J. Kenji López-Alt facts for kids
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López-Alt in 2019
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| Born | James Kenji Alt October 31, 1979 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
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| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Spouse | Adriana López-Alt |
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Award(s) won
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James Kenji López-Alt (born October 31, 1979) is a famous American chef and food writer. He is known for using science to make popular recipes even better. He also explains the science behind cooking.
His first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, was a huge success. It became a New York Times Bestseller and won a special award called the James Beard Foundation Award in 2016. This book grew from his popular online column "The Food Lab" on the Serious Eats blog.
López-Alt also helped start a restaurant called Wursthall in 2017. Today, he has a very popular YouTube channel where he shares recipes and cooking tips. He films from his own point of view, making it feel like you are cooking with him. He has also written a children's book and another cookbook about cooking with a wok. Both of these books also became New York Times Bestsellers.
Contents
About Kenji López-Alt
Early Life and School
James Kenji Alt was born on October 31, 1979, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father is Frederick Alt and his mother is Keiko Nakanishi. His grandfather, Koji Nakanishi, was a Japanese organic chemist.
Kenji and his sisters grew up in New York City, in a neighborhood called Morningside Heights. They lived one floor above their Japanese immigrant grandparents. He went to the Dalton School and later studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He graduated from MIT in 2002.
Starting His Cooking Career
Kenji's first job in a restaurant was when he was in college. He wanted to be a waiter, but the restaurant needed a prep cook instead. He learned a lot by working with famous chefs in Boston, like Barbara Lynch and Ken Oringer.
After that, he worked as a test cook and editor for Cook's Illustrated magazine and America's Test Kitchen. These places test recipes to make them perfect for home cooks.
The Food Lab and Beyond
López-Alt became the Managing Culinary Director and Chief Culinary Consultant for Serious Eats, a popular food blog. There, he wrote his famous column "The Food Lab." This column was so popular that he turned it into his first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, which came out in 2015.
The book was a huge hit! It became a New York Times Bestseller and won the 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for General Cooking. It also won awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals for Best American Cookbook and Cookbook of the Year. Many people called The Food Lab a very important book for anyone who loves to cook at home.
Kenji's Latest Projects
Wursthall Restaurant
In 2017, López-Alt opened the Wursthall Restaurant & Bierhaus in San Mateo, California. He started it with his partners Adam Simpson and Tyson Mao. It's a restaurant that serves food in a beer hall style.
His Popular YouTube Channel
Kenji started his YouTube channel in 2016. As of October 2024, it has over 1.5 million subscribers and more than 222 million views! His videos are filmed from his own point of view, showing you exactly what he's doing in his home kitchen. He talks naturally and doesn't edit much, making it feel like a real cooking lesson with a friend.
New Books and Influence
In September 2019, López-Alt also started writing a monthly column for The New York Times Cooking.
In 2020, he released a children's book called Every Night is Pizza Night. This book also became a New York Times Children's Bestseller.
After moving to Seattle in late 2020, Kenji's Instagram posts became very popular. He started recommending local businesses and dishes, becoming a big influence on the food scene in Seattle.
In 2022, López-Alt released another cookbook called The Wok: Recipes and Techniques. This big book, with 658 pages, is all about cooking with woks. The Seattle Times called it "arguably the most anticipated cookbook of the year." It quickly became number one on the New York Times Bestseller list for "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous" books. It also won the 2023 James Beard Foundation Book Award for "Single Subject" cookbooks.
He still appears as a regular guest on the Serious Eats podcast, Special Sauce.
Personal Life
As of 2021, Kenji López-Alt lives in Seattle, Washington. Before that, he lived in San Mateo, California, New York City, and Boston. In his personal life, he prefers to be called Kenji.
In 2009, López-Alt married Adriana López, who is a software engineer from Colombia. They combined their last names to López-Alt. They have two children.
TV Appearances
| Year | Show title | Type | Notes |
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| 2016 | The Chew | Television series | Appeared in seven episodes |
| 2017 | Guy’s Grocery Games | Television series | Competed in one episode and was a judge in another |
| 2019 | The Burger Show | Television series | Appeared in an episode about burger myths |
| 2020 | Somebody Feed Phil | Television series | Toured the Mission District |
| 2023 | Morimoto's Sushi Master | Television series | Appeared in six episodes on Roku |
