Chefs+Tech: Alinea's Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas Tell All in a Reddit AMA


Skift Take

Nick Kokonas and Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea Group have become known for their transparency and tech-savvy, so hosting a Reddit AMA is as on-brand as it is useful for others.

Highlights from the Grant Achatz + Nick Kokonas AMA Yesterday, chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas of Chicago’s Alinea Group (and also founder, and chief executive officer at restaurant ticketing service Tock) hosted a Reddit AMA (that’s “Ask Me Anything”). The celebrated business partners are regarded as forward-looking and tech-savvy, so an AMA makes perfect sense. For an hour, the two answered questions about Chicago, their restaurants, their company, their future, the industry, and more. Kokonas has been particularly transparent about the restaurant industry’s pain points; he created Tock to directly compete with traditional online reservations services and has not been shy about his reasons for wanting to change the industry. Most recently, he penned a lengthy and informative piece about self-publishing the group’s next book. The entire thread is worth a read if you’re interested in forward-looking industry thinking (On hospitality included: “Honestly, the people who 'return to a traditional model' simp