by Kristen Wile

Alex Verica of PARA at the UPPY Awards. Daniel Coston/UP

Alex Verica, the executive chef of South End restaurant PARA, will work his last day at the restaurant on Jan. 15. His departure comes just ahead of the restaurant’s one-year anniversary of opening.

“It was just time for a change — time to move on,” Verica says.

In addition to overseeing the kitchen and menu development, Verica’s responsibilities include ordering and staffing — the latter something that has been especially difficult lately for all restaurants.

After his last day at PARA, Verica says he plans to take a week or two off to celebrate his birthday and travel before starting at a new restaurant, though he does not currently have another position in mind.

“I wouldn’t mind taking an hourly job for a little bit and not having responsibility for a little bit, but I’m not really sure,” he says. “It’s kind of up in the air.”

In our Opening Thoughts review, we praised Verica’s ability to make fine dining feel fun and approachable with his style of cooking. While he says he plans to stay in fine dining, Verica hasn’t ruled out relocating — perhaps to Charleston. As our 2022 UPPY Award-winning Chef to Watch, we’ll be watching to see where he ends up — and hoping it’s here in town.