Alessandro Stratta

The Climb

Precision, discipline, and detail were set early in Alessandro Stratta’s training at California Culinary Academy, and the next kitchens tightened that framework. He began as a patissier-in-training at Stanford Court Hotel, moved on as an intern at Hôtel de Paris in Monaco, then worked as chef at Louis XV in Monaco before becoming chef at Le Cirque in New York City. Each stop added a different cadence, but the common thread was exacting technique carried through formal dining rooms. The West’s high-end hotel and casino kitchens became the main stage for Alessandro Stratta’s long run. He was executive chef at Mary Elaine's at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona (1989–1998), then at Renoir at The Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada (1998–2005), before becoming executive chef and owner at Alex at Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada (2005–2011). The sequence shows a chef working across rooms that demanded consistency, polish, and control, with his name eventually placed on the door at Alex. Public competition added another layer to Alessandro Stratta’s profile. He appeared as Iron Chef Italian at Iron Chef USA (2001), then later as a contestant at Top Chef Masters (2011). Both appearances moved his kitchen work into a broader arena without changing the terms of the craft: speed, judgment, and composure under pressure. Later work kept Alessandro Stratta’s name attached to restaurant concepts while shifting the scale. He served as executive chef and owner at Tapas by Alex Stratta in Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada (until 2015), then as Executive Head Chef of Prado restaurant at the Omni Hotel (since 2016) and executive chef of Belmont Kitchen & Cocktails (since 2025). The throughline is a chef who has moved between formal dining, branded concepts, and hotel kitchens without losing continuity in the work.

Today

Today, Alessandro Stratta is executive chef at Corsa Cucina, where French, Mediterranean, and Italian cooking are being worked in a more casual register. The move points to a kitchen style that can carry formal technique into a less rigid setting. As he put it: "Corsa will become my answer to more casual Italian."

Signature

Alessandro's signature dishes include braised short ribs of beef, Alex, Tapas by Alex Stratta, Renoir, and Stratta. Taken together, the list reads as a record of where the work has lived: one dish and four restaurant names tied directly to the kitchens that carried his name. Braised short ribs of beef points to a methodical approach, while Alex, Tapas by Alex Stratta, Renoir, and Stratta connect the dish list to the restaurant chapters that defined that public identity.

In Their Words “I want to bring the same cooking techniques [as Alex] and my interpretation of traditional Italian cooking, to meet the American palate.”

Recognition

Alessandro Stratta has received James Beard Foundation Award, Best Chef Southwest (1998).