Chef Lexis Gonzalez — The Food Network’s Rising Star and The Culinary Queen of Sweets

Chef Lexis has always had a passion for food ever since she could remember. Lexis had her first shop Lady Lexis Sweets in East Harlem when she was only 23 years old. She has been featured on Food Network’s Chopped Sweets, NYCWFF and Essence to name a few. She is now the private chef and co-owner of Lady Lexis Kitchen and makes what she has coined Boricua Geechee Cuisine (a fusion of Puerto Rican and Low Country food of Charleston/Edisto Island, SC) You can also catch her recipes on Youtube to learn how to make some great dishes in your home. 

Instagram: @ChefLexis & Facebook: Chef Lexis
www.ladylexiskitchen.com

How did you start your career? I started my career catering for different extracurricular clubs in college. It was then I realized people would pay for my food on a professional level. A few years later I started to sell cookies outside my building in East Harlem to save money for a space to sell my goods. I would come outside with my toddler Liam (and pregnant with my youngest Lucas) and a table full of cookies and treats ready to be sold. A few months later I was able to have enough money to open up my own shop, Lady Lexis Sweets.

What has been a major influence in your brand? My clients have been a major influence in my brand. I love to bake and cook but they tell me what the hits are. They let me know my best sellers. They tell me what they love and what they want to see on my menu. I just make sure it is true to my Boricua Geechee heritage so I can share a piece of that with everyone. 

What are your career aspirations ? I want to own a couple of specialty food shops and a lounge. I want to continue to teach people how to cook and make them fall in love with cooking as much as they love eating. I want to be able to provide flexible work for moms that are trying to balance making an income and taking care of their children. 

As a woman of influence and a respected business mogul how do you aspire to assist individuals wanting to get into your field.? I actually go back to my college Kingsborough and speak to the students about diving into the field and how to be persistent and focused on their goals. I have even taught young adults who are looking for a way to provide for themselves even though they don’t have much education. I have shown them the basics of cooking and how to get and maintain hospitality jobs. 

 Describe your greatest strengths in your career. My mentor always talks about my resilience. I have always been able to persevere through different obstacles that come with being in the industry for a little over a decade now. I opened my shop and two weeks later my second son was born. I still came back and opened my shop with modified hours. Years later my ex husband and I broke up and I closed the shop and found myself being a single mom without what I had known as my norm for years. It just fueled me to become a better chef and I was able to create cookies for Shake Shack, be on the culinary board for Harlem Eat Up and even be on Food Network’s Chopped Sweets. I never give up, I just always remember persistence, patience, and perseverance. 

How important is it to make a difference? Making a difference is very important because it helps to enhance the world around us. It helps to spread happiness and inspires others to be their unique and best self at times. People who make a difference create change and opportunity for others.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? If it weren’t for my mom’s support throughout my career I don’t know where I would be. She always brings out the best in me and has been there with me literally since day one.