Alexandra Guarnaschelli — American Chef born on December 30, 1972,

Alexandra "Alex" Guarnaschelli is a celebrity chef and executive chef at New York City's Butter restaurant and was executive chef at the award-winning The Darby restaurant before its closing. She appears as a television personality on the Food Network shows Chopped, Iron Chef America, All Star Family Cook-off, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. She hosts Alex's Day Off and The Cooking Loft on Food Network and Cooking Channel. In 2012, she was crowned America's Next Iron Chef on Iron Chef America, currently the only woman with that distinction and only the second female ever to obtain that TV honor. In 2013, Guarnaschelli's first cookbook was published. Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook. ISBN 978-0307956552  mixes autobiographical details with recipes that she has loved during her life as a cook adapted for the home... (wikipedia)

I think we love bacon because it has all the qualities of an amazing sensory experience. When we cook it, the sizzling sound is so appetizing, the aroma is maddening, the crunch of the texture is so gratifying and the taste delivers every time.
My reasons for becoming a chef are somewhat of a cliche. I always loved to eat but it was watching my parents cook that really served as the impetus for my career choice.
Food is ever-changing and ever moving forward and getting more and more complex.
I used to sleep with the phone right by my pillow but I'm getting better. Now it sits on the table a few feet away.
The hardest thing about being a full time chef is leaving my work behind when I go home at night. I'll toss and turn about a menu item or forget to order produce and wake up at 4 A.M. in a cold sweat over some artichokes.