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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.