Alex Atala

Milad Alexandre Mack Atala, known as Alex Atala, is a Brazilian chef of Irish and Palestinian ancestry, who runs the restaurant D.O.M. in São Paulo. In May 2012, D.O.M. was rated the 4th best restaurant in the world by the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, published by Restaurant magazine. His establishment also holds the title of "Acqua Panna Best Restaurant In South America." He's known for transforming traditional Brazilian dishes, adapting French and Italian culinary techniques to native Brazilian ingredients. Atala also hosted a television show on Brazilian TV channel GNT. In 2013, he founded Atá, an institute about relation with food, with Roberto Smeraldi and Carlos Alberto Ricardo, among others. In 2019, Atala and his institute were accused of misappropriating the name "Cerrado vanilla" by registering it as a commercial name at the Brazilian Institute for Industrial Property (INPI), without prior consultation to rural communities who traditionally use the ingredient in their food cultures. In 2020, Atala was accused of sexual harrasement by a former employee.