Grant Achatz of Alinea gets the New Yorker treatment. For me, the most interesting part of this piece has nothing to do with the culinary stories. Rather, it’s the idea that in society we tend to treat authority figures, doctors in this case, with undue reverence and infallibility. If Achatz had listened to the surgeons who suggested cutting out his tongue in response to his cancer was the only realistic treatment, this story may have ended much differently. Instead, Achatz found an alternative treatment that, for now and hopefully forever, saved his tongue, and a chance at salvaging his taste.

This really illustrated the crux of what I’ve learned from working as a contributor to the Alinea cookbook with Achatz, his partner Nick Kokonas, and the whole team at Alinea: there is an incredible importance in being disciplined to challenge what’s been done before. It’s what separates Alinea from so many. And though it sounds like a simple formula, it’s really hard to do.