Alex Guarnaschelli

Why did you get involved with City Harvest?
I gravitated to City Harvest while working in restaurants in the city that support the cause of fighting hunger. I try to involve Butter in events that support 
City Harvest as often as possible. I grew up in Manhattan, and I feel a deep connectedness to the idea that every one in this city should have enough to eat every day. The city can be a tough place: very busy, filled with people hurrying to their various destinations. Hunger can make New York (or anywhere) a lonely place, and it only seems right to prevent that from being a part of reality here in Manhattan.

Why is hunger an important issue for you?
It seems very basic that we should all be able to have enough to eat. Being a chef and having the privilege of feeding people at Butter every night seems short sighted by itself. I think restaurants (and chefs) should do what they can to help fight hunger in the big picture for those that have to worry about where they are going to get their next meal.

How has your involvement with City Harvest affected your outlook on food and/or hunger in New York City?
When the weather turns cold, I think about people that don't have food or shelter. When I see the City Harvest trucks driving around the city, I am encouraged by the fact that there are people working every day to end hunger.

What is your favorite hidden gem of a restaurant in New York?
Forty Carrots at Bloomingdale's. I love their salads and sandwiches — always fresh.  Their frozen yogurt is addictive.

What is your favorite type of food to eat?
My father makes amazing (authentic) Chinese food. I grew up eating it on a regular basis and I love the flavors that to me are so unique.

What is your favorite type of food to make?
I get the most pleasure from making Italian food, soups especially.

What can you not live without in your kitchen?
I cannot live without lemons, at least four or five types of coarse sea salts from different parts of the world, and hazelnut oil. Ramps and sunchokes are pretty high on my list as well.

What is in your refrigerator?
At home, I have two dozen eggs from the Greenmarket, half a gallon of milk from Milk Thistle Farms (my favorite local dairy), several avocados, a lime, some Fresca, French white wine, and a lot of jars of Dijon mustard and Cornichons.

What inspired you to focus on being a chef as a career?
My parents, without a doubt. They were always cooking and my mother was always reading cookbooks and copies of Gourmet magazine. While we were eating lunch, she would be pouring over cookbooks for recipe ideas for dinner.

What is your favorite junk food?
I really love Oreos, Tootsie Rolls and Yoo-hoo. I love watery “chocolate substitute” foods – they are my evil indulgence!

Do you have any suggestions for people on a limited budget that would still like to enjoy a nice meal out?
Check websites like Eater.com, Zagat.com, and Citysearch.com for weekly special menus and discounts – they are rampant in the city right now. I think it is better to have a complete experience with a discounted prix fixe than to restrain yourself and have a partial experience at full price.

I am thinking about becoming a chef, what advice can you give me?
Write to a chef/restaurant that interests you and ask if you can come in and work or observe for a while to see if that is the kind of environment that you can see yourself being happy in. Take a basic cooking skills class at a local culinary school to see if you like developing the skill set. Most of all?  If you know you love it, try it!

You can select anything in the world for your last meal...What would it be?
I think I would want to have the spit-roasted leg of lamb with ratatouille at the Bistro du Paradou in the South of France. Either that or I may like to eat my way (bread by bread) through the storefront at Acme Bread in Berkeley and wash it down with some Kermit Lynch selections from down the block.

• At the Chef's Table
• The Food Council