Nick Kokonas is an American restaurant executive and author.[1]

Early life and education

Born and raised in Chicago, 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 derivatives trading 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's 50 Best, and Trip Advisor.[4][5] Next, a shape-shifting restaurant with new menus every 3 or 4 months, won a James Beard award for Best New Restaurant in America in America and was given a 4-star rating from the Chicago Tribune for each of 21 different menus.[6]

Kokonas has been a frequent and often cited guest on top podcasts including the Tim Ferriss Show where his first appearance was the top listened to show for that year.[7]

Personal life

Kokonas and his wife, Dagmara, have two sons.[8]

Published works

  • Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas, Life, on the Line: A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat March 6, 2012 ISBN 1592406971

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas Chicago Tribune, Chris Borelli, Archived March 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 DeJesus, Erin (30 November 2014). "Introducing Nick Kokonas's Ticketing System, Tock". Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  3. ↑ Selvam, Ashok (2021-03-31). "Web Giant Squarespace Has Acquired Restaurant Reservation Platform Tock". Eater Chicago. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  4. ↑ "A Restaurant That's Really This Good: 2000s Archive : gourmet.com". www.gourmet.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  5. ↑ "Alinea-Chicago-Restaurant-50Best Discovery". 50B - Discovery. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  6. ↑ "Next". The Alinea Group. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  7. ↑ "The Tim Ferriss Show: #341: Nick Kokonas — How to Apply World-Class Creativity to Business, Art, and Life on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  8. ↑ The Take-Away: Nick Kokonas on Roister, Alinea and Tock Crain's Chicago Business, Christina Le Beau, July 7, 2016


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