PHOENIX – At Belmont Kitchen and Cocktails, executive chef Alex Stratta has put his Michelin-starred experience to work. Stratta has adopted those standards to create what he calls “a really fancy, luxury neighborhood place.” The result is a restaurant where diners can enjoy a Tuesday taco night or Friday caviar and champagne with equal ease.
Stratta’s commitment is to the people he serves. “I just want to take care of people and make Belmont a place on all levels where you can have exquisite cuisine or just a burger,” Stratta says. “This place is perfect for me to do that.”
In 1998, at 30 years old, Stratta won the James Beard Award. Later, he connected with Steve Wynn and was offered the opportunity to open his own restaurant in Las Vegas; the partnership was sealed with a simple guarantee. He said, “I’ve got to guarantee that you’re here. I’ll call it Alex.’ And that’s how he guaranteed I was there all the time.”
A decade and a half later, at the triple-A, five-time diamond restaurant Alex at the Wynn, he achieved what many chefs only dream of: two Michelin stars.
The ranking and publicity that followed brought surreal moments, including one when Michael Jackson sat in Stratta’s private dining room with his feet on the table, a hole visible in his sock. “He introduced himself to me saying, ‘Hi, I’m Michael.’ I’m like, no kidding,” Stratta said while laughing.
For Stratta, the awards were never the destination; they were simply validation of doing things the right way and doing right by the people he worked with, he explained. The accolades were never about personal fame. “I never sought out to have any kind of fame out of it,” he says. “For me, it’s a craft. It’s not an entertainment thing.”
The real reward came from watching his team in his restaurant rise, he says. “The joy really was to see some of my staff guys take pride,” he says. “Some of these guys came from North Las Vegas, next thing you know, they’re working in a two-star Michelin restaurant with a tuxedo on.”
Mentorship is everything, he explains. “My former sous chefs have gone on to win James Beard Awards themselves. My former sommelier became vice president of food and beverage at MGM Grand. My former line cook and sous chef now hold similar positions at the Cosmopolitan and Venetian.”
“I didn’t have any magic dust,” Stratta insists. “I just passed on what was passed on to me. And that is incredible joy. Bigger than any other rewards.”
Even after overcoming colon cancer in 2009, Stratta’s philosophy remains unchanged: “It’s about taking care of people and committing to something personally. Stay humble, take chances, and be ready to fail.”
Born in Wisconsin, he moved to Pakistan at 4 months old when his father, a hotelier, secured a job there. The family’s nomadic life continued through Indonesia, Singapore, Monaco and Mexico.
Both his father and mother shaped his discipline as a chef. “I had a lot of discipline from living in hotels, having to be quiet, having to eat at a certain time,” he recalls.
He wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a chef when he became older. “My apprenticeship started in France at a three-star Michelin restaurant when I was 19. That was the fundamental
real start for me,” Stratta explains. “I was exposed to fine dining and cooking, and it grew on me. I didn’t know any other way. It’s like, this is the way it’s done. I knew no shortcuts.”
While traveling across different parts of Europe to gain experience, he trained to perfect the small things. “A lot of that fundamental stuff is still very much part of whether it’s something in the service or something in the food,” Stratta says of his approach. “They always had the common theme of … trying to be genuinely hospitable and trying to exceed everything.”
Stay tuned for our second story about a chef just as dedicated as executive chef Alex Stratta from cooking in Michelin-star restaurants to owning one of the best restaurants in Phoenix, Arizona, all in his name.
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