Alex Brennan-Martin, GM, Brennan's, Houston, TX

Twenty-eight year old Alex Brennan-Martin arrived at this current position with some rather unique qualifications. First, he literally grew up in the restaurant business in his family's restaurants in New Orleans. By the time he graduated from high school he had worked in the kitchen and the front of the hou8se in several highly successful family operations in New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta. After college, he studied at La Varenne (Paris), then apprenticed with some of France's top chefs, including Roger Verge. From Paris he went to New York where he worked at The Four Seasons and Maxwell's Plum. By the time he took over Brennan's he'd already received training from his family and from other restaurants in France and New York. Brennan-Martin has a knowledge of food and wine that is broad for anyone, much less someone as young as he is. He has been thoroughly trained in the classics and has been directly involved in the evolution of food here in America.