The Lover

I am the lover, I am originally from Boston, am a huge Red Sox Fan and recently sat by myself in the pouring rain in Raider stadium decked out in Patriot's gear to see them play, it was amazing. I was surprised to escape unscathed. I will graduate from USF with a degree in Latin American Studies on May 22nd at noon...29 days away and counting! I met The Chef about 2 1/2 years ago and he has successfully turned me into a big food snob. I have worked in a variety of obscure industries from flipping pizzas, to teaching tennis, to a brief (and miserable) stint in retail, to restaurants, to working on a major PR campain to assist victims of human trafficking in SF (where my heart still lies), back to restaurant work (Quince & Gary Danko), finally landing as an up and coming restaurant PR tycoon where I hope to remain as long as possible. I have realized that life is impossible to plan and I will only drive myself insane trying to control things, so I try to be open to opportunities and experiences. This has lead to a couple waste of time interviews but that's how it goes! I enjoy eating, drinking, taking long sniffs into beautiful glasses of wine, listening to embarrassing music (ABBA rocks!), dancing in my kitchen, attempting to cook, reading trashy novels, watching movies and just about anything outdoorsy. The Chef & I are absolutly determined to eat and drink outselves silly as often as possible. Enjoy!

The Chef

The Chef that I am in love with has quite a story. He immigrated from Morelos, Mexico when he was only 12 to New York City where he lived with an older brother. He simultaniously learned English, went to school and got a job as a dishwasher to pay his bills. He rapidly learned that he loved the kitchen environment and that he was extremly talented. He moved up quickly garnering respect as he went. By 17 he was a line cook in top New York restaurants working for restaurateur giant Pino Luongo in the then famous Mad 61 and Monkey Bar. He later moved onto Windows on the World at the top of the late World Trade Center. He developed his passion and personal style, becoming lead line cook. In 1997 Alex moved to San Francisco and opened Farallon Restaurant in Union Square. He spent 5 years there moving up to Sous Chef before moving on to Nancy Oaks' restaurant Boulevard. The lucky guy got to experience the birth of the food movements in both New York and San Francisco, oh yeah somewhere in the New York stage he went to Culinary School but left because he was already working for many of his professors and he decided that he could learn more from a kitchen then a classroom. A few years later in San Francisco Alex opened several restaurants as an Executive Chef including Nectar Wine Lounge (in the Marina), U street Restaurant, Colibri Mexican Bistro, Consuelo Mexican Bistro & El Jardin (in San Jose). He then got in his Vegas experience at the MGM Grand cooking for celebrity guests. He soon realized that Vegas was a bit of a wasteland compared to the culinary oasis of San Francisco and returned working for the Beach/Park Chalet and opening Miss Pearl's Jam House for Joie de Vivre Hospitality. Alex enjoys cooking "his food" at home, drinking good wine, foot massages (who doesn't!), fishing, bumming around the Russian River in Sonoma, camping and EATING! Being the lover has been an awesome adventure, and we are absolutly determined to eat our way through the city and beyond!