Alexander Smalls
James Beard Award Winner | Tony Award Winner
Grammy Award Winner | TV Personality
Restaurateur | Author
winner, 2019 Beard Award
'Best American Cookbook'
IN THE PRESS
James Beard Award Winner | Tony Award Winner | Grammy Award Winner
TV Personality | Restaurateur | Author
Alexander Smalls, James Beard Award winning chef, author, and raconteur, was the visionary co-owner of renowned restaurants, The Cecil and Minton’s. Critically acclaimed and located in the heart of historic Harlem, Minton’s, the birthplace of BeBop in the 1930’s, harkened back to the Jazz Age evoking a sexy supper club with live music serving Low Country cuisine inspired by Smalls’ childhood. His award-winning restaurant, The Cecil, NYC’s first Afro-Asian-American restaurant, was named “Best New Restaurant in America” by Esquire in 2014.
His honors have continued. Smalls, who was bestowed the Creative Spirit Award from the Black Alumni of Pratt by the inimitable Ms. Cicely Tyson, speaks frequently about his life as restaurateur and cookbook author; he is a much-desired interviewee and sought out voice on both television, radio—and print
media. Furthermore, in 2019, he was a recipient for the James Beard Award for Between Harlem and Heaven. Smalls continues his prolific writing world: His latest offering, Meals, Music, and Muses: Recipes from My African American Kitchen (2020), a tribute to his South Carolina heritage and the music that inspired him, received immediate attention and acclaim, earning his presence on multiple radio and television appearances, not to mention New York Times and Food & Wine features.
Smalls, who currently cultivates an active Instagram following of 12.3 thousand, continues to advance his knowledge and share his work. He boasts a rich history of travels—and achievements. He spent the past three decades traveling the world to study the cooking techniques and foodways of the African diaspora. As the former chef-owner of renowned restaurants including Café Beulah, the first fine dining African American concept restaurant, Sweet Ophelia’s in downtown Manhattan, and Shoebox Café at the famed Grand Central Station in NYC, Smalls is a highly-respected and visible figure on the restaurant scene, including time spent cooking at the James Beard House, being named one of Zagat’s “NYC Restaurant Power Players You Need to Know” and being honored with the Legacy Award in 2014 by The Amsterdam News, one of the oldest African American newspapers in the country.
In the course of his stellar culinary career, Smalls has had a presence on a wide range of food platforms, as well as guest spots on national TV, magazine and media programs. Smalls has written several articles and op-ed's as well on the hospitality spectrum. . He has served as a celebrity chef judge twice on “Top Chef,” appeared on “The Chew” with Carla Hall and “Extra Virgin” with Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos, as well as in the Hallmark series “The Peete’s.” His Food Network appearances additionally include “Recipe for Success” and “Throwdown!” with Bobby Flay, CBS The Dish, as well as frequent guest spots on the NBC’s “The Today Show.” His Cover story for Food and Wine October issue 2020 featured him as a prominent New York host in his home in Harlem. Smalls was also a featured Chef/ author for the first New York Times Food and Wine Festival.
In addition to his success in the culinary world, Smalls’ memoir and cookbook Grace the Table features recipes from his upbringing of Southern Revival cuisine. In 2021 Smalls signed a contract for his first children's book soon to be published by Denene Milner Books, Simon and Schuster. Furthermore, Smalls is also a world-renowned opera singer and the winner of both a Grammy Award and a Tony Award for the cast recording of Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, with the Houston Grand Opera.
media. Furthermore, in 2019, he was a recipient for the James Beard Award for Between Harlem and Heaven. Smalls continues his prolific writing world: His latest offering, Meals, Music, and Muses: Recipes from My African American Kitchen (2020), a tribute to his South Carolina heritage and the music that inspired him, received immediate attention and acclaim, earning his presence on multiple radio and television appearances, not to mention New York Times and Food & Wine features.
Smalls, who currently cultivates an active Instagram following of 12.3 thousand, continues to advance his knowledge and share his work. He boasts a rich history of travels—and achievements. He spent the past three decades traveling the world to study the cooking techniques and foodways of the African diaspora. As the former chef-owner of renowned restaurants including Café Beulah, the first fine dining African American concept restaurant, Sweet Ophelia’s in downtown Manhattan, and Shoebox Café at the famed Grand Central Station in NYC, Smalls is a highly-respected and visible figure on the restaurant scene, including time spent cooking at the James Beard House, being named one of Zagat’s “NYC Restaurant Power Players You Need to Know” and being honored with the Legacy Award in 2014 by The Amsterdam News, one of the oldest African American newspapers in the country.
In the course of his stellar culinary career, Smalls has had a presence on a wide range of food platforms, as well as guest spots on national TV, magazine and media programs. Smalls has written several articles and op-ed's as well on the hospitality spectrum. . He has served as a celebrity chef judge twice on “Top Chef,” appeared on “The Chew” with Carla Hall and “Extra Virgin” with Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos, as well as in the Hallmark series “The Peete’s.” His Food Network appearances additionally include “Recipe for Success” and “Throwdown!” with Bobby Flay, CBS The Dish, as well as frequent guest spots on the NBC’s “The Today Show.” His Cover story for Food and Wine October issue 2020 featured him as a prominent New York host in his home in Harlem. Smalls was also a featured Chef/ author for the first New York Times Food and Wine Festival.
In addition to his success in the culinary world, Smalls’ memoir and cookbook Grace the Table features recipes from his upbringing of Southern Revival cuisine. In 2021 Smalls signed a contract for his first children's book soon to be published by Denene Milner Books, Simon and Schuster. Furthermore, Smalls is also a world-renowned opera singer and the winner of both a Grammy Award and a Tony Award for the cast recording of Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, with the Houston Grand Opera.