Alessandro Stratta

Infobox Chef


name = Alessandro Stratta
caption =
birthdate =birth date and age|1964|10|29
birthplace = Marquette, Wisconsin
deathdate =
deathplace =
style = French, Mediterranean, and Italian
education = California Culinary Academy
ratings = Alex (Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas) - Mobil Rating|5|5 - AAA Motor Club Rating|5|5 - Michelin stars Rating|2|3
restaurants = Alex (Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas)
Corsa Cucina (Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas)

television =
prevrests =
website =

Alessandro Stratta (born October 29, 1964 in Marquette, Wisconsin) is a celebrity chef and restaurateur of mixed Italian and French heritage. Stratta played the role of "Iron Chef Italian" on the television show Iron Chef USA. He was recipient of the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef Southwest in 1998cite news |first=Al |last=Mancini |title=Down to Earth: Alex Stratta takes everything seriously except himself |url=http://www.944.com/?page=articles/view&AID=4648 |publisher= [http://www.944life.com 944 Life] |accessdate=2007-11-12 ] and currently is executive chef of his namesake restaurant Alex at the Wynn Las Vegas resort and country club in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Biography

Early life

Stratta is a fourth-generation hotelier born to parents from locales well-known for their culinary traditions; his Italian father is from the Piedmont region, and his French mother from Nice along the Côte d'Azur. [cite news |first=Max |last=Jacobson |title=The hottest restaurant in town makes a great impression |url=http://www.lvlife.com/2000/09/dining/story01.html |publisher= [http://www.lvlife.com Las Vegas Life] |date=2000-09 |accessdate=2007-11-19 ] As his father was president of Princess Hotels & Resorts, he spent much of his early life living in luxurious resorts in countries all over the world, including Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, France, Mexico, and Pakistan;cite web |url=http://www.jamesbeard.org/old/events/1999/02/016.html |title=St. Valentine's Dinner |accessdate=2007-11-19 |publisher= [http://www.jamesbeard.org James Beard Foundation] ] cite news |first=Catherine |last=Margles |title=King of Culinary ARTS |url=http://www.creativecookingschool.com/PressItem.asp?PressID=9 |work=Press Release |publisher= [http://www.creativecookingschool.com/default2.asp Creative Cooking School of Las Vegas] |accessdate=2007-11-19 ] this upbringing helped him become fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and English.cite web |url=http://starchefs.com/AStratta/bio.html |title=Alessandro Strata Biography |accessdate=2007-11-19 |publisher= [http://www.starchefs.com StarChefs] ] Stratta attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, California and graduated with honors in 1983.

Culinary development

Stratta began his career as a patissier-in-training at the Stanford Court Hotel. He then accepted an internship at the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco; soon after, Alain Ducasse invited Stratta to join the team at his Louis XV restaurant there. After two years, Stratta returned to the United States, and at Ducasse's recommendation began working for Daniel Boulud at Le Cirque in New York City. Both Ducasse and Boulud acted as mentors who heavily influenced Stratta's development as both a chef and restaurateur; Stratta credits Ducasse with showing him "how to make basic, simple food taste phenomenal", and Boulud for his creative influences as well as business skills.cite news |first=Lori |last=Doss |title=Alessandro Stratta shows mettle with Iron Chef appearance |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_1_36/ai_81529934 |publisher= [http://www.nrn.com Nation's Restaurant News] |date=2002-01-07 |accessdate=2007-11-19 ]

As executive chef

In 1989, Stratta took on the executive chef position at Mary Elaine's restaurant at The Phoenician resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. While there, he was featured in Food & Wine Magazine as one of "America's Ten Best New Chefs".cite web |url=http://www.foodandwine.com/bestnewchefs/?year=1994&chef=6A4FF638-6E24-41B8-A4690F799B33A4BD |title=Best New Chefs - 1994 - Alessandro Stratta |accessdate=2007-11-19 |publisher= [http://www.foodandwine.com Food & Wine Magazine] ] Under his tenure, the restaurant earned a 4-star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide and also received critical acclaim as the best restaurant in the Phoenix area. [cite news |first=R.W. |last=Apple, Jr. |title=ON THE ROAD; Phoenix: A Place In the Sun |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E4DD163DF93AA25751C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3 |publisher= [http://www.nytimes.com New York Times] |date=1999-02-19 |accessdate=2007-11-19 ]

In 1998, Stratta became executive chef of the Renoir restaurant at The Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada after being invited by Steve Wynn, who at the time was still Chairman and CEO of Mirage Resorts. The restaurant earned Mobil Travel Guide's highest rating of 5 stars just six months after opening.

In 2005, Stratta opened his namesake restaurant Alex - once again at the invitation of Steve Wynn, but this time for the grand opening of Wynn's namesake casino resort and country club, Wynn Las Vegas. Stratta's restaurant was billed as a "triumph" and has been extremely well-reviewed; [cite news |first=R.W. |last=Apple, Jr. |title=On High-Stakes Tables in Las Vegas: Fish, Not Chips |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E4DD163DF93AA25751C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3 |publisher= [http://www.nytimes.com New York Times] |date=2005-10-26 |accessdate=2007-11-19 ] it received ratings of 5 stars from the Mobil Travel Guide, [cite web |url=http://mobiltravelguide.howstuffworks.com/fivestar.php |title=Mobil Travel Guide: 2007 Five-Star Hotel and Restaurant Award Winners |accessdate=2007-11-12 ] 5 diamonds from the AAA Restaurant Ratings, [cite news |first=Jennifer |last=Robinson |coauthors=Heidi Knapp Rinella |title=A LITTLE MORE SHINE: LV scores nine winners of AAA's Five Diamond Awards |url=http://www.lvrj.com/business/11169511.html |publisher= [http://www.lvrj.com Las Vegas Review-Journal] ] and 2 stars from the Michelin Guide. [cite web |url=http://www.michelinguide.com/lv_stars08.html |title=Michelin Guide: 2008 Las Vegas Restaurant Award Winners |accessdate=2007-11-14 ]

Television

In 2001, Stratta was chosen as Iron Chef Italian on the now-defunct television show Iron Chef USA, where he was nicknamed the "Italian Scallion". Although he describes himself as "not that competitive", Stratta decided to appear on the show because he is a fan of the original Iron Chef show from Japan. In his only battle appearance on the show, he defeated chef Marcus Samuelsson.

Awards

*America's Ten Best New Chefs, Food & Wine Magazine, 1994
*Best Chef Southwest, James Beard Foundation, 1998

Restaurants

*Alex at Wynn Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
*Stratta (Restaurant) (formerly Corsa Cucina) at Wynn Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)

ee also

*Daniel Boulud
*Alain Ducasse
*Wynn Las Vegas

References