INTRODUCING CELEBRATED EXECUTIVE CHEF
ALEX REZNIK
Contestant, Top Chef
AGE: 33
HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, NY – currently resides in Hollywood, CA
PROFESSION: Executive Chef, Ivan Kane's Café Was
CULINARY EDUCATION: AOS, Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas, NV
FAVORITE RECIPE: Avocado panna cotta with pickled ramps and tomato
Chef Alex's passion for art and life is demonstrated daily at Ivan Kane's Café Was, through the use of "local and seasonal ingredients and classic French techniques to create honest California bistro fare." This theatricality of cuisine was the perfect marriage for Ivan's theatrical background ... and Hollywood has taken notice.
Growing up in New York, the son of a first generation European family, food was an integral part of his early life, where family and friends gathered at the dining table every night for good food and conversation. Watching his mother and grandmother cooking and laughing in preparation for this daily ritual gave Alex some of his fondest memories ... and set him on a path of creative cooking. The food was a "Brooklyn medley" of all cultures, teaching him to appreciate a variety of tastes and styles.
As a young adult, Alex travelled the world, from Brooklyn to North America, Europe, Central America and back, traveling every dirt road, back road, bike trail and Interstate, soaking up a variety of diverse culinary styles and techniques … and he ate it up, literally, learning to love food and live life. Sipping a fine Bordeaux in a local café on the Champs-Elysées, biting into the best crunchy fried chicken at a greasy spoon in Tennessee, learning the top secret ingredient for sangria made by the villagers in Madera, Spain (and swearing to take it to his grave!) or working in the laboratory of Italy's most revered gelateria in Tuscany, this is how Alex solidified his curiosity and philosophies for good, honest food, from market to table – making every local farmers market his first stop in any city around the world.
Chef Reznik found himself in Las Vegas, the new culinary capital of the United States, and began working with some of the greatest chefs from around the world, where his culinary talents for classic cuisine landed him a job at the world-renowned, legendary, five-star Lutèce, the quintessential fine-dining French restaurant located in The Venetian, where he used cutting edge micro gastronomy to create French nouveau cuisine.
He then moved to the celebrated restaurants at the Bally's/Paris Resort where, while at Bally's Steak House and Les Artistes Restaurant, Chef Alex received numerous awards and honors for his creative excellence and superior cuisine. For Alex, the right "life balance" is necessary to allow his creativity, originality and imagination to flow freely in the kitchen. Known to have a bit of the outlaw spirit in his approach to cooking and willing to plow ahead where angels fear to go, Alex finds balance through philanthropic work, devoting his time and talents to, among others, the March Of Dimes, charity: water, Break The Cycle and The Saban Free Clinic.
Meeting Ivan Kane, a nightlife entrepreneur who was about to embark on a new restaurant project, the two found a shared philosophy on food, lifestyle, comfort and a need to think outside the box of a traditional dining experience. The result was an imaginative play on bistro fare with a whimsical approach. Ivan Kane's Café Was with Executive Chef Alex Reznik has redefined dining, giving us exactly what is needed for these socio-economic times ... true bohemia. Great food to share with good friends while discussing life, love, politics and art, bringing Chef Alex right back to the dining room of his youth.
