Quotes by Grant Achatz

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.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

Food can be expressive and therefore food can be art.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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

— Grant Achatz

Education

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.

— Grant Achatz

Education

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.

— Grant Achatz

Success

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.

— Grant Achatz

Success

A cookbook is not like being an author. It's writing down recipes; it's not writing.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

I always knew I wanted to be a chef.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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.

— Grant Achatz

Life

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

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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.

— Grant Achatz

Happiness

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.

— Grant Achatz

Love

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.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

To me, every kitchen appliance is useful and nothing's overrated. When I look at my little espresso machine, I don't see coffee. I see a steaming valve as an opportunity to make amazing creme brulee.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

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.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

The popularity of the Internet and using it as an available resource has really changed the way chefs kind of gather information and look for inspiration. To me, a food trend is potentially a lot of people following an idea.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

Food is a necessary component to life. People can live without Renoir, Mozart, Gaudi, Beckett, but they cannot live without food.

— Grant Achatz

Life

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

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom

I was a completely below-average high school student. I never went to college.

— Grant Achatz

Wisdom