Sole chef Alex Naeger (@chefalexnaeger) of Beachfront on how his cooking is a culmination of his life journey.
I’ve been cooking in restaurants, resorts and yachts since I was 14; I’m now going on 24 years of cooking professionally.
I have had the pleasure of working alongside Thomas Keller and Emeril Lagasse and my mentor, Christian Bex.
I got into yachting over three years ago on my first boat, Valhalla. I started in the industry through my private chef service based in Destin, Florida. I cooked for some new clients and one of them was Kevin Merrigan, chairman of Northrop & Johnson. He expressed if I was ever wanting to join yachting to give him a call. Two weeks later I accepted a chef position on a 148-foot yacht.
I like to implement all I’ve learned and let the food speak to me when I’m creating dishes. I can write and execute menus all day, but love cooking off the hip.
I love Peruvian cuisine being as I lived there with my chef mentor. I also thrive cooking with New Orleans Cajun French cuisine; fine-dining soul food is a favorite.
One of my favorite dishes to cook is a version of New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp and grits with Boursin cheese, whipped stone-ground grits, pickled red onion Brussels sprout slaw, Worcestershire beurre blanc, smoked tomatoes and seared lemon.
I haven’t had a lot of strange requests but there was a boat where I would have to prepare special meals for the owner’s two dogs, including crisp applewood smoked bacon, grass-fed 10 percent fat ground beef, filet and rice heated in a microwave.