Grant Achatz

Grant Achatz

Grant Achatz (born April 25, 1974 in St. Clair , Michigan ) is an American head chef who, thanks to his culinary innovations, is one of the leading representatives of molecular cuisine .

Life

Achatz grew up in a small town in eastern Michigan, where he worked in his parents' restaurant . After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 1994, he worked for a short time (and without success) at Charlie Trotter 's restaurant in Chicago of the same name . In 1996, Achatz persuaded the Californian chef Thomas Keller to hire him at The French Laundry , one of the most famous restaurants in the country at the time. After four years under Keller's mentorship - together with a short stay at a nearby winery and a trip to Spain to dine at Ferran Adrià's groundbreaking El Bulli - Achatz took over the kitchen management of the Trio restaurant near Chicago in 2001 . In 2002, he was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine and a year later by the James Beard Foundation (JBF) as Rising Star Chef .

In 2005, he and Nick Kokonas (an enthusiastic trio customer) founded the Alinea restaurant in Chicago , where Achatz let his increasingly inventive style run free. Within two years, Gourmet magazine named Alinea the best restaurant in the country. In 2008 the JBF named Achatz the best chef in the United States and in 2010 the Alinea was awarded the coveted three stars by the Michelin Guide .

Meanwhile, in mid-2007 Achatz was diagnosed with non- metastatic advanced-stage tongue cancer. Although most of the doctors he consulted recommended removing about three-quarters of his tongue , Achatz opted for experimental radiation and chemotherapy , during which he temporarily lost his sense of taste . At the beginning of 2008 the tests showed that he was cancer-free and Achatz began to regain his sense of taste.

Opened in 2011, Achatz the cocktail - lounge The Aviary , next a prix-fixe restaurant- and The Office , a 14-seat lounge in the speakeasy style below The Aviary . In 2017, Achatz expanded outside of Chicago and opened branches of The Aviary and The Office in New York City . His memoir Life, on the Line (co-written with Kokonas) was published in 2011.

Web links

Commons : Grant Achatz  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Melinda C. Shepherd: Grant Achatz. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . April 21, 2019, accessed January 25, 2020 . 
2. ↑ A new chapter in the kitchen. In: The world . May 15, 2011, accessed January 25, 2020 .