Alexandra “Alex” Guarnaschelli is an Iron Chef, Food Network celebrity chef and the world-renowned executive chef at both New York City’s Butter restaurant and award-winning The Darby restaurant. She is also a television personality on the Food Network shows Chopped, Iron Chef America, All Star Family Cook-off and The Best Thing I Ever Made. She hosts Alex’s Day Off and The Cooking Loft on Food Network and Cooking Channel In 2012, she was crowned America’s Next Iron Chef on Iron Chef America, currently the only woman with that distinction and only the second female ever to obtain that honor. On this week’s episode of Chef’s Story, hear Alex’s story – from growing up as the daughter of esteemed cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli to culinary education across the world, to eventually finding her own style in the kitchen. This program was sponsored by Fairway Market.“Everybody has a culinary identity that they base on their childhood and the repertoire of dishes they were exposed to.” [“I do think a big part of defining your cooking is what you buy and where you buy it from” [“I like competition shows because they show the human side of people – that they are fallible, make mistakes and they crave being a hero” [–Alex Guarnaschelli on Chef’s Story