16 Facts About Grant Achatz

Grant Achatz was born on April 25,1974 and is an American chef and restaurateur often recognized for his contributions to molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine.

Grant Achatz was born and raised in St Clair, Michigan, where his parents owned restaurants, and he worked at them as a teenager.

Grant Achatz subsequently enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

Grant Achatz spent four years at The French Laundry, rising to the position of sous chef.

In 2005, Grant Achatz went out on his own, opening Alinea in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood with Nick Kokonas.

Grant Achatz serves diners a small-course tasting menu, consisting of approximately 18 courses.

In February 2012, Grant Achatz held a Dutch auction for tickets to Next's elBulli-inspired menu, raising over $275,000 for charity in just two days.

Grant Achatz has served as a coach for the biennial culinary competition in Lyon, France, Bocuse d'Or.

Kokonas and Grant Achatz have released two digital cookbooks from Next Restaurant, one on the Apple iBook platform, and one in a more universal PDF format.

Grant Achatz was featured in a 2014 Dan Waldschmidt's book Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Outrageous Success, a book about preventing suicide with sense with stories about famous people that had disasters.

On July 23,2007, Grant Achatz announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, which spread to his lymph nodes.

On December 18,2007, Grant Achatz announced that he was cancer-free.

Grant Achatz credited an aggressive protocol of chemotherapy and radiation therapy administered at the University of Chicago Medical Center for driving his cancer into full remission.

Grant Achatz has two sons, Kaden and Keller, with Angela Snell; the couple divorced in 2006.

On May 27,2016, Grant Achatz appeared on season two of the Netflix series Chef's Table.

In 2018, Grant Achatz appeared as a judge on the Netflix series The Final Table.