Alex Atala

Alex Atala makes Time magazine's top 100 influential

"His philosophy of using native Brazilian ingredients in haute cuisine has mesmerised the continent"

Time Magazine publishes its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world today (Friday) and Amazonian forager and Brazilian avant-garde chef and Phaidon author Alex Atala is on it. 

At his São Paulo restaurant D.O.M, Atala is known for bringing the most incredible ingredients from the Amazon rainforest and delighting his diners with them. It currently ranks fourth on the 50 Berst Restaurants list. 2013's list will be unveiled on April 29. As René Redzepi (who's also previously featured in Time's 100) writes in this year’s magazine survey:

"Alex is a striking figure, with his skull tattoos and piercings, his flaming hair and beard. He is also one of the most dedicated people I have encountered in our industry. Selflessly, he has surrendered to the enormous task of shaping a better food culture for Latin America. His philosophy of using native Brazilian ingredients in haute cuisine has mesmerised the continent."

As you'd expect, Phaidon has been all over this for some time and we will be publishing a beautiful book, Alex Atala: Discovering New Brazilian Ingredients, with Alex in September. Watch the video below to see Alex Atala making a meal at Cook It Raw, Lapland. And don't forget to check out the book Cook It Raw which you can find out more about here.

Alex Atala prepares a meal for Cook It Raw Lapland