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Grant Achatz

Grant Achatz, (born April 25, 1974, St. Clair, Michigan, U.S.), American chef whose culinary innovations made him a leader in the cuisine inspired by molecular gastronomy.

Achatz grew up in a small town in eastern Michigan, where he worked at his parents’ family restaurant. After graduating in 1994 from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, he served a brief—and unsuccessful—stint at Charlie Trotter’s eponymous Chicago restaurant. In 1996 Achatz persuaded California chef Thomas Keller to hire him at the French Laundry, then one of the country’s most-acclaimed restaurants. After four years under Keller’s mentorship—along with a short spell at a nearby winery and a trip to Spain to dine at Ferran Adrià’s groundbreaking El Bulli—Achatz in 2001 took charge of the kitchen at Trio restaurant near Chicago. He was named Best New Chef (2002) by Food and Wine magazine and Rising Star Chef (2003) by the James Beard Foundation (JBF).

In 2005 in Chicago he and Nick Kokonas (an enthusiastic Trio customer) launched Alinea, where Achatz had free rein for his increasingly inventive style. Within two years Gourmet magazine pronounced Alinea the country’s best restaurant. In 2008 the JBF named Achatz the best chef in the United States, and in 2010 Alinea was awarded a coveted three stars from the Michelin Guide.