Grant Achatz

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Grant Achatz (born 1974) is an American chef and restaurateur who is considered to be on the cutting edge of the forward-thinking movement of menu item construction often referred to as molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine. Achatz has won numerous awards from prominent culinary institutions and publications including the "Rising Star Chef of the Year Award" for 2003 from the James Beard Foundation.

1 Early life and career
2 Alinea
3 Awards
4 External Links

[edit] Early life and career

Achatz' early culinary career included time spent working in his parents' Michigan restaurants as a teenager, followed by enrollment in the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Following graduation, Achatz continued to move up the food chain, ultimately landing a position at Thomas Keller's highly acclaimed gastro-Mecca, The French Laundry, in Yountville, California. Achatz spent four years at The French Laundry, rising to the position of sous chef. In 2001, he moved to the Chicago area to become the Executive Chef at Trio, in Evanston, Illinois, which, at the time of his arrival, had a four-star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide. Over the next three years, with Achatz at the helm, Trio's reputation soared and in 2004 the restaurant was rewarded with a fifth star from Mobil, becoming one of just 13 restaurants so honored at the time.

[edit] Alinea

In 2005, Achatz went out on his own, opening Alinea at 1723 North Halsted Street in Chicago's Lincoln Park district. The restaurant is located up the block from the famed Steppenwolf Theater Company and is housed in a modest gray brick building which bears no external markings beyond its street number. Inside, the restaurant has no bar, no lobby, and seats just 64 guests. Achatz serves diners a choice of two small-course tasting menus, running 12 or 24ish courses. After less than two years of operation, the Mobil Travel Guide bestowed its Five Star Award on Alinea, reaffirming its approval of Achatz and making Alinea one of just 16 restaurants nationwide to rate five stars for 2007.

In October 2006, Gourmet magazine named Alinea the best restaurant in America in its feature on "America's Top 50 Restaurants".