Grant achatz
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Nick Kokonas has an uncanny ability to find an unexpected solution to an illogical situation. This talent enabled him to thrive as a financial trader, and then, despite no industry experience, to cocreate one of the world’s best restaurants and launch a tech company that’s been a game-changer in how dining reservations are made. But it can also rub people the wrong way. At home, for instance.
Dagmara Kokonas, his wife of 24 years, had grown tired of umbrellas going AWOL from their usual spots by the front and back doors. This was Nick’s fault. So Dagmara did what spouses do: She told her husband to quit losing umbrellas.
And Nick did what Nick does: He went on the website Alibaba, found a great deal on compact blue umbrellas, and bought boxes and boxes of them — 288 umbrellas in all. Then he placed one in every spot that Dagmara or their two sons might hope to find an umbrella, and he stashed the remaining boxes in the basement and at Alinea’s storage facility. When he sees that an umbrella is missing, he replaces it with another, so Dagmara never knows how many the family has g
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Nick Kokonas
Nick Kokonas | |
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American restaurant executive and author
Nick Kokonas is an American restaurant businessman and author.[1]
Early life and education
Born and raised in Northbrook IL, only child of Greek parents, Kokonas graduated from Colgate University with a degree in philosophy.[1]
Career
Prior to meeting Grant Achatz and forming their business partnership, Kokonas was the owner of a financial firm for 10 years, and was an investor and entrepreneur.[1]
Kokonas's restaurants Next, Alinea, and The Aviary served as a testing and development ground for his proprietary ticketing system called Tock.[2] Kokonas's system allows for dynamic pricing for restaurant tickets/reservations. Some of the earliest adopters include, Thomas Keller's The French Laundry and Per Se and Daniel Patterson's Coi.[2] In 2021 Tock was acquired by Squarespace for over $400 million.[3]
Alinea has been named the best restaurant in North America by publications as diverse as Gourmet Magazine, the World
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Nick Kokonas of Alinea Group - Biography
Nick Kokonas is co-founder and co-owner of groundbreaking Alinea, Next, and The Aviary (and it’s speakeasy The Office) in Chicago. Alinea, which opened in 2005, has been on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list since 2007, rising as high as seventh and twice being the “Best Restaurant in North America.” It has held three Michelin stars since 2010, and in 2016 received James Beard’s “Outstanding Restaurant” award. In 2012, equally as avant-garde Next won the James Beard Award for “Best New Restaurant.” Inside Next, The Aviary bar was named one of Food & Wine’s “Best New Bars” in 2011, and won Tales of the Cocktail’s “World’s Best Cocktail Menu” in 2014.
Casual Roister, which merges kitchen with dining room, opened in 2016 and joined Bon Appetit’s “Best New Restaurants” list. And in summer 2017, outposts of The Aviary (and The Office) opened in New York’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Koko
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