Alex Stupak

Born in Leominster in Massachusetts in 1980, Alex Stupak debuted at the stoves thanks to a lie: at 12 he tells the owner he’s not under age, otherwise he wouldn’t get a job. After graduating at the Culinary Institute of America, he started to work at Clio’s in Boston, where, for the first time, he had contact with the world of pastry. Attracted by all that’s technical and innovative, he soon became the first pastry chef of the restaurant. And the first praises arrived: Boston Magazine celebrated him as the best chef in town in his category, while Food & Wine Magazine said he had «a visionary talent».

The decisive step was, however, at Alinea in Chicago: Grant Achatz, the current biggest avant-garde American chef, wanted him there. In 2007 he accepted Wylie Dufresne’s offer at the Wd-50 in New York: his sweet tasting menu almost attracts more people than those who come for the whole meal, attracted by the chocolate leather, a profound work on the new structures that can be created with cocoa. On the crest of the wave (critic Jeffrey Steingarten labelled him in Vogue as «an unstoppable source of idea»), he moved once again. Together with some friends, he decided to explore the potential of Mexican cuisine: in the spring of 2011 it’s time to open the Empellon, always in New York City.