Luis Alfredo Guaman

Luis Alfredo Guaman, executive pastry chef at ONO at the Hotel Gansevoort, (18 Ninth Avenue at 13th Street; Hotel Gansevoort; 212-660-6766), is combining his creativity and passion for pastry arts to create delectable, seasonally fresh desserts that are the perfect ending to any meal.

Born and raised in Ecuador, Guaman’s keen interest for food and cooking was sparked from early childhood helping his chef father, in his own kitchen. At the age of 18, Guaman embarked on his own and moved to the United States. Wanting to completely immerse himself in the American culture, he started studying English and attended La Guardia Community College in pursuit of a degree.

In order to pay for his studies, Guaman took a job working as the pastry chef’s assistant at Trattoria Dell’Arte quickly learning the precise art of creating desserts. It was there, under the tutelage of executive pastry chef Matias Scalia, he discovered his natural ability when it came to working with pastries. Within three years, Scalia asked Guaman to lead the pastry departments at the company’s sister properties, Brooklyn Diner, Hosteria, Fiorellos and The Red Eye Grill.

By 1997, Guaman had become a seasoned pastry cook and accepted an offer with the China Grill Management team to join as the lead pastry chef at Asia de Cuba. Fueled by what was now his passion for pastry arts, he aggressively started to incorporate his innovative ideas to create delicious, new desserts on Asia De Cuba’s menu.

Shortly after, Guaman enrolled in classes at the French Culinary Institute to study the art of being a pastry chef and master his craft.

After completing his intense training program, CGM asked Guaman to pilot the pastry department at many of their restaurants such Asia De Cuba Los Angeles, China Grill New York, China Grill Chicago, Maxim Atlanta and the Empire Hotel Rooftop and Tuscan Steak New York where he designed the entire dessert menu.

Now at ONO, Guaman‘s passion, training and inventive flair are reflected on the menu which features unexpected Japanese flavors combined with signature classics giving his desserts a decadent, modern twist.

New York City Wine & Food Festival/Terra USA