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Chef

Alexander Smalls is the visionary of the award-winning restaurant The Cecil and

its sister restaurant Minton's, serving as its co-owner and Executive

Chef. The Cecil, NYC's first

Afro-Asian-American restaurant, was named “Best New Restaurant in America” by Esquire magazine in 2014. Over the past three decades, Chef Smalls has

traveled the world studying the cooking techniques and food ways of the African

diaspora. He has received great acclaim in the New York City restaurant scene,

including cooking at the James Beard House, being named one of Zagat's “19 NYC Restaurant Power Players

You Need to Know” and being honored with the Legacy Award in 2014 by The Amsterdam News, one of the oldest

African American newspapers in the country.

Alexander has appeared on a

wide range of food and culinary platforms, with guest appearances on national

TV, magazine and news programs. He has appeared on The Food Network on such

shows as “Recipe for Success” and “Throwdown!” with Bobby Flay.

In addition to his success in

the culinary world, Alexander's memoir and cookbook “Grace the Table” features

recipes from his upbringing of Southern Revival cuisine. Alexander is also a world-renowned opera

singer and the winner of both a Grammy Award and a Tony Award for the cast

recording of Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, with the Houston Grand Opera.

Passionate about his

involvement with non-profit organizations, he is on the Advisory Board

of The Union Food Lab at Columbia University, and through his restaurants,

he is involved in C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program). Alexander is also a former board member

and Artistic Director of Opus 118 at the Harlem School of Music.