Grant Achatz Quotes

I lived my whole life in the kitchen. Not only that, but it’s the passion, it’s the love for cooking and food. It’s dictated my entire life – every aspect of it.

Part of becoming a little bit older and having the opportunities that I have, you want to start giving back to people who have been influential and helped you along the way.

Ultimately, the perfect meal is when those things come together – circumstance, the food, ambiance, and you’re with the person that you want to be with.

Growing up as a young kid, I was in a restaurant. So, you know, I always had a very good understanding of the nuances. And in a way, that was a bad thing. Because it kind of programmed me to believe that if you’re going have a restaurant, this is what you need to do, and this is the way it’s going to be run.

Anything that could ever prevent me from achieving a goal, I put in a box, tape it up, throw it over my shoulder. You aim for a goal and attain it. Then you look to the next one.

The most luxurious thing to me is having an hour of my day, which rarely happens, to listen to my iPod and sit on my couch. That’s how I unwind.

What makes the food that we do at Alinea so interesting on the outside is that we really don’t let ourselves say no to an idea.

In a lot of ways, a lot of smells that aren’t necessarily edible smell good, and they remind you of certain aspects of food. So making those associations with what smells good or smells a certain way and pairing that with actual edible ingredients is one avenue that we take creatively.

I wish that food trucks could exist here in Chicago like they do in Brooklyn and in New York, where you’re actually cooking off the truck.

My personality was always such that I always look straight forward, never behind or to the side.

There are about 700 flavors that you can smell, but only five you can taste. A lot of times what you’re perceiving as flavor has nothing to do with palette, but it’s more to do with scents.

Here’s the irony in what I do: When I go out to eat, I like classic French food. I like amazing Japanese food that has such a history that it goes back hundreds of years. And I also like really innovative food as well.

Whatever it is you’re doing, whether it’s your career or a particular focus, if you’re trying to be the best you can possibly be, then you’ll be putting that pressure on yourself.

Most smoked salts are made with liquid smoke, which is a condensate, but really, really good smoked salt is literally smoked.

I don’t care if you’re doing haute cuisine or burgers and pizza, just do it right.

Whenever people are faced with any sort of adversity… they tend to gravitate toward things that make them comfortable, and things that they feel are important.

My life has been such a blur since I was 18, 19 years old. I haven’t even had time to contemplate my own life. By forcing yourself to write your life story you learn a great deal about yourself.

It’s not really the life of cooking that’s hard – it’s what you make of it and what level you push yourself to.

I always knew I wanted to be a chef.

I hate stuff in my pockets, can’t stand it. I’ll carry stuff in my hands rather than put it in my pockets.

I had D minuses in chemistry and all of the sciences, and now I’m known as a molecular gastronomist.

Alinea is not the type of restaurant where you go if you’re in a hurry. Really, it’s about enjoying that three-hour block of time and reflecting on the food, having great conversation with your dining companion.