former investor in Moto and iNG, a restaurant Cantu shuttered last year. Last month, investor Alex Espalin accused Cantu in court papers of co-mingling funds from Moto to keep iNG afloat, even though he advised Cantu to close the business. He claimed Cantu stopped talking to him after he confronted him about using Moto's bank account for personal expenses including, trips, meals, a cookbook and other unrelated ventures. According to the lawsuit, Espalin initially invested $100,000 in Cantu's businesses and another $50,000 later on and had a 15 per cent ownership in Moto. Inspiring: Cantu worked for famous chef Trotter at his eponymous restaurant from 1999 until 2003, when he left to start his own restaurant, Moto. Pictured above outside of moto with Chris Jones, chef de cuisine . Strained: A month before his death, Cantu was hit with a lawsuit from an former investor in Moto and failed restaurant iNG, who accused him of commingling Moto's funds to keep his other business ventures afloat . Food scientist: Cantu was known as a pioneer in the culinary field of molecular gastronomy. Above, a dish of raccoon meat is made to resemble a road kill scene at Moto . Fellow chef Matthias Merges lives just a few houses away from Cantu and his family, and last saw the chef four days ago when they talked about his business issues. 'We talked about Berrista [Cantu's cafe] a little bit. He was asking for some advice,' Merges told DNAinfo. Giving back: After mentor Charlie Trotter died in 2013, Cantu helped start the Trotter Project to mentor high school and college students in Trotter's memory . 'He definitely had a strain, from all publicity going around [from the lawsuit]. As we all know, it's tough. He talked about it. He just said, "It's a difficult situation." I told him just hang in there and power through it. 'I don't even know what to think. I see his girls almost every day.' Cantu's sudden and surprising death is all the more tragic considering his inspiring rise to success. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Cantu struggled with drug addiction and was even homeless before he found stability cooking in kitchens on the West Coast. In 1999, he moved to Chicago where he got a job at Charlie Trotter's by knocking on the back door of the world-famous restaurant. It was at Charlie Trotter's that Cantu met his wife, Katie McGowan, who worked as a guest chef one night. The two married in 2003 and have two young daughters. 'They're just a natural, young family,' neighbor Jean Boisvert told DNAinfo. 'I feel horrible for his two young, beautiful daughters.' From February 1, 1999 until February 1, 2003, Cantu worked under Trotter, one time holding the position of sous chef, before he left to start Moto - which earned a Michelin star in 2014. When Trotter died in 2013, Cantu helped head a non-profit called the Trotter Project to mentor high school and college students and which raised money to keep Trotter's restaurant open. Cantu was known as a pioneer in the culinary field of molecular gastronomy, though perhaps not as famous as another food scientist in Chicago, Alinea's Grant Achatz. Edible paper and carbonated fruit are just two of the curious items served at Moto. The culinary world grieves: Fellow Trotter alum Graham Elliot, now a judge on TV show MasterChef, tweeted condolences after hearing about Cantu's death . 'I hear a lot of stories about a top chef coming up from nothing and going on to great things, but his nothing is a much deeper place than almost anybody I ever knew as a chef,' Chef EL Foss told the Chicago Sun-Times. 'To go and to have success that he did. It’s just sad that it has to end like this, and we’re just pretty broken up tonight.' Foss last saw Cantu on March 25, when Cantu agreed to guest chef at Foss' themed-dinner series. Foss said he expected Cantu to cancel, since an Eater article about the Moto lawsuit came out the same day as the dinner. However, he was pleasantly surprised when Cantu showed up as agreed, though he says he did seem a bit 'withdrawn'. 'He was definitely a little bit bummed out. But I didn't get the impression that it was going to defeat him. But I guess you get to a certain age and a certain time, and I guess the idea of picking up the pieces and starting over again could be intimidating. But I did not see this coming. I'm just very shocked and extremely saddened by it all,' Foss told DNAinfo. In the wake of Cantu's death, MasterChef judge Graham Elliot, who also worked at Charlie Trotter's, tweeted sympathy to his friend's family. 'Please everyone, send your thoughts/prayers to the family & loved ones of chef Homaro Cantu. A great friend, a horrible loss; speechless,' Elliot said. • For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here . • For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here .
Homaru Cantu, 38, was found dead inside his upcoming restaurant, Crooked Fork Brewery, on Tuesday.
An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday, though authorities are investigating Cantu's death as an apparent suicide.
Cantu worked for famed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter for four years before opening his own restaurant, Moto.
A month ago, a former investor filed a lawsuit against Cantu, accusing the chef of using Moto's bank account for personal expenses.
According to friends, Cantu had become strained in recent days because of the lawsuit.