Alex Guarnaschelli Just Revealed What Inspired Her To Become A Chef
Alex Guarnaschelli is not just any Food Network star. She is a recurring judge on the network's show, "Chopped," has several cookbooks under her belt, and is the executive chef of Butter Restaurant in New York City. In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Guarnaschelli shared the best advice she's never given and admitted that as an adult, she has never had a job that wasn't related to food.
However, before Guarnaschelli climbed the ladder as an executive chef, the cookbook author and television star was inspired by a food-related show that she credits for pushing her into the world of food, beverage, and hospitality. Additionally, her rise to the top of the class during 2012's run of "The Next Iron Chef" may also have been, in part, due to the heavy influence this show may have played on her early life, as well as her love for food competition shows, as she told Mashed in the interview.
"I did a lot of cooking on that show, "Iron Chef America." And those are definitely my favorites. So I've done a lot of competition cooking. I think it's nice to test your ability against your peers. I think it's good for your own confidence to put yourself to the test," she said.
Where did she get her inspiration?
It turns out that Alex Guarnaschelli credits the original "Iron Chef" with getting her interested in becoming a professional chef herself. Showing off a video of the show in an Instagram post, she writes, "The original "ALLEZ CUISINE"!! This is what got me out of bed and into a chef's jacket. I had found my life goal."
And, it turns out, she may not have been the only person inspired to go into the food industry after watching it either. Fellow Food Network star and cookbook author, Aarti Sequeira, commented, "Yes! I miss this show. The first one I ever watched used natto. I was hooked!" Other chefs and food personalities also chimed in with comments like, "Iconic," and, "The only show I watched religiously."
The television program began in 1993 and debuted in Japan on Fuji Television (via TV Insider). It featured Chef Chen Kenichi, Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, Chef Masahiko Kobe, Chef Rokusaburo Michiba, and Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who has also been featured on the U.S. version of the show. Even better? Netflix is rebooting the show this year so an entirely new generation of aspiring chefs can fall in love, too.