Chicago Tribune - Grant Achatz: The Remarkable Rise of America’s Most Celebrated Young

If a dish does not taste good, it does not go into the dining room.

William Rice wrote the following profile of the young Grant Achatz, in January 2002, shortly after the virtually unknown chef had taken over at Evanstons Trio Restaurant.

The as-yet-unmade film Achatz the Chef begins in Richmond, Mich., 15 years ago.

Twelve-year-old Grant Achatz, a small, wiry German-American kid with a ton of energy, has been hanging around the kitchen of his fathers restaurant long enough, the elder Achatz decides. He sets a milk crate in front of the pot sink, encourages his son to step onto it and, voila!, young Grant is able to reach the bottom of the sink. Soon he is cleaning every kitchen implement he can lift.

Over the years, recalls Grant, Chicagos newest four-star chef, a half-dozen family members were involved in operating several restaurants founded by his grandmother. It was humble food, the chef says, burgers and family fare. But I was at home in the kitchen environment.

After high school, the boy opted to train to become a chef at the high-powered Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., despite some discouraging words from his father. (He told me the nature of the business is not conducive to normal family or social life.) Nonetheless, the young Midwesterner took the school seriously and performed well.

I developed a new attitude. What I was learning went way beyond burgers, he says. I realized there was no ceiling on what I could do, that I had to work within perimeters and learn a lot of details, but in time I could tailor them to myself and my personal vision.

In the best show business tradition, lights went on and doors of opportunity opened for him. He was able to work briefly in some of the leading kitchens in this country and Europe. But he made his big break through persistence.

In The Soul of a Chef, a 2000 book on contemporary American chefs, author Michael Ruhlman reports that Achatz won admission in 1996 into the kitchen of the French Laundry, the landmark Napa Valley restaurant, only after writing a letter of application to all-star chef/owner Thomas Keller every day for several weeks.

It was kind of weird, Achatz (pronounced AK-etz) told the author. But it worked.

Over the past decade, the French Laundry along with Charlie Trotters and a handful of others has been rated among the nations top restaurants and Achatz played a meaningful role in the kitchens triumphs.

Described, accurately, by Ruhlman as hopelessly wholesome and earnest, Achatz chased perfection with the zeal of a knight of King Arthurs Round Table.

I was in awe of Thomas, he remembers. I wanted to be a sponge and just soak it all up.

Gradually, he began to look beyond the kitchens French orientation and firmly set techniques. He also took a year off to work in a Napa winery, La Jota.

Early last year he found an announcement of the upcoming Trio vacancy on the Internet. This time a single missive was enough to set the ball rolling, but it took four months before he was hired. (I did a big search, says Trio owner Henry Adaniya. I wanted something unique, but also I wanted someone I could relate to.)

One of the reasons I came here was Henrys willingness to let me set my style and use influences from around the world, Achatz says.

There is no denying his distinctive mind set. This is a chef who, when asked to list ingredients essential to his cooking, begins with gelatin, sugar and veal stock.

Awesome, says veteran chef John Coletta of Caliterra, recalling a recent meal at Evanstons Trio restaurant. He takes the usual, ingredients we all know, and prepares them in an unusual manner that is extremely refined. His food is intricate, precise and flavorful and its his. Hes not doing copycat cooking.

Michael Taus, chef/owner of Zealous, a highly innovative chef who says he has intentionally tamed myself down, was very impressed with his meal at Trio, but found a couple of things way out.

He feels Thomas Kellers influence is pervasive, Coletta does not.

Achatz has been under wraps for the past six months, since he started at Trio, taking care of business so to speak. And with reason.

Adaniya realized he was taking a risk when he brought the young chef from the French Laundry. Popular chef Shawn McClain, who was leaving to open his own restaurant, had garnered four stars. Chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand had done the same after they and Adaniya opened Trio eight years ago.

Achatzs concept was to create global not regional tastes and textures and present his food on prix-fixe menus of four or eight courses that change daily. There would be no a la carte meals of salad, steak and a cup of coffee. Wines should change as the courses change, he believed. This put considerable pressure on the cooks, servers and the customers. In some cases new china and tableware were needed.