There have been no large “beneath new possession” banners hoisted outdoors the Alinea Group eating places after Nick Kokonas introduced he bought his possession stake earlier this month. A server at Subsequent Restaurant laughs on the suggestion.
The Alinea Group is arguably Chicago’s most embellished restaurant group and consists of Michelin-starred Subsequent, three-Michelin-starred Alinea, a cocktail lounge known as the Aviary, and Roister.
Jason Weingarten, 47, who Chicago restaurant followers know from Oliver’s, an LA supper membership restaurant in South Loop that opened earlier this yr, and Entree, a meal-kit supply service that debuted in 2022, is the brand new CEO and co-owner. Kokonas, who co-founded the group in 2005, stays a passive investor, one who’s out there in an advisory position. Weingarten compares partnering with chef Grant Achatz — the chef who helped make molecular gastronomy a family time period — with “attending to accomplice with Michael Jordan again within the heyday.”
“Chef Achatz and his workforce — they’re one of the best on this planet; you don’t mess with success,” Weingarten says. “I completely have zero plans or intentions to alter something that has labored so brilliantly for 19 years, and we’re extremely excited and thrilled and honored to have fun the twentieth anniversary subsequent yr.” He declined to share the monetary particulars of the transaction.
Weingarten says he’s all the time cherished the world of eating places even earlier than working with them, including that previously when he threw occasions, some known as him “a hospitality CEO who additionally bought software program.” Weingarten is a longtime fan of the restaurant group. He based Yello, a recruitment platform, and threw a celebration in 2016 on the Aviary to have fun an organization milestone, the primary such buyout for the flowery Fulton Market cocktail lounge. Weingarten says Kokonas has by no means been stingy with assist, and earlier this yr requested if he was all for taking his place at Alinea Group. The 2 related as Weingarten’s software program background linked him with Tock — the reservation platform Kokonas co-founded to curb no-shows at Alinea. Weingarten additionally turned to Alinea Group eating places when he needed to entertain purchasers.
A local of suburban Skokie who grew up in Highland Park, Weingarten attended Miami College in Ohio the place he studied advertising. He resides in River North, between Lincoln Park Excessive College and Whitney Younger Excessive College the place his two youngsters attend.
Achatz credit Weingarten with bringing a recent perspective to the enterprise: “He has the flexibility to acknowledge gaps, assist mentor the groups, and determine and search out progress alternatives in and out of doors of TAG and use his enterprise acumen to assist us develop,” the chef says.
Weingarten repeatedly mentions how no different restaurant firm can provide Alinea Group’s “magical eating experiences.” He sees alternatives to deliver that magic around the globe, partnering with motels and different entities. A wide range of teams have already approached them, even Chicago’s notorious sizzling canine stand Wieners Circle has teased a collaboration. Achatz posted a photograph of a corn canine, as a part of the chef’s inventive course of — the collaboration, which must be out there subsequent yr, hasn’t been finalized. Teaming up with Mr. Beef, the Italian beef stand that impressed Season 1 of The Bear, is one other risk, Weingarten says.
The Alinea Group has tried to develop outdoors of Chicago previously with a New York location of the Aviary on the Mandarin Oriental. Weingarten complimented the resort and didn’t rule out partnering with it sooner or later. Nonetheless, any future partnership would imply to make sure that “we’re fully aligned on what the objectives are and that the incentives are correctly set for each events.”
“I feel there’s room for various alternatives for enjoyable and distinctive and magical eating experiences in a collaborative means,” Weingarten provides. “, it doesn’t must be simply the standard classics.”
In fact, anybody pondering of taking a managing stake within the group would want to earn the belief of its most well-known chef. “The Alinea Group is one thing I’ve been working relentlessly on for over 20 years now, it’s woven into the material of who I’m so tightly it’s unimaginable to separate,” Achatz says. The chef provides: “I felt it was essential to accomplice with somebody that may interact in optimistic discussions about vital choices as we roadmap TAG’s progress plan over the subsequent 10 years.”
Whereas Michelin stars and mentions on the World’s Finest Eating places record have already bolstered his profile, Weingarten sees “limitless potential” in Achatz, and want to see the chef extra well known nationally: “For my part, there are large alternatives for him, particularly, that we’re excited to exit and exit and get,” Weingarten says.
Achatz has appeared on Netflix’s Chef’s Desk. Final week, Achatz posted a photograph subsequent to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos inside Alinea’s kitchen. He’s served wrestler and actor John Cena, and, like him, Achatz appeared within the newest season of The Bear. The group already has publicity, however it might seem Weingarten has plans to fine-tune.
“This workforce has centered on constructing the world’s greatest restaurant and attaining that, and now we’re making an attempt to construct the world’s greatest restaurant group,” Weingarten says.
