Nick Kokonas is an American restaurant executive and author. [1]
Born and raised in Northbrook IL, only child of Greek parents, Kokonas graduated from Colgate University with a degree in philosophy. [1]
Prior to meeting Grant Achatz and forming their business partnership, Kokonas was the owner of a derivatives trading firm for 10 years, and was an investor and entrepreneur. [1]
Kokonas's restaurants Next, Alinea, and The Aviary served as a testing and development ground for his proprietary ticketing system called Tock. [2] Kokonas's system allows for dynamic pricing for restaurant tickets/reservations. Some of the earliest adopters include, Thomas Keller's The French Laundry and Per Se and Daniel Patterson's Coi. [2] In 2021 Tock was acquired by Squarespace for over $400 million. [3]
Alinea has been named the best restaurant in North America by publications as diverse as Gourmet Magazine, the World's 50 Best, and Trip Advisor. [4] [5] Next, a shape-shifting restaurant with new menus every 3 or 4 months, won a James Beard award for Best New Restaurant in America in America and was given a 4-star rating from the Chicago Tribune for each of 21 different menus. [6]
Kokonas has been a frequent and often cited guest on top podcasts including the Tim Ferriss Show where his first appearance was the top listened to show for that year. [7]
Kokonas and his wife, Dagmara, have two sons. [8]
Homaro "Omar" Cantu Jr. was an American chef and inventor known for his use of molecular gastronomy. As a child, Cantu was fascinated with science and engineering. While working in a fast food restaurant, he discovered the similarities between science and cooking and decided to become a chef. In 1999, he was hired by his idol, Chicago chef Charlie Trotter. In 2003, Cantu became the first chef of Moto, which he later purchased.
Grant Achatz is an American chef and restaurateur often recognized for his contributions to molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine. Achatz has won numerous awards from prominent culinary institutions and publications, including the Food and Wine's "best new chefs" award in 1998, "Rising Star Chef of the Year Award" for 1999, "Best Chef in the United States" for 1998 and a 2003 "Who's Who Inductee" from the James Beard Foundation. His Chicago restaurant Alinea has won numerous accolades.
Alinea is a restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, United States. In 2010, Alinea was awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide. Since the closing on December 20, 2017 of Grace, Alinea remains one of only two Chicago restaurants, with the other one being Smyth, added in 2023, with three Michelin stars. Alinea charges $175–225 for its second-floor salon menu, and $285–345 for its first floor gallery menu.
Moto was a molecular gastronomy restaurant in the Fulton River District of Chicago, Illinois known for creating "high-tech" dishes which incorporate elements such as carbonated fruit, edible paper, lasers, and liquid nitrogen for freezing food.
Timothy Ferriss is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He is known for his 4-Hour self-help book series—including The 4-Hour Work Week, The 4-Hour Body, and The 4-Hour Chef—that focused on lifestyle optimizations, but he has since reconsidered this approach.
Joseph Wechsberg was a Jewish Moravian writer, journalist, musician, and gourmet. Born in Ostrava, in Moravia, Czechoslovakia, he and his wife requested and received asylum in the United States in 1939 when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. His mother was among the Czech Jews interned by the Nazis and later was murdered at Auschwitz. Over his career he was a prolific writer who wrote over two dozen works of nonfiction, including books on music and musicians, and contributed numerous articles to publications such as The New Yorker.
Schwa is an upscale restaurant run by chef-owner Michael Carlson and chef de cuisine Papi Chulo. It is located on Ashland Avenue in Wicker Park, Chicago, and is known for its unconventional approach to foodservice. Simple table settings match the building's drab exterior and its tiny 26-seat interior. The restaurant employs no support staff of any kind. Chefs interact directly with customers and are encouraged to act as silly as they wish, as long as they produce top quality food.
Michael Carlson is a chef and restaurateur from Chicago, Illinois. After dropping out of culinary school, Carlson got his start in the industry working under Paul Bartolotta. From there he studied abroad in Italy under Valentino Marcattilii, and in England under Heston Blumenthal. Carlson says he learned more from American chef Grant Achatz than anyone else.
Next is a restaurant in Chicago. It opened April 6, 2011. The restaurant received media interest due to chef Grant Achatz's success at his first restaurant, Alinea, as well as its unique "ticketed" format: Next sells pre-priced tickets for specific dates and times in a similar fashion to the way theater, concert and sporting event tickets are sold.
Dave Beran is an American chef.
RIA was an American restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, it originally opened in 2009, serving upscale French cuisine. RIA was popular with critics, earning many awards, including two Michelin stars. After losing executive chef Jason McLeod in 2011, RIA closed on July 27, 2012, after replacement Danny Grant left his restaurant position.
Najat Kaanache is the host of AMC Networks' cooking series "Cocina Marroquí" which airs on Canal Cocina in Spain and El Gourmet throughout 20 countries in Latin America. Kaanache was born and raised in San Sebastián of Spain's Basque Country. She gained fame as a lead actress on Spanish daytime television series and then traveled throughout the Middle East and South America working in philanthropy to empower women and street kids. She later attended culinary school and gained fame as "The Pilgrim Chef" by blogging throughout her four years training with the world's top chefs: Ferran Adrià, René Redzepi, Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, Heston Blumenthal and Martín Berasategui.
Squarespace, Inc. is an American website building and hosting company based in New York City. It provides software as a service for website building and hosting, and allows users to use pre-built website templates and drag-and-drop elements to create and modify webpages.
Iliana Regan is a Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur in the Hiawatha National Forest, owner of The Milkweed Inn in Wetmore, Michigan. She received one Michelin star for each year she owned and operated Elizabeth Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois from 2012 to 2020.
Giuliana Furci OSI is a field mycologist, speaker, author, and founder and CEO of the Fungi Foundation. She is a Harvard University associate, National Geographic Explorer, Dame of the Order of the Star of Italy, deputy chair of the IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee, and author of several titles including a series of field guides to Chilean fungi and co-author of titles such as the 1st State of the World's Fungi and the publication delimiting the term “funga” and the 3F Proposal - Fauna, Flora & Funga. Giuliana has held consulting positions in U.S. philanthropic foundations as well as full-time positions in international and Chilean marine conservation non-profits. She sits on the Board of Fundación Acción Fauna, and on the advisory board of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), and other organizations. Giuliana has received several distinctions including the 2022 Buffett/National Geographic Leadership in Conservation in Latin America Award, 2022 Gordon and Tina Wasson Award from the Mycological Society of America, and the 2013 Presidents Award from the International Society for Fungal Conservation.
Zefiro was an Italian and Mediterranean restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. The business operated from 1990 to 2000.
Nicholas Channing DiGiovanni is an American celebrity chef, entertainer, and internet personality. As of June 2024, DiGiovanni has over 33 million followers across his social media accounts, including YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
The Aviary is a craft cocktail bar in Chicago, Illinois. The bar is part the Alinea Group, in of the same "culinary universe" as Alinea, run by Michelin-starred chef Grant Achatz.
Roister is a restaurant in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The restaurant serves American cuisine. Andrew Brochu was the chef, as of 2016. Chicago rated Roister 2 out of 4 stars.