Lessons in resilience: 3 chefs that showed us bravery

To provide you with some much-needed inspiration, we want to share the stories of 3 astounding chefs who have overcome incredible adversities to achieve their dreams. May these stories remind you that anything is possible!

Grant Achatz- Alinea

Grant Achatz is the head chef of his 3 Michelin-star restaurant Alinea. Achatz is known worldwide for his mastery in molecular gastronomy, and the transformative dining experience he creates for his guests at Alinea. His food seeks to delight, inspire and surprise his guests, as he combines flavors, textures and new mediums to present his creations. Since opening in 2005, Alinea has ranked the best restaurant in America in 2006, and has consistently ranked in the top 50 restaurants in the world since.

The journey to the top has not been smooth sailing for Achatz. Before the opening of his restaurant Alinea, Achatz began to develop a small white lesion on his tongue. As the lesion continued to grow, Achatz was losing weight and struggling to eat, he was referred to an oral surgeon by his dentist. A biopsy was taken from his tongue, and two days later Achatz was called to the office for the results. Achatz was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in 2006. The proposed treatment: removing two-thirds of Achatz’s tongue, along with large portions of his lymph nodes in his neck. With the treatment, Achatz was predicted a 30% survival rate, and would have to rely on a feeding tube for the rest of his life. This was not an option for Achatz, for as a chef, his tongue and sense of taste was his life. He refused the treatment, and together with Kokonas started searching for alternative solutions.

In 2007, Achatz joined a clinical trial at the University of Chicago, which opted for Chemotherapy and radiation as a means to combat the cancerous tumour, instead of surgery. This option had a success rate of 70%. While Achatz underwent chemotherapy and radiation, he was still working 18h days at Alinea. Luckily, the tumour began to shrink thanks to the treatment and after further months, Achatz was cancer free. But what came as a surprise was Achatz’s loss of taste. The doctors had no knowledge of if his sense of taste would ever recover. Achatz had to lead his kitchen and continue innovating and creating new dishes without a sense of taste. For any chef, this would sound like an impossible feat. But Achatz overcame this adversity as well. Without his sense of taste to guide him, he had to rely on his team to taste his dishes and work together to create the new dishes. Luckily for Achatz, his sense of taste has slowly returned, allowing him to use this sense to create new and delightful creations for Alinea.

Achatz’s advice:

“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

Haikal Johari- Alma

Haikal Johari is the executive chef at Michelin star restaurant Alma by Juan Amador in Singapore., and the first Malaysian chef to receive a Michelin star. Before moving to Singapore, Johari headed the Water Library group of restaurants in Bangkok, Thailand for 13 years, and established himself as quite the celebrity chef in Thailand during those years. Almost 5 years ago, in 2015, Harari was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in Pattaya, Thailand, which left him paralyzed from the neck down. He had damaged the high cervical nerves in his spine, and given a 3% chance of ever being able to move his body again. The road towards recovery was long and painful, as in the beginning, Johari was on a ventilator and unable to speak. Johari had to come to terms with the fact that he would have to get used to a new life. Within a year of his accident, Johari was back in the kitchen in his wheelchair, working 6 days a week, to earn Alma its first Michelin Star. One and a half years later, Johari had already regained between 60 to 65 % of his mobility, which doctors have described as a miracle.

Johari is still currently wheelchair bound, leading the kitchen, creating new dishes and managing the pass. He is defying the odds, and is currently learning how to walk again thanks to daily physical therapy. The inability to move frustrates him, often leaving him feeling helpless and frustrated when he is not able to help his team during busy times, or when he is not able to perform simple tasks he used to do on a daily basis. But Johari is optimistic that he will be able to walk again.

“I believe that after every hardship, there is victory- that’s our light at the end of the tunnel.” - Haikal Johari

Tim Raue- Restaurant Tim Raue

Tim Raue is one of Germany’s most famous chefs and has redefined the food scene in the country through his innovation and use of flavor. Raue is famous for his fusion flavors of Asia and Europe. His flagship restaurant, Restaurant Tim Raue, has earned him 2 Michelin Stars and landed him on the coveted World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. He has recently even expanded his restaurant empire to Dubai.

Raue has overcome an uphill battle throughout his life to attain his current success. Raue grew up in one of the poorest and roughest neighborhoods in Berlin. As a child he struggled with his relationship with his abusive father and became heavily involved in one of the most violent street gangs in Germany. At 16 years old Raue left school and gang life behind him, and transformed the aggression and rage he had, into something useful. He started at the bottom of the chain as a kitchen apprentice, working 16-17 hours a day. He focused himself fully in his new culinary career trying to be the best he possibly could be, every day. Slowly his commitment to cooking began to show, in 1997 at the age of 23, Raue secured his first position as a head chef. Soon after, at the age of 24, Raue received his first culinary award. In 2007, Raue received his first Michelin Star, and in 2013 he received 2 stars for his restaurant, Restaurant Tim Raue.

Raue’s advice:

“Man, you’re not on the street anymore. Behave – be strong, motivate the people around you, give a smile – and you can be happy’.”- Tim Raue

Although the adversities each of these acclaimed chefs have faced are different, their feats share a similar message: no matter the struggles you are faced with, with determination, perseverance and hard work you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

Did you know, Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea, was a graduate from The Culinary Institute of America? If
you would like to follow in his footsteps and build the foundations for your Michelin Star career, check out this hospitality school: Hospitality Academy! They offer an Online Culinary Course and an Advanced Diploma in Culinary Arts, so you can become a pro chef in no time!