Grant Achatz is the chef and co-owner of Alinea in Chicago, IL. The James Beard Foundation named him Outstanding Chef of the Year 2008 and Gourmet Magazine named his restaurant the Best Restaurant in America in 2006.
Grant was born in St. Clair, Michigan in 1974. After high school, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, graduating in 1994.
In the early years of his career he worked in a handful of professional kitchens, ultimately ending up at The French Laundry in Napa Valley, California with Chef Thomas Keller. Over a four-year period, Grant moved up through The French Laundry’s kitchen to the role of Keller’s sous chef. During this time, he also took a one-year hiatus from the kitchen to work as an assistant winemaker at La Jota Vineyards.
After The French Laundry, Grant accepted the role of executive chef at Trio, a four-star restaurant in Evanston, IL in 2001. It was here that Grant began receiving attention and major awards including the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2003.
In 2004, Grant left Trio to start planning for his own restaurant with his new business partner, Nick Kokonas. One year later, they opened Alinea in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Alinea was a critical success from the beginning, earning top-ratings and awards on a local and national scale.
Two years after Alinea opened, Grant was diagnosed with stage IVb cancer in his tongue and lymph nodes. He quickly entered a progressive treatment program at the University of Chicago Hospital. Throughout his treatments, Grant remained a strong presence in the kitchen at Alinea, and in early 2008 he was given a clean bill of health. Today, Grant remains cancer-free.
Grant lives in Lincoln Park, near his restaurant.
