Modernist-Cuisine-Vol.-1-Small

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B IOG R APHY O F
Grant Achatz
By the time he was 35, Grant Achatz had
didn’t publish it or published it somewhere that we
have not yet found.
It is important to distinguish between several
different roles that innovators play in new culinary
creations. One role is to conceptualize the idea.
Another function is to be the first to put the idea
into practice (for chefs, this generally means using
it in a dish that you serve to customers). A third
role is to popularize the idea and spread it to
others. And a fourth role is to scientifically
understand the phenomenon of interest. All of
these roles are important.
As much as we like science, we would argue that
the fourth role is actually the least important. It is
quite possible for a new technique to burst on the
scene and become popular long before anyone has
a good scientific understanding of why it works.
The most important role is that of conceptualizing
the technique, which includes understanding
its impact on cuisine. Daguin came up with the
idea before any other chef, but he seems to have
treated it as a clever trick rather than as something
fundamental. Adrià and Bras were both exposed to
the idea of using liquid nitrogen in 1996, but they,
already become one of the most respected
chefs in the U.S. The Modernist master got
his start working for Thomas Keller at The
French Laundry in California, where he
became sous chef within two years. In
2000, Achatz went to Spain and spent a
brief period working at elBulli under Ferran
Adrià (see page 33), and experience that
greatly influenced Achatz’s culinary philosophy.
He returned ready to leave The
French Laundry and strike out on his own.
In 2001, Achatz took over the kitchen at
Trio, a restaurant in the Chicago suburb of
Evanston. He faced some difficulties there—
the restaurant was poorly funded and not terribly busy—but
he nevertheless took chances with the menu and experimented
with avant-garde techniques. It paid off. Achatz
attracted critical acclaim for his unexpected dishes, such as
his signature Black Truffle Explosion (ravioli that “exploded”
with hot truffle broth when bitten into). He also developed a
following of devoted regulars.
One of those regulars was Nick Kokonas, a derivatives
trader who had become a multimillionaire by his early 30s.
He was a big fan of Achatz’s cooking. As Achatz remembers,
Kokonas said to him, “If you want to do your food justice and
open a restaurant worthy of your food, just let me know.”
In 2004, Achatz took him up on the offer. The two men
lined up a group of investors for their restaurant, Alinea, in
Chicago. They worked together on every detail, collaborating
with architects and designers to build a
unique space. Neither of them had ever
owned a restaurant before, so it was a big
risk, and the type of food Achatz planned to
serve was ambitious.
In 2005, they opened Alinea, and it
quickly garnered critical acclaim. The
positive reviews came from local publications,
including the Chicago Tribune, and
national ones, including Gourmet, which
named it the best restaurant in America.
Things seemed to be going swimmingly
for Achatz until 2007, when he received a
devastating diagnosis of tongue cancer.
Rather than having much of his tongue
removed, as most oncologists recommended, Achatz
underwent an experimental treatment program of radiation
and chemotherapy at the University of Chicago. While he
was unable to taste anything for several months during the
treatment, he continued working long hours at the restaurant,
creating new dishes that drew praise from Alinea
regulars. His cancer went into remission, and he recovered
his sense of taste, saying that the ordeal helped him understand
flavors in a new way.
In addition to cooking and overseeing the daily operations
at the restaurant, Achatz became a prolific writer. He
blogged regularly for The Atlantic, and in 2009, he and
Kokonas self-published a book of recipes, essays, and
photography, called simply Alinea. In 2010, the duo wrote a
memoir of Achatz and the restaurant called Life on the Line.
T HE HISTORY O F
Chicago as a Modernist Mecca
Despite its lingering reputation as a steak-and-potatoes
town, Chicago is home to more Modernist restaurants than
all other American cities put together. In fact, Chicago has
more restaurants of this kind than any other city in the
world—the only one that comes close is San Sebastián, Spain,
but only if you count the surrounding suburbs. Chicago’s list
includes Alinea, moto, Tru, L2O, Avenues, and Schwa. Many
others have Modernist touches
on their menus.
Nick Kokonas of Alinea argues
that the reasons for Chicago’s
lead position are at least partly
economic. “It’s easier to take
risks here,” he argues, noting that
the city is big enough to have a
critical mass of adventuresome
diners with the income to eat
well, yet small enough that the
rent is low and start up costs are
perhaps half what they are in
New York.
Credit for the city’s status as a Modernist mecca also
goes to Chicago chef Charlie Trotter and his influence on
high-end fine dining. Trotter built enthusiasm for fine
cuisine in Chicago when he opened his eponymous restaurant
in 1987. Although he does not specialize in Modernist
cuisine, Trotter’s culinary philosophy shares some elements
with Modernism. He emphasizes dining as an
emotional and intellectual experience, for example, and
uses classic dishes as starting points for improvisation.
Several of today’s Modernist stars, including Homaro
Cantu (of moto) and Rick Tramonto (of Tru), worked for
Trotter early in their careers; Grant Achatz did his first stage
in Trotter’s kitchen.
In 1993, Tramonto and his culinary partner, Gale Gand,
opened Trio, the restaurant where Achatz later made a
name for himself. In 1999, Tramonto and Gand opened Tru,
creating a critically acclaimed menu that emphasized
playfulness and fun. Several years later, Tramonto promoted
Tim Graham, who has a background in food science, to
executive chef. (Tramonto remains chef-partner of Tru.)
Graham used sous vide cooking, steam distillation, and
other high-tech methods but also classic techniques in
creative new ways, such as simmering butter and water to
make “butter water” that contains the flavor of butter without
the fat.
Graham’s mentor was another of Chicago’s Modernist
masters, Laurent Gras. Raised in France, Gras worked for
Alain Ducasse and Guy Savoy before coming to the U.S.
Gras’s classical French training is evident in the menu at his
Chicago restaurant, L2O, which opened in 2009. L2O also
showcases his love of technology—it
boasts a formidable
arsenal of specialized cooking
tools, from a distiller to a Hawaiian
ice shaver, which Gras deploys
to achieve a high standard
of culinary exactitude.
Perhaps the most technologically
advanced wizard on Chicago’s
culinary scene is Cantu, who
is known for breakthrough
inventions such as “printed food“
(see page 74), carbonated fruit
(see page 2·469), and laser-smoked aromatic ingredients
(made with surgical-grade lasers). Cantu’s pastry chef, Ben
Roche, also worked for Trotter early on.
Avenues, run by chef Curtis Duffy, an alumnus of Alinea, is
yet another superb Chicago Modernist restaurant. Duffy,
who took over Avenues in 2008, soon received perfect
four-star ratings from both of Chicago’s major newspapers.
Michael Carlson, the chef at Schwa, has been inspired
both by Modernist chefs like Achatz and Heston Blumenthal
(see page 49) and by traditional Italian chefs such as Paul
Bartolotta. The dual influence is reflected in his menu,
which includes inventive dishes like ravioli filled with liquid
quail egg and truffles, and pad Thai made with jellyfish
noodles. Unlike Alinea or moto, Schwa’s service and wine
program are remarkably laid back: Carlson and his kitchen
staff double as servers, and the restaurant is B.Y.O.B.
In contrast with Chicago, New York City is generally
considered unfriendly to Modernist food. In that city, Wylie
Dufresne’s wd~50 was the first major fine-dining establishment
to focus so singularly on Modernist cuisine (see page
67). Today, a few other New York chefs, including Paul
Liebrandt at Corton, are experimenting with Modernist
techniques, but the movement is a long way from taking
root as it has in Chicago.
68 VOLUME 1 · HISTORY AND FUNDAMENTALS
HISTORY 69