Chef Alex Sáenz, Chef for Ten Tables Restaurant & Bar Provincetown.
Credit: Ten Tables Provincetown
Release by MassEquality–
PROVINCETOWN, Mass — Chef Alex Sáenz, born and raised on South Carolina backyard barbeques and his mother’s savory cooking, has worked at bars and restaurants in the 5 Points area of South Carolina, LA hot spots and, locally, at Spire Restaurant & Bar in the Nine Zero Hotel and Straight Wharf Restaurant on Nantucket. At Ten Tables in Cambridge he began working more heavily with local, organic, and sustainable ingredients. Today he is the Chef for Ten Tables Restaurant & Bar Provincetown.
Sáenz will be showing off his gourmet creations at this year’s Taste of Provincetown August 25. He’ll also take part in the cooking challenge—which will see Sáenz face off against Chef Lucio Garnica of Sage Inn & Lounge and Chef Michael Ceraldi of Dalla Cucina. The event will be refereed by Sweet Cheeks BBQ chef/owner Tiffani Faison. Frank Vasello of Relish, who won last year’s cook-off, and Robert Wilson, the writer behind the popular blog BosGuy.com will judged this year’s contestants.
We caught up with Chef Sáenz to ask him a few questions about life in the kitchen!
Q: What is your signature dish?
A: Shrimp and grits.
Q: What is your favorite ingredient?
A: Garlic.
Q: What are you likely to prepare for yourself when you are cooking at home?
A: Tomato salad and sherry chicken.
Q: What’s your guilty pleasure (food-wise)?
A: Fried chicken.
Q: What excites you most about creating a menu?
A: Trial and error. It takes time to perfect a dish, with the constant changing and adjusting of the menu to keep making it the best it can be.
Q: If you could only cook with three tools, what would they be and why?
A: A wood grill, because I love charry and smokey flavors. A robot coupe—I use this for a lot of my components on my menu. And a fryer because I love me some fried foods!
Q: What do you like most about Provincetown?
A: The beauty of the people—I’ve met some of the kindest people, who I’ll call my friends for life—and Provincetown’s surroundings. It’s just a beautiful place to live.
You can see Chef Sáenz in action at Taste of Provincetown Saturday, August 25 at Provincetown Town Hall from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 and can be purchased online at MassEquality.org/events/taste-provincetown.
