Sept. 14--It was a little unexpected to see chef Grant Achatz during my Sunday-morning coffee, but there he was, arms folded, staring at me from a full-page ad in the Sunday Tribune.
Ordinarily, Grant and his restaurants (Alinea, Next, the eagerly anticipated Roister) don't advertise -- being one of the best-known chefs in the world creates its own attention -- and indeed, he wasn't advertising now. The ad was placed by the University of Chicago Medicine, touting its most famous cancer-treatment success story.
It was 2007 when Achatz, whose Alinea restaurant was just two years old, announced he had been diagnosed with Stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.
Traditional treatment would involve surgical removal of most of the tongue, but University of Chicago Medical devised an aggressive, nonsurgical treatment plan that enabled Achatz to announce, in December of the same year, that he was cancer free.
"I try to support U of C Medical, specifically cancer research, any way that I can," Achatz said. "We do a fundraising dinner every year at Alinea that raises $200K that goes directly to the cancer research team; Alinea covers all food, beverage and labor costs, so all of the money goes straight to the hospital. I do an eight-person dinner at my house that raises the same amount."
Achatz knew about the ad, of course; he said he posed for the picture about three months ago.
"In all, we are happy to support the team, institution and philosophy that helped cure me," Achatz said.
Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic.
pvettel@tribune.com
Twitter @philvettel
