Grant Achatz (award-winning chef)
7/15/20261 hr 47 min
Grant Achatz (Alinea, Next, The Aviary) is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and culinary innovator. Grant joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in small-town Michigan working in his family's diner, rebuilding a GTO with his father, and discovering the emotional power of food. Grant and Dax talk about training under Charlie Trotter and Thomas Keller, reinventing fine dining at Alinea, and battling stage IV tongue cancer at the height of his career. Grant explains why great meals are really about storytelling, how he sees AI as a beneficial tool in his work, and why pursuing excellence requires constant evolution.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDax Shepard· Host0:00
Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert, Experts on Expert. Uh, I'm Dax Shepard.
Monica Padman· Host0:04
Who are you?
Dax Shepard· Host0:05
Lily Padman.
Monica Padman· Host0:06
That's me.
Dax Shepard· Host0:06
Today, we have a legendary chef on, Grant Achatz. Uh, he is the restaurateur who owns Alinea, and has won numerous accolades, and is one of Wabi Wab's biggest crushes.
Monica Padman· Host0:20
It's true. And he's... Alinea, for people who don't know, is basically the United States' best restaurant.
Dax Shepard· Host0:27
It had been many years in a row.
Monica Padman· Host0:29
Yeah.
Dax Shepard· Host0:29
Yeah, it's an incredible place. Uh, and he's an incredible chef with an incredible story.
Monica Padman· Host0:34
Oh, man. Yeah.
Dax Shepard· Host0:34
Um, yeah, w- what, what could be the worst thing that could happen [laughs] to a chef? And that's what happened. Please enjoy Grant Achatz. We are supported by Airbnb. You know, Mani, I was just reminiscing recently about this trip I took to Muskoka a while back. Canada in the summer, it's just unbelievable. The lakes, the trees, all these gorgeous wooden boats everyone collects- Ooh ... around there. NHL players on the lake.
Monica Padman· Host1:01
Mm.
Dax Shepard· Host1:01
What a place. It's just one of those places where you immediately feel your nervous system calm down.
Monica Padman· Host1:06
I do feel like every time you talk about that trip, you feel very at peace.
Dax Shepard· Host1:10
I really was. I think part of what makes a trip like that memorable is when you actually get to settle into a place. You start finding your rhythm, your coffee shop, your morning walk. There's several little restaurants on the lakes. They're all connected. There's a big chain of lakes. And the, the restaurants are so good, and you park your boat out there, and you get to sit on the water.
Monica Padman· Host1:28
Ugh.
Dax Shepard· Host1:28
It's just heaven.
Monica Padman· Host1:29
That's my favorite