Author Archives: Alejandro Cantagallo

About Alejandro Cantagallo

Growing up in Queens, the son of immigrants, Alejandro had an early start in the food world helping his father out in the family's butcher's shop. Throughout his twenties he worked his way through the front of the house at a number of north shore country clubs and later shifted gears and started culinary school at CUNY CityTech. In 2010 Alejandro opened Floresta and despite acclaim closed a year later. Currently, he is a senior college lab technician in the purchasing and operations arm of the Hospitality Management Department at CUNY New York City College of Technology and is also an adjunct professor in the same department. Alejandro's current instructional workload includes Culinary 1 and Introduction to Food and Beverage Management.

Ever Wonder how dates are grown?

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Here’s a quick walk through from our friends at the Huffington Post:

Of all the dried fruit options at the grocery store, dates rank amongst the least popular of the bunch. They don’t have the cute California Raisin character to make them likable, nor do they have a catchy name like Craisins. What they do have is a mildly bad reputation for being just as common — and unwelcome — as fruit cake at Christmas time. It’s too bad because dates are responsible for making some truly delicious recipes most of them desserts.

On our quest to bring dates back into the public’s favor, we got to thinking about where dates come from. For those of you who have never given any thought to this fruit’s origin, the answer may surprise you. But even more remarkable is the amount of work — and the serious need to overcome one’s fear of heights — required for the harvest of dates. These palms grow tall, and they take their fruit with them.

For those who are naive about the date, we’re going to break it down — with photos to boot