{{Infobox chef , name = Alex Guarnaschelli , image = , caption = , birth_date = {{birth date and age, 1969, 6, 20 , birth_place =

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri, U.S. , birth_name = Alexandra Maria Guarnaschelli , education=

Horace Mann School Horace Mann School (also known as Horace Mann or HM) is an American private, independent college-preparatory school in the Bronx, founded in 1887. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from the New Yo ...

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

(BA), spouse = Brandon Clark (2007–2015) , children = 1 , known_for=Chef, cookbook author, television personality, alma_mater =

, ratings = , restaurants = {{Unbulleted list, Butter Midtown, New York City (2003–present) , prevrests = {{Unbulleted list, The Darby, New York City (?–2013) , television = {{Unbulleted list, ''

The Best Thing I Ever Ate ''The Best Thing I Ever Ate'' is a television series that originally aired on Food Network, debuting on June 22, 2009 (after a preview on June 20). The program originally aired as a one-time special in late 2008. After being cancelled by The Foo ...

'', '' The Cooking Loft with Alex Guarnaschelli'', ''

Food Network Challenge ''Food Network Challenge'' is a competitive cooking television series that aired on the Food Network. In each episode, professional chefs vie in a timed competition in their professional specialty. The winner receives a check for $10,000 and a go ...

'', '' Chopped'', ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

'', '' Alex's Day Off'', '' All-Star Academy'', '' Supermarket Stakeout'', ''

Worst Cooks in America ''Worst Cooks in America'' is an American reality television series that premiered on January3, 2010, on Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (referred to as "recruits") with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, t ...

'', '' Alex vs. America'', '' The Kitchen'' , awards = , website = {{URL, www.alexguarnaschelli.com Alexandra Maria Guarnaschelli{{cite episode, title=Italian Holiday Battle, series= Iron Chef Showdown, url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/iron-chef-showdown/episodes/italian-holiday-battle, network=

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

, time=36:39, airdate=December 6, 2017, accessdate=July 31, 2019 (born June 20, 1969) is an American chef, cookbook author, and television personality. She currently serves as an

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French language, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that Supervisor, leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's Butter restaurant and was executive chef at The Darby restaurant before its closing. Guarnaschelli studied cooking extensively in France. She appears as a television personality on the

shows '' The Kitchen'', '' Chopped'' (as a judge), ''

'', ''All Star Family Cook-off'', ''

Guy's Grocery Games '' Guy's Grocery Games'' (often nicknamed ''Triple G'') is an American reality competition television series hosted by Guy Fieri and his son Hunter on Food Network. Each episode features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination contest ...

'' (as both a judge and a competitor), and ''

''. She hosts ''Alex's Day Off'', ''The Cooking Loft'', and '' Supermarket Stakeout''.{{cite web, date=March 30, 2014, title=Alex Guarnaschelli, url=http://thechefsconnection.com/alex-guarnaschelli, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022112/http://thechefsconnection.com/alex-guarnaschelli/, archive-date=March 4, 2016, access-date=May 25, 2015, publisher=TheChefsConnection.com, quote=Born:1969 In 2012, she won that season of '' The Next Iron Chef: Redemption''. In January 2022, she premiered her newest show, ''Alex vs. America'', also on Food Network. In 2013, Guarnaschelli's first cookbook was published. ''Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook'' mixes autobiographical details with favorite recipes from her professional life that she adapted for the home.{{cite web , title=My Book , url=http://alexguarnaschelli.com/my-book/ , access-date=December 16, 2014 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103062432/http://alexguarnaschelli.com/my-book/ , archive-date=January 3, 2015 , url-status=dead

Early life

Guarnaschelli was the

only child An only child is a person with no siblings, by birth or adoption. Overview Throughout history, only-children were relatively uncommon. From around the middle of the 20th century, birth rates and average family sizes fell sharply for a number of ...

of cookbook editor, the late Maria Guarnaschelli{{cite web , url= http://www.cookiemag.com/food/2008/05/chefpicks , title= Advice from a Chef: Alex Guarnaschelli, date= May 2007 , website = Cookiemag.com , first = Julie , last = Alvin , url-status = dead, archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080630213202/http://www.cookiemag.com/food/2008/05/chefpicks , archivedate= June 30, 2008 , accessdate = August 6, 2022 and John Guarnaschelli.{{cite web , title=Me , url= http://alexguarnaschelli.com/me/ , first = Alex , last= Guarnaschelli , website = alexguarnaschelli.com , publisher= Alex Guarnaschelli , access-date=December 16, 2014 She was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, but the family moved to

when she was just a few days old. Guarnaschelli's culinary experience started while watching her mother test numerous recipes at home while editing cookbooks. She graduated from

in 1987 and from

in 1991 with a degree in art history.

Career

In 1991, she worked for

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

in a restaurant, ''An American Place'', for one year.{{Citation needed, date=January 2025 Guarnaschelli worked under Larry Forgione (whose son is Iron Chef Marc Forgione), and then at a number of restaurants in France, New York and Los Angeles, including Guy Savoy's ''La Butte Chaillot''. She also worked at

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, and Dubai. He is best known for his eponymous restaurant Daniel, opened in Ne ...

's eponymous restaurant and Joachim Splichal's Patina, before becoming the executive chef at Butter Midtown in 2003. She was executive chef at The Darby restaurant before its closing in 2013.{{cite web , last1=Wang , first1=Andy , title=Darby supper club to close in a month , website= nypost.com , url= https://nypost.com/2013/06/29/darby-supper-club-to-close-in-a-month/ , access-date=December 16, 2014, date=2013-06-29 She chairs the

Museum of Food and Drink The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) is a New York City educational non-profit and museum that seeks to change the way people think about food and drink. The museum's work explores "the ways food and beverage impact our culture, politics, economy, ...

's Culinary Council. In 2022, it was announced that Guarnaschelli became godmother of the Discovery Princess cruise ship.

Television appearances

Guarnaschelli was a competitor on The

's ''

'', taking on Cat Cora in the 2007 "Farmers' Market Battle." Cora won the challenge. Guarnaschelli has since appeared as a judge on the program. In 2011, she competed in the fourth season of '' The Next Iron Chef'', where she placed as the third runner-up. She also competed on the ''

'' Ultimate Thanksgiving Feast episode and lost the competition. After competing in the fourth season of ''The Next Iron Chef'', Guarnaschelli became a sous chef to Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian.{{Citation needed, date=January 2025 In 2008, she became the host of The Food Network's ''The Cooking Loft with Alex Guarnaschelli'', in which the chef teaches a small group of students how to construct new variations of classic dishes. Guarnaschelli has been a judge on Food Network's competition show ''

'', and frequently appears as a judge on Food Network's cooking competition show '' Chopped'', ''Cooks Vs. Cons'', '' Young and Hungry'', and ''

'', as had appeared on the Food series ''

''. Guarnaschelli starred in the Food Network television show ''Alex's Day Off'', which premiered in October 2009. It ran for three seasons and 32 episodes She competed in season 5 of '' The Next Iron Chef: Redemption'', winning in the final Kitchen Stadium showdown against chef Amanda Freitag. Her debut challenge as an Iron Chef on ''Iron Chef America'' aired on December 30, 2012.{{cite web , last1=Chen , first1=Susannah , title=Alex Guarnaschelli on Next Iron Chef , url= http://www.popsugar.com/food/Alex-Guarnaschelli-Interview-Next-Iron-Chef-Super-Chefs-20146025 , publisher= , website =

Popsugar PopSugar Inc. is an American media and technology company that is the parent to the media property PopSugar (stylized POPSUGAR) and a monthly subscription business PopSugar Must Have. The company was founded in 2006 by married couple Brian and Lis ...

.com , access-date= December 16, 2014 Guarnaschelli made guest appearances on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television show '' Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn'', on the one-hour special "Go Hollywood" on November 25, 2015 and later on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television show '' The Real O'Neals'' in the episode "The Real Thanksgiving" on November 15, 2016. She later made appearances as a judge in episode five of Iron Chef Gauntlet, where chef Sarah Gruenberg was eliminated before the final showdown in episode six "The Gauntlet", and on the Food Network's '' Beat Bobby Flay'', in which she challenged Bobby with her signature lobster dish and also won that challenge. She made a guest appearance as herself in the season 5 finale of the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

sitcom '' Young and Hungry'', in which her job offer to

Emily Osment Emily Jordan Osment (born March 10, 1992) is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Osment began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous television shows and films, before co-starring as Gerti Gi ...

's main protagonist Gabi serves as the crux to the episode's storyline, left unresolved due to cancellation of both the show and a planned film wrap-up.{{cite web , last1= Swift, first1=Andy , last2= Schwartz , first2=Ryan , title=Young & Hungry Series Finale Movie Scrapped; Emily Osment Reveals Answer to 'Obvious' Cliffhanger , url= https://tvline.com/2018/08/24/young-hungry-movie-cancelled-gabi-josh-ending-explained/ , publisher= , website = TVLine.com , date=August 24, 2018 , access-date= May 28, 2023 She also appeared in the Showtime series '' Billions'' and as a mentor on season 20 of ''

'' as the captain of the Blue Team, opposite

Anne Burrell Anne W. Burrell (September 21, 1969 – June 17, 2025) was an American chef, television personality, and instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. She was the host of the Food Network show '' Secrets of a Restaurant Chef'' and co-host ...

. Alex ultimately became the winning mentor.{{Citation needed, date=January 2025 In 2022, she premiered '' Alex vs. America'', also on Food Network.

Personal life

On April 29, 2007, Guarnaschelli married Brandon Clark.{{cite news , last1=Sipher , first1=Devan , title=Alexandra Guarnaschelli and Brandon Clark , url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/fashion/weddings/20vows.html , newspaper=

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, access-date= December 16, 2014, date=2007-05-20 The two met in 2006 at New York's

Institute of Culinary Education The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) is a private for-profit culinary school with locations in New York City and Los Angeles, accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). It offers career training, dip ...

while Alex was teaching a fish class. Their daughter, Ava, was born in July 2007. The couple's marriage eventually ended, and in June 2020, Guarnaschelli announced her engagement to chef Michael Castellon, a '' Chopped'' winner who had proposed to her on her birthday over the weekend of June 19–20. In February 2022, it was announced that the couple ended their engagement.{{Cite web, date=February 21, 2022, first=Greta , last=Bjornson, title=Alex Guarnaschelli and Fiancé Michael Castellon End Engagement After 5 Years Together, url=https://people.com/food/alex-guarnaschelli-and-fiance-michael-castellon-end-engagement-after-five-years-together/, access-date=2022-02-21, website=PEOPLE.com, language=en

Filmography

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%;" ! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" , Television , - align="center" ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" , Year ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" , Show ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" , Role ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" , Notes , - , 2007–2018 , ''

'' , Herself / Iron Chef
Sous Chef / Judge , Was a sous chef under Geoffrey Zakarian before becoming an Iron Chef , - , rowspan=2, 2008 , ''The Cooking Loft'' , Host , , - , ''Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving'' , Herself , , - , 2009 , ''

Food Detectives ''Food Detectives'' is a food science show hosted by Ted Allen that aired in North America on Food Network from July to September 2008. Ted Allen, backed by research conducted by ''Popular Science'' magazine, investigated food-related beliefs, s ...

'' , Herself , Season 2 episode 1: "Tastes Like Chicken" , - , 2009–2011 , ''Alex's Day Off'' , Host , , - , 2009–2018 , ''

Food Network Star ''Food Network Star'' is a reality television series that aired from June 5, 2005, to August 5, 2018. It was produced by CBS EYEtoo Productions for seasons 1–8 and by Triage Entertainment for seasons 9-14. It aired on the Food Network in the ...

'' , Host / Judge , , - , 2009–present , '' Chopped'' , Herself / Judge / Competitor , 216 episodes , - , 2009–2019 , ''

'' , Herself , 45 episodes , - , rowspan=2, 2010 , ''Dear Food Network'' , Herself , Episode: "Thanksgiving Top Ten 2" , - , ''Chefography'' , Herself , Episode: "Alex Guarnaschelli" , - , 2010–2020 , ''

'' , Herself / Mentor , Blue Team mentor - Season 20
Critic - Season 1 episode 6: "Final Test" , - , rowspan=2, 2011–2012 , ''Thanksgiving Live!'' , Herself , TV special , - , ''The Perfect 3'' , Herself , 4 episodes , - , 2011–2013 , '' The Best Thing I Ever Made'' , Herself , 10 episodes , - , 2012–2015 , '' Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off'' , Herself / Judge , 4 episodes , - , rowspan=2, 2012 , '' Iron Chef America Countdown'' , Herself , 6 episodes , - , ''

Unique Eats ''Unique Eats'' is a TV series on Cooking Channel about various restaurants across the United States and their signature dishes. The show features talking head interviews with various chefs and food critics who give their judgement about the foo ...

'' , Herself , 3 episodes , - , 2013 , ''Southern Fried Everything'' , Herself , Episode 2: "Fair Fare" , - , 2013–present , '' Beat Bobby Flay'' , Herself / Judge / Competitor , 45 episodes , - , rowspan=2, 2014 , ''

America's Best Cook America's Best Cook was a limited run American cooking show which premiered on Food Network and Food Network Canada, April 14, 2014. It is hosted by Food Network host Ted Allen. It consisted of one six episode season. The winner of the competition ...

'' , Herself / Mentor , , - , '' Deadliest Catch: The Bait'' , Herself , 2 episodes , - , 2014–2021, and since 2025 , ''

'' , Herself / Judge / Mentor
Competitor / Judge and Competitor , 28 episodes , - , rowspan=4, 2015 , ''Best. Ever.'' , Herself , Episode 3: "Best. Burger. Ever." , - , ''Burgers, Brew and 'Que'' , Herself , Season 1 episode 3: "Finger-Licking Good" , - , ''Thanksgiving at Bobby's'' , Herself , , - , ''Christmas at Bobby's'' , Herself , , - , rowspan=3, 2015–2016 , '' All-Star Academy'' , Herself / Mentor / Judge , 16 episodes , - , '' Chopped After Hours'' , Herself , 14 episodes - 1 episode as host , - , '' Guilty Pleasures'' , Herself , 8 episodes , - , 2016 , '' The Real O'Neals'' , Herself , Season 2 episode 5: "The Real Tradition" , - , 2016–2017 , '' Cooks vs. Cons'' , Herself / Judge , 15 episodes , - , 2016–2019 , '' Chopped Junior'' , Herself / Judge , 11 episodes , - , rowspan=2, 2017 , '' Legend of Iron Chef'' , Herself , , - , '' Iron Chef Eats'' , Herself , , - , 2017–2019 , ''Guy's Ranch Kitchen'' , Herself , 15 episodes , - , rowspan=3, 2018 , '' Iron Chef Gauntlet'' , Herself , Season 2 episode 4: "Ingenuity" , - , ''

Ideal Home ''Ideal Home'' is a British home decorating magazine, published monthly (12 times a year) by Future plc Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson (entrepreneur), Chris Anderson. It is listed on ...

'' , Alex , , - , ''

Young & Hungry ''Young & Hungry'' is an American romantic sitcom created by David Holden. The multi-camera series starred Emily Osment, Jonathan Sadowski, Aimee Carrero, Kym Whitley and Rex Lee, and premiered on ABC Family (now known as Freeform) on June 2 ...

'' , Herself , Season 5 episode 20: "Young & Yacht'in" , - , 2018–2019 , ''Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge'' , Herself / Judge , , - , rowspan=5, 2019 , ''Bottle Service'' , Herself , Episode: "Sip, Savor, Spit with Alex Guarnaschelli" , - , ''Martha Bakes'' , Herself , Season 11 episode 12: "Pantry Milks" , - , '' Billions'' , Herself , Season 4 episode 12: "Extreme Sandbox" , - , ''Family Restaurant Rivals'' , Herself / Judge , Episode 8: "Family Freezer Burn" , - , '' Good Eats'' , Herself , Season 15 was dubbed on screen as ''Good Eats: The Return''
Season 15 episode 5: "My Shakshuka" , - , 2019–present , '' Supermarket Stakeout'' , Host , - , 2020 , '' All-Star Best Thing I Ever Ate'' , Herself , 8 episodes , - , 2020–2024 , '' The Kitchen'' , Herself / co-host , , - , 2022–present , '' Alex vs. America'' , Herself , , - , 2023–present , '' Ciao House'' , Herself ,

Bibliography

* ''Old School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook'' ( Clarkson Potter, 2013) {{ISBN, 9780307956552 * ''The Home Cook'' ( Clarkson Potter, 2017) {{ISBN, 9780307956583 * ''Cook With Me'' ( Clarkson Potter, 2020) {{ISBN, 9780593135082

References

{{reflist

External links

* {{official website, http://www.alexguarnaschelli.com
Alex Guarnaschelli
biography at Food Network. Archived fro

on January 1, 2014. Note; Virtually same content as at TheChefsConnection.com, cited above. *{{cite web, url=https://pursuethepassion.com/who-cares-if-youre-the-clown-as-long-as-you-can-dance-in-the-circus/, title=Alex Guarnaschelli – Executive Chef, Butter, date=October 18, 2007, publisher=PursueThePassion.com, access-date= July 29, 2020, archive-date=July 21, 2020 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200721072414/https://pursuethepassion.com/who-cares-if-youre-the-clown-as-long-as-you-can-dance-in-the-circus/, url-status=live {{The Next Iron Chef {{DEFAULTSORT:Guarnaschelli, Alex 1969 births Living people Chefs from Missouri Chefs from New York City American television chefs American women chefs American gastronomes American people of Italian descent Food Network chefs Reality cooking competition winners Barnard College alumni 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Judges in American reality television series