Alex Astranti

Coming Up

Formal training at El Centro College Food & Hospitality Institute gave Astranti a base before the work widened across rooms and kitchens. Front of house positions in London put service timing, guest pacing, and the mechanics of hospitality in view before cooking became the primary discipline. That side of the room matters: it teaches how food lands, how a table reads delay, and how small adjustments shape the experience. Texas dining supplied the next working context through culinary roles at Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine in Fort Worth, Texas, and Grace in Fort Worth, Texas. Those kitchens placed Astranti inside the cadence of ambitious restaurant service: prep discipline, station execution, and the pressure of consistency. Leadership followed as Executive Sous Chef at Stampede and Executive Chef at Salvaje until 2015, roles where the craft extends from cooking to organizing teams, holding standards, and turning ideas into repeatable service. Contemporary Japanese dining became the sharper frame from 2015, when Astranti worked as Sous Chef at Uchi Dallas, Texas. In 2017, he advanced to Chef de Cuisine at Uchi Dallas, Texas, and also Chef de Cuisine at Uchiba in Dallas, Texas, from 2017. That register depends on controlled cutting, balance, temperature, restraint, and contrast. The record also places him as chef at Mercantile Dining & Provision in Denver, Colorado.

Where They Are Now

Contemporary Japanese dining at Uchi Dallas is organized around multiple disciplines rather than a single mode of cooking. Hot and cold tastings, makimono, yakimono, tempura, sushi, and sashimi each require a different standard of touch. Astranti’s work as Chef de Cuisine at Uchi Dallas sits inside that structure, where a menu must move between delicacy, frying, grilling, raw preparation, and composed bites without losing balance. The East-meets-West menu associated with Astranti includes kimchi cornbread from Uchi Dallas. As a signature, it works through contrast rather than ornament: cornbread’s familiar warmth against kimchi’s fermented savor and brightness. The dish reflects the existing facts of his route — Italy, London, Texas, and the Uchi Dallas kitchen — without needing to collapse them into a single cuisine.

Signature

Signature dishes include Kimchi cornbread from Uchi Dallas. The dish gives a plain reading of Astranti’s East-meets-West direction: cornbread kept direct and approachable, set against the savor and brightness of kimchi. Within the Uchi Dallas framework, it shows how a familiar format can carry fermentation and contrast without losing its immediate appeal.

In Their Words “I moved from Italy to London and started working in various front of house positions, and that is how I met my future wife, a Dallas, TX native studying abroad.” “I’m originally from the small town Pietra de’ Giorgi, located outside of Milan; I credit my Italian my mom as the first and most profound culinary inspiration.”

Honors

The professional record includes culinary roles at Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine and Grace in Fort Worth, Executive Sous Chef at Stampede, Chef de Cuisine at Uchi Dallas, and Chef at Mercantile Dining & Provision in Denver.