The Wall Street Journal-20080123-Star Chicago Chef Says His Cancer Is in Remission
Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080123
Star Chicago Chef Says His Cancer Is in Remission
One of the country's promising young chefs appears to be winning his battle with a cancer that threatened to derail his career.
Grant Achatz, the 33-year-old founder of the Chicago restaurant Alinea, was diagnosed with an advanced cancer of the tongue in July. The chef, whose restaurant had been named the best in the country by Gourmet magazine in 2006, was told by three doctors that he would have to get part of his tongue removed, leaving him unable to taste.
Instead, he found a team of doctors at the University of Chicago who offered an atypical treatment using drugs, chemotherapy and radiation instead of tongue removal. Last month, doctors informed him the treatment had driven his cancer into remission.
Mr. Achatz's illness, which was the subject of an Aug. 31 article in The Wall Street Journal, created an uncertain few months at his restaurant. The radiation treatment left him temporarily unable to taste and eat solid food.
The radiation felt like "the worst sunburn you can ever imagine on the inside of your mouth," said Mr. Achatz. "Everything you put in your mouth tasted like water."
Mr. Achatz said his lack of taste didn't prevent him from working on creations such as bison with turnip and candy cane, as well as liquefied caramel corn, because "90% of what I do on a daily basis comes from my head, not from my mouth," he said. Everett Vokes, one of the oncologists treating the chef, said it could take a year or two for Mr. Achatz's taste to return. "I don't think he'll regain all of his taste," Dr. Vokes said. "But for somebody with his genius and background, I'm sure he will be able to compensate."
(See related article: "A Chef Faces His Worst Fears --- A Top Creator of Exotic Flavors Battles Tongue Cancer" -- WSJ Aug. 31, 2007)
