Chef Alex Krill

Chef de Cuisine, Jax Fish House in Boulder, Colorado

I started cooking with my mother at age 10.  She always had some crazy recipe she wanted to try and I loved helping.  From there I bounced around making pizza and burritos until I went to The Culinary School of the Rockies in 2004.  While in school I did a stage at a Michelin one star restaurant in Avignon called La Mirande, and attended classes with Michele Depardon shopping at markets and learning the local fare.

After returning I decided it would be a good idea to be a musician.  Traveled and played to scores of adoring fans.  When I realized I couldnt make any money and my looks were quickly fading, I moved to LA to become a puppeteer.  While scraping by on a puppeteers salary I got a job at Firefly in Studio City.  Worked there for a little over 2 years and was sous chef when I left.  I came back to Colorado to write my manifesto and live in a cabin away from society but started work as the sous chef at Salt Bistro where I worked my way to Executive chef.  After 4 years I came to Jax as the Chef de Cusine and have been here ever since.

The biggest thing that inspires me is using the amazing local produce we have here in Colorado as well as the best “trash fish” I can find.  Using underutilized seafood is huge for me because its always delicious and has a killer story attached.  After 20 years the restaurant continues to keep up with trends while keeping our veteran guests happy.

Right now we have a killer menu.
Our wild Alaskan Salmon with ratatouille and crushed fingerling potatoes is a huge hit.  I’m an enormous fan of wild Salmon because of its sustainability and amazing flavor.  I like to roll with whats in peak season at the time going from King to Sockeye to Coho as the summer progresses.

We also have a spicy tuna on the menu.  Whats really neat about this is our utilization of the entire fish.  We buy them from Northeast as a whole 60 – 120# fish.  After we break them down and get our loins and portions, we use every other bit of meat for the spicy tuna dish.  This ensures we throw nothing away and can get every little bit of awesome off that fish.

Running a fish house means we are sourcing the best of the best.  We get our fish and oysters in daily which is pretty astounding to customers.  We are always a busy fish house, which is even better because we power through all the product in house.  Its not uncommon to run out of something on a given night because we want to ensure our customers are receiving a freshly arrived seafood.  Paul and the team at Northeast know exactly what we want and we are always sent the best.

Sustainability is a huge passion of mine. JAX was the first restaurant in Colorado to be certified by Monterey Bay Seafood Watch and we couldn’t have done it without the trusted help of NE.  Talking to Paul and finding out where our fish is from, the name of the boat, and how it was caught means we can relay this message to our guests and link the chain of trust between the ocean and our customers.  Sustainability is survival, not only in this industry but for all mankind.  Everyone loves Tuna and Seabass, but there are so many other fish available that I want to bring to your love and attention.