Alexander Smalls is a James Beard Award winning chef, author, and raconteur, and the visionary co-owner of renowned restaurants Minton’s and The Cecil, which was named “Best New Restaurant in America” by Esquire in 2014. His new book,"Meals, Music and Muses: Recipes From My African American Kitchen" was published in February 2020 from Flatiron Books. Smalls is also a world-renowned opera singer and the winner of both a Grammy Award and a Tony Award for the cast recording of Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, with the Houston Grand Opera.