James Alefantis is an American

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

. He founded and owns two restaurants in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, including the pizzeria Comet Ping Pong, and American restaurant Buck's Fishing & Camping. He is also the president of the art gallery Transformer in Logan Circle, Washington, D.C. In 2012, '' GQ'' named him one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington, D.C.

Biography

Alefantis was raised in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

and Washington, D.C. Prior to becoming a restaurateur, he owned a small art gallery in Georgetown, Virginia, and served as the general manager of Johnny's Half Shell for two years. He founded Buck's Fishing & Camping in October 2003 along with Carole Greenwood. Originally, the restaurant was called "Greenwood", and she was the restaurant's chef and he was its owner. Alefantis has said that he and Greenwood collaborated on every item on the menu at Buck's. In 2006, he and Greenwood co-founded Comet Ping Pong. In 2009 Greenwood stepped away from the businesses, and Alefantis hired Vickie Reh to be chef at Bucks and Laura Bonino to be head chef at Comet Pizza. Alefantis is also a partner in Muchas Gracias, a Mexican restaurant in Washington, DC.

Personal life

Alefantis is openly gay. He formerly dated

David Brock David Brock is an American liberal political consultant, author, and commentator who founded the media watchdog group Media Matters for America. He has been described by ''Time'' as "one of the most influential operatives in the Democratic Par ...

, the CEO of

Media Matters for America Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alefantis, James American restaurateurs Living people Businesspeople from Washington, D.C. American LGBTQ businesspeople Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Gay businessmen