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 More Quotes by Grant Achatz More Quotes From Grant Achatz People like to think the creative process is romantic. The artist drifts to sleep at night, to be awakened by the subliminal echoes of his or her next brilliant idea. The truth, for me at least, is that creativity is primarily the result of hard work and study. Grant Achatz creativity hard-work sleep 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 tape goal looks Food can be expressive and therefore food can be art. Grant Achatz expressive art Food is a necessary component to life. People can live without Renoir, Mozart, Gaudi, Beckett, but they cannot live without food. Grant Achatz renoir beckett people 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. So, in some ways, the thought of not being able to do that anymore radically affects your life. Grant Achatz kitchen passion cooking My personality was always such that I always look straight forward, never behind or to the side. Grant Achatz personality sides looks It is critical to have a sound understanding of traditional culinary principles before attempting to push boundaries in cuisine. Larousse Gastronomique helps me execute the progressive cooking we do at Alinea. Grant Achatz cooking understanding sound If I had one piece of advice for people - if they are cooking from the Alinea cookbook, the Betty Crocker cookbook or the back of the box - read through the entire recipe first before reaching for any ingredients, and then read again and execute the directions. Grant Achatz cooking advice people I had D minuses in chemistry and all of the sciences, and now I'm known as a molecular gastronomist. Grant Achatz known chemistry We all eat two to six times a day. Why? Because we are supposed to, we are programmed to, we want to. Grant Achatz six want two 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 ideas interesting 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 espresso coffee opportunity 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 inspiration people ideas 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. Grant Achatz smell association way Most smoked salts are made with liquid smoke, which is a condensate, but really, really good smoked salt is literally smoked. Grant Achatz liquid salt made 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 hate stuff hands Over the years, Céline Labaune has been constantly seeking to source the highest quality truffles; her diligence and expertise truly set her apart. Grant Achatz quality lines years My father would always tell me that creativity didn't matter at the diner. When I was probably 14 or 15, I would put - I mean, it was a no-nonsense place - but I would try to put a sprig of parsley or orange curl on the omelets, or something like that. He'd be like "Don't do that!" Grant Achatz creativity mean father 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. Grant Achatz cooking new-york wish My home kitchen is airy, with a gas stove, a stainless-steel island table in the center and granite countertops. It's very modest but there's tons of counter space, so you can slap down three or four cutting boards. Grant Achatz cutting islands home
