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J. Kenji López-Alt
López-Alt in November 2019
Born	James Kenji Alt 1979 or 1980 (age 44–45) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Culinary career
Current restaurant(s) Wursthall Restaurant & Bierhaus
Award(s) won James Beard Award, General Cooking IACP Cookbook of the Year
YouTube information
Channel	J. Kenji López-Alt
Years active	2016 - Present
Genre(s)	Cooking, education
Subscribers	1.1+ million
Total views	139+ million
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers 1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: March 9, 2021
Website	kenjilopezalt.com

James Kenji López-Alt (born 1979 or 1980), often known simply as Kenji, is an American chef and food writer. His first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, became a critical and commercial success, charting on the New York Times Bestseller list and winning the 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for the best General Cooking cookbook. The cookbook expanded on López-Alt's "The Food Lab" column on the Serious Eats blog. López-Alt is known for using the scientific method in his cooking to improve popular American recipes and to explain the science of cooking.

López-Alt started Wursthall in 2017, a beer hall style restaurant in San Mateo, California, and maintains a popular YouTube channel in which he demonstrates various recipes and cooking techniques with a POV filming style. He released a children's book titled Every Night is Pizza Night in 2020 and a cookbook titled The Wok: Recipes and Techniques in 2022 which focused on the eponymous cooking vessel, both of which became New York Times Bestsellers.

Early life and education

Born James Kenji Alt, López-Alt is the son of Harvard University geneticist and immunologist Frederick Alt, and on his mother's side, the grandson of chemist Koji Nakanishi. López-Alt attended the Dalton School and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2002, where he majored in architecture.

Career

Early career (2000s to 2015)

López-Alt's first restaurant job was during his sophomore year of college. He attempted to take a job as a waiter at a local restaurant, but they needed a prep cook.

López-Alt worked with several Boston chefs including Barbara Lynch and Ken Oringer. He went on to work as a test cook and editor at Cook's Illustrated magazine and America's Test Kitchen.

López-Alt was the Managing Culinary Director and is the Chief Culinary Consultant of "Serious Eats", a food blog, where he authored the James Beard Award-nominated column "The Food Lab".

López-Alt's first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, was published in September 2015 by W. W. Norton & Company. It was a New York Times Bestseller. and won the 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for General Cooking, as well as the International Association of Culinary Professionals awards for Best American Cookbook and Cookbook of the Year. Penny Pleasance of the New York Journal of Books called The Food Lab "a seminal work that is encyclopedic in scope and can be used as a reference by even the most experienced home cooks".

After The Food Lab (2016 to present)

López-Alt opened the Wursthall Restaurant & Bierhaus in San Mateo, California in 2017, with partners Adam Simpson and Tyson Mao.

López-Alt started a YouTube channel in 2016, which, as of March 2022, has over one million subscribers and over 100 million views. The videos are POV-style demonstrations of recipes and cooking techniques in López-Alt's home kitchen that feature unscripted commentary and largely unedited footage.

In September 2019, López-Alt became a monthly columnist at NYT Cooking.

In 2020 López-Alt released a children's book, Every Night is Pizza Night, which debuted on the New York Times Children's Bestseller list.

After his move to Seattle in late 2020, López-Alt's Instagram posts became increasingly popular as he recommended various businesses and dishes around the area, becoming "maybe the most powerful food influencer this city has seen in the social media age," according to The Seattle Times.

In 2022, López-Alt released a cookbook titled The Wok: Recipes and Techniques, a 658-page book focused on woks. The Seattle Times called the book "arguably the most anticipated cookbook of the year" and it debuted at number one on the New York Times Bestseller list in the category of "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous".

Personal life

As of 2021, López-Alt resides in Seattle, Washington, after previously living in San Mateo, California, New York City, and Boston.

Upon marriage, López-Alt combined his birth surname, Alt, with that of his wife Adriana López. López-Alt has two children, the second of which was born in September 2021.

In January 2019, López-Alt tweeted that "if you come to my restaurant wearing a MAGA cap, you aren't getting served, same as if you come in wearing a swastika, white hood, or any other symbol of intolerance and hate" and "If you’re comfortable sitting next to a MAGA wearer I’m probably not interested in serving you either." He later apologized and deleted the tweet.

Filmography

Publications

• López-Alt, J. Kenji (2015). The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science (1 ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393081084.
• Parks, Stella (2017). BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts. J. Kenji López-Alt (Foreword). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393239867.
• López-Alt, J. Kenji (2020). Every Night Is Pizza Night. Gianna Ruggiero (Illustrator). Norton Young Readers. ISBN 978-1324005254.
• J. Kenji López-Alt; Silvia Killingsworth, eds. (2020). The Best American Food Writing 2020. Mariner Books. ISBN 978-0358344582.
• López-Alt, J. Kenji (2022). The Wok: Recipes and Techniques. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393541212.

References

1. ^ Vinh, Tan (10 June 2021). "J. Kenji López-Alt is Seattle's most powerful food influencer — and its most reluctant one". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
2. J. Kenji López-Alt (September 23, 2020). Ask Kenji Anything #1. Event occurs at 15:45. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
3. ^ "About J. Kenji López-Alt". YouTube.
4. "Fall 2015's Best Cookbooks: Cooking Pros Bring It Home". Eater. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
5. Pearlstein, Joanna. "The Ultimate Book for Science Nerds Who Cook". WIRED. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
6. "A SIDE OF SCIENCE - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
7. "The 2016 Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards: Complete Winner Recap". James Beard Foundation. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
8. Syckle, Katie Van (16 August 2021). "Cooking With a Dash of Science". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
9. ^ Robertson, Blair Anthony (2015). "Science becomes delicious in 'The Food Lab'". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on 2015-12-16. Retrieved 2019-11-13. His father, Frederick Alt, is a professor at Harvard Medical School
10. "Dalton 100-1998". The Dalton School. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
11. Vermillion, Allecia (2022-02-24). "The Scientific Methods of J. Kenji López-Alt". Seattle Metropolitan. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
12. Morell, Nicole. "Alumnus takes food out of the kitchen and into the lab". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
13. "Q&A With James Beard Award-Winning Cookbook Author J. Kenji López-Alt". 7x7 Bay Area. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
14. "Alumnus Chef One-Ups (OK, Maybe Two-Ups) KFC". slice.mit.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
15. Killingsworth, Silvia (2015-10-03). "Kenji López-Alt's Obsessive Kitchen Experiments". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
16. "Masthead". www.seriouseats.com. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
17. "The Complete 2015 JBF Award Nominees". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
18. "The Food Lab". books.wwnorton.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-02. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
19. "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - December 20, 2015". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
20. "The 2016 Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards: Complete Winner Recap". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
21. "Winners - IACP". IACP. Archived from the original on 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
22. Pleasance, Penny (2015). "The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science". New York Journal of Books. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
23. "Internet Food Guru J. Kenji López-Alt Opening Real Life Beer and Sausage Hall". Eater SF. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
24. Martin, Kalea (2 March 2022). "Why J. Kenji López-Alt Calls His YouTube Channel An 'Anti-Cooking Show'". TastingTable.com. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
25. "J. Kenji López-Alt Joins Food". New York Times. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
26. Kennedy, Mark. "'Every Night is Pizza Night': Chef and writer J. Kenji López-Alt cooks up a kid's book". USA TODAY. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
27. "Every Night Is Pizza Night". wwnorton.com. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
28. Vinh, Tan (8 March 2022). "The year's biggest cookbook is here. Seattle author J. Kenji López-Alt shares his favorite recipes in 'The Wok.'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
29. Julian, Sheryl. "It's high time you heard of J. Kenji Lopez-Alt - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
30. Bhabha, Leah (8 March 2022). "J. Kenji Lopez-Alt Explains Why a Wok Is the Only Pan You Need". Vogue. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
31. John, Steven (8 March 2022). "Chef And Author J. Kenji Lopez-Alt On Cookbooks, Woks, And A Late Start In The Kitchen - Exclusive Interview". Mashed.com. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
32. "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - Books - March 27, 2022 - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
33. Vinh, Tan (January 23, 2021). "A new vegan restaurant from an 'Iron Chef' contestant and 12 other openings around Seattle". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2021-01-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
34. "Mr. Wizard's Food Lab: J. Kenji López-Alt's unlikely path to stardom". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
35. "Alumnus Takes Food Out of the Kitchen and into the Lab". MIT Alumni Association. 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
36. Rosner, Helen (27 February 2022). "J. Kenji López-Alt Says You're Cooking Just Fine". The New Yorker. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
37. "San Mateo Eatery Bans 'Make America Great Again' Hats". 31 January 2019.
38. "'Like white hoods except stupider': California chef says he won't serve diners wearing 'MAGA' hats". USA Today.
39. "San Mateo Restaurant Owner Apologizes for 'MAGA' Hat Ban". February 2019.
40. "Kenji López-Alt Backtracks After Saying His Restaurant Won't Serve MAGA Hat Wearers". February 2019.
41. "The Chew | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
42. "GGG Blogger Battle". Hulu.com. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
43. "J. Kenji López-Alt Debunks Burger Myths, The Burger Show". Complex. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
44. de Guzman, Dianne (2020-10-31). "Netflix show features Bay Area chef superstars in SF episode". SFGATE. Retrieved 2020-11-02.

External links

• Official website
• J. Kenji López-Alt at IMDb

• Living people
• 21st-century American male writers
• American bloggers
• American food writers
• American male chefs
• American restaurateurs
• American writers of Japanese descent
• Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area
• Cuisine of the San Francisco Bay Area
• Food and cooking YouTubers
• James Beard Foundation Award winners
• MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni