Why Alex Guarnaschelli Calls Daughter Ava Her Toughest Food Critic
The notoriously cranky restaurant critics on Yelp often give the Manhattan restaurant Butter a little bit of a pass, due to the star quality of its head chef. Alex Guarnaschelli, famous for her appearances on the shows "Chopped" and "The Kitchen," has been at the helm of Butter since 2003, according to her website, and some Yelpers positively gushed over their dining experience there. Mike M. gave Butter five out of five stars. "Alex Guarnaschelli is my favorite Food Network personality, so I had to go try her place," Mike wrote. "Dear lord, some of the best food I have ever had." Over at OpenTable, another restaurant review site, Butter has compiled an average rating of 4.5 stars out of five. "This was everything I wanted it to be. Amazing food, amazing service. Nothing could have been better," one reviewer wrote.
You can't please everyone, of course. Makenzie S. on Yelp thought Butter was "average" but may have missed the point a little. "I have had much better bread and butter at other restaurants that you didn't have to pay for," Makenzie said. "I expected more from the butter when you call your restaurant Butter."
While Guarnaschelli is riding high among amateur online restaurant reviewers, she ran into some harsher criticism from a professional. Then there's her own daughter, whom Guarnaschelli says is the toughest critic of all.
Alex Guarnaschelli's daughter doesn't lie to protect her mother's feelings
The New York Post checked in on Butter in 2014, shortly after it set up shop in Midtown. The Post has a four-star rating system, and Butter clocked in at 1.5 stars. The pasta, according to the newspaper, was "suburban-saloon-like," which brings to mind Applebee's. The veggies and legumes from Guarnaschelli's beloved Union Square Greenmarket were piled so densely, the reviewer got lost in his plate. The pork chop was dry and the roasted chicken was dull. (The seafood was great, however.)
As harsh as the New York Post's review might sound, it doesn't hold a candle to Guarnaschelli's own 14-year-old daughter Ava. Alex and Ava appeared together on the home-design show "Open House" (via YouTube). Alex Guaranaschelli showed off her amazing kitchen, and she teamed up with her daughter to fry up some hanger steak. Alex got a little nervous when her daughter, who loves steak, gave it the taste test. Ava sounded sincere when she said, "It's really good."
"Let me tell you, she doesn't lie," Alex said. "You cannot get a child to lie for anything. So if you really want your toughest food critic, have a baby." We can only imagine the withering critiques Ava has given her celebrity chef mother when she didn't like the food: "Zero stars for you, mom."