ABOUT THE CHEF DE CUISINE: MARC ZIMMERMAN

Cooking first interested me at the age of 14 while washing dishes in a small Northern Italian restaurant on the north side of Indianapolis, Indiana. The kitchen was small and cramped with miss-matched equipment, carbon-coated cheap aluminum pans, and ragged, slick, vinyl floors. There was a camaraderie about it all that attracted me to it. I enjoyed the people and the work. My big break came when a line cook failed to show up to work due to a hard night of excess drinking and cocaine. I was promoted and worked the small, hot, line slinging pasta and risotto for three years while going to high school. It wasn't glamorous but it was a step that changed my life. After graduating, I enrolled in college as a music engineering technology major while continuing to work in kitchens and gaining experience in the industry.

It was a formidable experience working under Steven Oakley that shifted my thoughts toward pursuing a career in culinary arts and left Indiana to attend The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. After two years of school and a brief stint in New York City, volunteering time in restaurants such as Le Bernardin, Craft, and Café Gray, I decided to move to Las Vegas.

'Vegas was something I'd never seen before. Much of it was the same work, the same people, but we were now cooking in copper pans on million-dollar, hand made Molteni kitchen suites in enormous, beautifully designed kitchens. Our resources were unlimited and it was here where I developed an appreciation for Japanese cuisine while working under Nobu Matsuhisa, Takashi Yagahashi, and Joseph Elevado. Las Vegas also offered the opportunity for me to become versed in French cuisine while spending time at Lutece and acclaimed Michelin two-star Restaurant Guy Savoy.

In the summer of 2010 my wife and I traded the warm shimmering neon glow for hunger making fog. San Francisco and all of its shrouded romance had long been a dream of ours and shortly after arriving came my kismet connection with Chef Jeffrey Stout. We began the planning for Alexander's Steakhouse.

We are now the restaurant and family that is seen today. It is through the hard work, dedication and the collaboration of the chefs in our kitchen, our dishwashers, polishers, baristas, runners, back waiters, and front waiters that enables us to provide enjoyable, aesthetic experiences to our guests. Everyone at Alexander's Steakhouse plays a vital part in the show, and we are proud present it to you.

Marc Zimmerman