Grant Achatz

Grant Achatz (born April 25, 1974) is an American chef and restaurateur often identified as one of the leaders in molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine. His Chicago restaurant Alinea has won numerous accolades, and Achatz himself has won numerous awards from prominent culinary institutions and publications including the "Rising Star Chef of the Year Award" for 2003, "Best Chef in the United States" for 2008, and a 2012 "Who's Who Inductee" from the James Beard Foundation.

Early life and career

Achatz's early culinary career included time spent working in his parents' Michigan restaurants as a teenager, followed by enrollment in The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Following graduation, Achatz landed a position at Thomas Keller's highly acclaimed restaurant, 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.