Chef Profile Video: Sorrel San Francisco’s Alex Hong Finds Balance
You can’t become a chef if you’re not passionate about cooking, that much is obvious. But, when your passion becomes your career and your career demands that you should expect to spend 10 hours or more in a kitchen on a regular basis, you can easily lose sight of yourself.
Chef Alex Hong spent his formative years in Denver and was inspired to forge a path in food by his aunt and uncle who owned a farm in Missouri. Being outdoors is every bit as natural to him as helming an expo line and he’s a perfect example of why chefs and cooks need to find ways to get out of the kitchen and do something for themselves.
Alex is young, his menu at Sorrel in San Francisco reflects a freshness and appreciation for nature that exists within the man himself. Sorrel started as a pop-up concept with a $25 tasting menu that was punching far beyond its price point . Three years and 135 pop-ups later, Alex found himself as a 28 year old chef/owner whose focus on food had to make room for learning how to run a restaurant.
This transition has crushed many talented chefs before. But within a year and a half of opening his first brick and mortar restaurant, Alex was nominated for a James Beard Award and received a highly coveted Michelin Star for Sorrel.
Raise a glass to Chef Alex Hong for reminding us that it pays to get a little fresh air once in a while.
Chef Alex Hong in Raise a Glass produced by Neon Bites for The James Beard Foundation and Rabbit Hole Distillery.
