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One might say that Al Paris was born and raised to be a chef.

A native Philadelphian, Chef Paris spent much of his childhood learning secrets of the kitchen from his beloved Neopolitan grandmother. While his neighborhood friends were outside playing, Al was shopping in South Philly's Italian Market for the perfect ingredients and picking dandelions for his unparalleled chicken soup. Chef Paris's restaurant career began as a dishwasher at age 12. From that time forward, he was working diligently to create, enhance, teach and perpetuate new concepts and methods in the preparation of international fine cuisine. Paris was named Sous Chef at Philadelphia's venerable Lily's in New Market at age 18. Later, when the opportunity presented itself, he jumped at the prospect of moving to the west coast to learn and further develop new techniques, expertise and recipes in his kitchen. Chef Paris landed in San Francisco, becoming Sous Chef at famed Café Riggio. He was then named Executive Chef of the exclusive San Francisco Tennis Club. From there he traveled to northern California, achieving worldwide acclaim as Executive Chef of the Napa Valley's spectacular La Belle Helene restaurant.

Having become a master of Italian and French cuisines, Chef Paris went on to develop expert skills in wine and food pairing. Taking full advantage of his wine country surroundings, his reputation as a topnotch chef skyrocketed during his tenure as Executive Chef at the Cain Cellars Winery. Paris earned his stripes as a respected authority on California cuisine and wines at Cain Cellars, and then moved back to the San Francisco Bay area to run Ciao and Spiazzo restaurants. Although his successes on the west coast were rewarding, Paris was homesick for the City of Brotherly Love. He returned to Philadelphia as Corporate Executive Chef for the city's most popular eateries of that time - Marabella's and Pomodoro's.

With 15 years' experience, Chef Paris ventured into a partnership as an owner-operator of Circa, one of the first in what came to be known as Center City Philadelphia's "restaurant renaissance" in 1993. A far cry from his "old school" culinary education, Paris owned and operated outstanding Philadelphia restaurant's including Old City's breathtakingly beautiful Rococo, as well as City Grill and South Street's fusion gem, Guru.

He desire to get back to his original love — cooking — led Chef Paris to collaborate with brothers Robert and Benjamin Bynum at famed jazz restaurant Zanzibar Blue at The Bellevue in March of 2001. In this role, Paris's vast array of experience and creativity produced an infusion of new flare into the restaurant's already celebrated menu. Paris's influence as Executive Chef drew immediate accolades, and the restaurant – already known as one of America's premier jazz destinations – has been elevated into the highest echelon of dining excellence.

Thirty years and thousands of recipes later, Chef Al Paris remains a standout — one of America's best known, most highly respected chefs. He is the recipient of scores of awards, including Gourmet Magazine's "America's Top Tables", CityPaper's "Readers Choice Award", and CityPaper's "Best New Restaurant Award". Paris also has been featured on the cover and profiled in Wine Country Magazine. He has twice been awarded the distinction of "Titanium Chef" by the Fretz Corporation, and has won Philadelphia's esteemed "Best Gourmet Cheese Steak" award. Chef Paris has been featured at the prestigious James Beard House in NYC, under then attending president, Peter Kump.

Chef Paris is a supporter of many Philadelphia civic and charitable organizations, including Stop Child Abuse Now's Scantastic, the Philadelphia Zoo's