Meet Chef Alexis

A native of Union City, N.J., Chef Alexis Hernandez grew up around Latino flavors and from an early age he gained a lasting love affair with food.  After graduating with a BA in Theology from the acclaimed Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, managed big box retail and specialty retail stores honing his skills in retail merchandising, management and leadership.

In his early 20’s, while he was learning the basics of cooking, he began keeping a kitchen journal.  In this journal he documented his recipes, failures and his successes while he cooked in his kitchen.  Years later this journal would become his own reference book, as he continued on the quest to learn more about cooking and how to best enjoy it with others.  Alexis’ first cookbook was The Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Though people find it curious that this was the cookbook he learned about the kitchen, it was the book he frequently accessed when he had a question on how to treat an ingredient; or simply be reminded on what technique he should use while he was cooking.  Chef Alexis feels passionate about understanding the compositional characteristics of ingredients and how they interact with each other when heat is applied to them in the kitchen.  His goal is to educate and help people experience more confidence in the kitchen by making his cooking knowledge accessible to others.

Alexis enjoys cooking for his family and friends with wonderfully meaningful meals that leave big impressions on his guests.  In his late 20′s, even though he had to design menus on a shoe-string budget, he used innovative and sometimes unconventional methods to successfully create dishes that pleased the eye and palate.  To fill his kitchen with plates and wares for his creations, he searched high and low through second-hand stores to find inexpensive and unique one of a kind dinner plates, glasses, casserole dishes, vintage silverware as well as decorative items for the dinner table.

His life took an unexpected turn when he left his corporate job and moved to his 65-acre family farm.  Though he thought it may have been a mistake to have moved to his farm, he began to study the process and understand the logic of how ancient cultures grew their food efficiently and safely without chemical pesticides.  This time a vintage Better Homes & Gardens: New Garden Book was his initial reference on planting.  Alexis slowly learned about how to handle seeds and how and when to harvest them at their peak flavor.

Most of the year the gardens at his farm are teaming with brussels sprouts, chicory, Kentucky Bibb lettuce, carrots, Chioggia beets, blueberries, strawberries, green beans, peas, onions, peaches, pears or apples.

While learning about agriculture and learning from the local farmers, he followed his dream and attended cooking school to fully understand the science of cooking that had been lost in America.  During his tenure in school, Chef Alexis worked in many kitchens to learn beyond what he could learn in the classroom and has worked as a personal chef for many clients.

Alexis received his culinary degree from Sullivan University’s National Center for Hospitality Studies, one of the top culinary schools in the country.  Two years after graduating from school, chef Alexis beat out thousands of hopefuls and became a finalist on the hit show, The Next Food Network Star Season 6.   Alexis has also been a guest chef on the hit morning show Cafe CNN which is watched by over 35 millions viewers around the world.

Chef Alexis is a very well sought out celebrity chef in Atlanta, Miami and New York.  He coaches clients on nutrition and concepts of healthier eating for a healthier life.  He is currently the Director and Executive Chef of Union Hill Restaurant Group. His contagious passion and excitement for food is evident when anyone meets him.  Chef Alexis currently lives in Atlanta with his spouse.