Contents
Grant Achatz
Creating Alinea and pushing restaurant dining toward experimental, multisensory experiences.
Alinea · Outstanding Chef
- Born
- 25 April 1974
- Birthplace
- St. Clair, United States
More people
Grant Achatz
Grant Achatz is an American chef and restaurateur. At Chicago’s Alinea, he became known for tasting menus that rethink food’s texture, presentation and the way it is served.
Early life
Family diner
Grew up helping in his parents’ Michigan restaurant.
Culinary training
Graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1994.
Career
- 1990s
Restaurant apprenticeship
Worked at Charlie Trotter’s and Thomas Keller’s French Laundry.
- 2001–2005
Trio to Alinea
Led Trio’s kitchen before opening Alinea with Nick Kokonas.
- 2011 onward
Further concepts
Expanded into Next and The Aviary, exploring changing menus and experimental drinks.
Selected work
Alinea
Opened the Chicago restaurant built around inventive tasting menus.
Outstanding Chef
Won the James Beard Foundation’s national chef award.
Next
Launched a restaurant whose menus revisit different culinary settings.
Beyond work
Cancer recovery
Underwent treatment for tongue cancer in 2007, temporarily losing his sense of taste.
Writing
Co-wrote Life, On the Line, recounting his career, illness and collaboration with Kokonas.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Institutional source ↗Photo: star5112. CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
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