Tuesday, August 1, 7:00 pm
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For those New Yorkers who make a habit of tracking chefs’ comings and goings, Alex Ureña has long been a household name. However, despite a generous supply of talent and years of experience at some of the city’s greatest restaurants (including Bouley and Blue Hill), as recently as last year Ureña was still flying just below the radar of celebrity chefdom. All that has changed with the launch of his eponymous restaurant, where he has at long last stepped into the spotlight with his inventive brand of modern Spanish cuisine.

“Clearly, Ureña has learned his lessons well,” wrote Adam Platt earlier this year in New York magazine. All it takes is one look at the chef’s résumé to understand what a huge compliment that is. Ureña spent a total of nine years working with David Bouley, first at Bouley and later at Bouley Bakery, separated by a brief but formative stage with Roger Vergé in France. But it was the eight months that he spent at El Bulli under the tutelage of world-renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adrià that probably made the biggest impression. Upon Ureña’s return from Spain he was tapped by Dan Barber, another Bouley alum, to be the co-executive chef at a little restaurant Barber was opening called Blue Hill.

During Ureña’s tenure, Blue Hill went on to garner critical and popular acclaim for its polished, yet understated seasonal American menu. “The food is refined without being fussy, harmoniously structured and deftly handled,” wrote William Grimes in his two-star New York Times review. Another executive chef position, at Marseille in Hell’s Kitchen, allowed Ureña to further explore the cuisines of Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Greece, and Provence. “The food at Marseille illustrates what happens when a young chef learns from the best,” said Andrea Strong in Paper.

In January 2006, Ureña opened to instant acclaim. New York Times critic Frank Bruni gave the restaurant two stars for the “excellence” of its food, hailing the “inventive juxtapositions and refined textures” of the chef’s “hugely appealing” dishes, while Pascale Le Draoulec of the New York Daily News praised Ureña for his “thoughtful artistry.” With his latest success, it’s clear Alex Ureña has officially arrived.