This man will seduce you with poetry, cooking.
We recently promoted (demoted? hard to tell) graham elliot’s namesake chef Graham Elliot Bowles from a wunderkind to just a wunder, since he’s over 30.
But he’s under 40, so he still qualifies for this year’s crop of the one of the 40 Under 40 singled out by Crain’s Chicago Business. They include him not only because of his technical proficiency in the kitchen, but because of the artistic flair he brings to the, forgive the pun, table:
“I go to museums and try to get inspiration from art and incorporate it into the restaurant,” says Mr. Bowles, who also plays guitar and writes poetry (menu items are listed like a haiku).
Dining at his restaurant, he says, is like “coming into my house, and I want you to enjoy my music and my décor. It’s not just a restaurant where you come to eat. It’s symbolic and representative of whose restaurant it is.”
Plays guitar? Writes poetry? Takes inspiration from museums and art? We feel like a college freshman all over again, being seduced by the mysterious long-haired junior strumming his acoustic on the quad. You want to cook us dinner at your co-op? Our eyes reminds you of the beaches you saw while backpacking through Southeast Asia? You tried to write a sonnet about our hair, but thought the curliness lent itself better to a villanelle? You developed your own philosophy, drawing from both Marxism and Ayn Rand? Why yes, it is getting kind of warm in here. Tell us more.
And, hey, it looks like Grant Achatz’s assessment of the role of OCD in the kitchen holds true: “[Bowles] has a penchant for lining up spices alphabetically and wiping counters non-stop.” Aspiring mega-chef wannabes: Ditch that Lithium and get into a kitchen!
Graham Elliot Bowles [Crain’s Chicago Business]
Achatz On Whether OCD Contributes To Success: “Um, Yeah” [previously]
Tribune Dining, Revisited: Vettel Gives Avenues 4 Stars [previously]
graham elliot [MenuPages]
graham elliot [Official Site]
