Elite Traveler May-June 2015

elite traveler MAY/JUNE 2015 ISSUE 3 69

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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA Girona, Spain Head chef: Joan Roca 2014/6

“We'd been named the best restaurant in America and everything was going well – then I was diagnosed with tongue cancer. It was

10 MINUTES WITH… Joan Roca: El Celler de Can Roca

On his decision to go into business with Achatz, 47-year-old Kokonas says: “I use the analogy of hearing Miles Davis, age 25, when he’s playing completely different music to anybody else and you say ‘wow, if we built the right stage for this guy everyone would figure out how great it is’.” The relationship between the two was put to the ultimate test in 2007 when Achatz was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer. “We had been named best restaurant in America by Gourmet magazine, so everything was going incredibly well,” says Kokonas. “Then you get a reminder that nothing’s permanent. It was devastating and, to be honest, at the time, I definitely thought that was it.” The first five cancer specialists the pair visited told Achatz he would need to get his tongue and part of his jaw cut out in order to live – a dreadful diagnosis for anyone, but with added cruelty for a chef. Eventually, they found a clinical trial at the University of Chicago advocating chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Although he lost the ability to taste for a year, by December Achatz was cancer- free. “It was a difficult time,” says Kokonas. “But also, building another restaurant, taking risks doesn’t seem so hard after all that.” In 2011, Achatz and Kokonas opened their second venture. Aptly named Next, the restaurant has a completely new menu every four months, covering all styles and corners of the globe. Next door is The Aviary – their high-end cocktail bar – with a fourth venue, Roister, due to open its doors in a fewmonths’ time. “It’s going to be our first foray into a la carte,” explains Achatz. “The vibe will be intentionally boisterous and hopefully people won’t be afraid to get loud and have a good time.” What else is left, I ask. Achatz doesn’t skip a beat. “Accolades and goals are wonderful, but the real challenge comes in holding onto those,” he says. “The French Laundry celebrated its 22nd anniversary. Alinea is a baby at 10. So longevity’s what we’re looking at now.” AM

Ten years since its inception, Alinea is still reinventing the fine-dining scene. Aoife Moriarty talks to co-founders Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas about staying on top “There’s always an underlying understanding that we want to be nothing less than number one,” Grant Achatz tells me, on the phone from Chicago. The 40-year-old Michigan- born chef is more softly spoken than expected. But then, Achatz has spurned culinary stereotypes, including that of boorish kitchen dictator. Opening in 2005, his three-Michelin- starred restaurant Alinea – voted the best in the world by Elite Traveler readers for the fourth year running – defied expectations from the start. It opted for a shape-shifting genre of food – centred on molecular gastronomy – that Achatz describes simply as “art”. Part of Alinea's enduring success is Achatz’s philosophy of constant evolution. “There’s always the excitement of coming up with something new,” Achatz explains. Recently, critics have commented on there being “less theatrics” than previously, with a new focus on the sensuous and subtle. Dishes at Alinea surprise and confound the senses. Achatz says the 22-course tasting menu is an “emotional experience”, with some diners said to have cried at dishes – such as one containing smouldering oak leaves – which remind them of childhood. But what really influenced Achatz was a brief visit to Ferran Adrià’s elBulli restaurant in Spain in 2000, back when he was working at The French Laundry in Yountville, California. “It was an eye-opening experience,” recalls Achatz, “seeing a chef willing to take risks.” Soon afterwards, Achatz took up a new position as executive chef of Trio in Evanston, Illinois. He was just 26. It was there he grabbed the attention of critics with his take on molecular gastronomy, earning a Rising Star award from the James Beard Foundation. During his four-year stint at Trio he met Nick Kokonas, a derivatives trader and fan of his cooking, and Alinea was born.

On coming second in the Elite Traveler Top 100 Restaurants list It’s the highest recognition a restaurant can receive. We cook to awake senses and emotions. On his interest in fine dining It’s been a natural evolution. Our dream in the beginning was to create a limitless cuisine to thrill our visitors and offer them an emotional journey. On his favorite dish The ‘Vegetable Stock’ reflects our philosophy on natural cycles and produce. We make seasonal versions according to the available produce. On culinary experimentation We are working on alcoholic and free alcohol extractions, reviving the ancient craft of the alchemist. On his dining philosophy It seems that people now prefer less formal places, with reasonable prices. They are avoiding superfluous luxuries, and searching instead for authenticity, generosity, hospitality and creativity. On the future We have just launched a RocaLabs space in an old Catalan farmhouse in front of our La Masia restaurant. It is a talent development and research center. We will also move our restaurant and all our team around the world for five weeks this summer in the world tour of El Celler de Can Roca: wherever the team is, the restaurant is. AM

a reminder that nothing is ever permanent” Grant Achatz Alinea