Growing up across the street from the well-known Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, Alex was surrounded by food from an early age and loved helping to prepare meals. After graduating from college Alex went straight to work in one of the city’s best known kitchens, An American Place, for famed chef Larry Forgione, to see if she really did want to forgo a life in the art world for a life in the culinary arts.

That first taste of working in a kitchen propelled her to France, where she received a Grande Diplôme from La Varenne Culinary School in Burgundy. Then it was on to Three Star Michelin rated Guy Savoy in Paris for four years. It was here that Chef Guarnaschelli, "really learned how to cook and how to treat ingredients with the respect they deserve." Guy Savoy soon promoted Alex to Sous Chef in his Parisian Bistro La Butte Chaillot.

Alex returned to New York one year later to work as Fish/Sous Chef at Daniel Boulud’s critically acclaimed restaurant Daniel. After two years, Chef Guarnaschelli moved to Los Angeles to work with restaurateur Joachim Splichal at Patina and two years later Alex was back in Manhattan as Chef at Splichal's New York venture Nick and Stef's Steakhouse. Currently Chef Guarnaschelli personalizes the menu at Butter with the subtle influence of her experience working alongside some of the industry's most accomplished chefs.

“I never get sick of cooking. I must cook everyday or the universe just doesn’t feel right.” Alex also believes in giving back some of what she has learned, which she does as an instructor at the Institute for Culinary Education. Her idea of recreation is shopping at greenmarkets.

“I love buying produce. At the greenmarket, I’m like a fashionista at a trunk show. I want the ripest, the greenest, the best… it’s my inspiration.”

“My knives are all Japanese. I’ll never forget the first time I visited Korin. It was in 1999 and I was working at Daniel. I approached the Korin showroom and the store seemed as if it glowed. I felt I had almost made it but I was still hesitant. For entering Korin and purchasing a knife there meant I really was a chef, the real thing. I rang the bell… and I fell in love. I felt at home. And I knew then I belonged.”

“The knives are not only beautiful to look at, but incredibly light—particularly the ones I favor, which combine a fineness and lightness of the blade. These are such finely crafted instruments. Up until I bought my first knife at Korin, a knife was simply a tool. But now, they represent a myriad of possible endings to a story.”