The Famous Chefs Graham Elliot Loved Working With

From wielding ingredients in inventive ways to telling stories through meals, celebrity chef Graham Elliot is inspired by those chefs who go the extra mile — and for him, chefs Grant Achatz, Wylie Dufresne, and Rene Redzepi do just that. While expressing his appreciation for Achatz's Chicago-based restaurant Alinea, Elliott reminisced about his time working alongside Dufresne and Redzepi. "I mean I love Grant Achatz who has Alinea in Chicago, he's super talented. I got to work with Wylie Dufresne before in New York, and Rene Redzepi before he's incredible," he told Lifestyle Asia, adding that he'd love to film projects with these culinary masterminds.

Now that cuisines and dishes are easily shared on social media, Elliot is enamored by distinct approaches to meals and is inspired by chefs who find creative routes to putting together recipes in the kitchen. Elliot respects originality when it comes to culinary creativity, and that's one of the aspects he has grown to appreciate most about Achatz, Dufresne, and Redzepi's work. 

Elliott looks to find chefs who have their own style and unique personality when it comes to hospitality, yet he also admits the criteria can be difficult to spot. "It's weird now, so many chefs are just on IG and looking at each other's food and it all starts to look the same. No matter what part of the world you're in everyone's making the same stuff," he confessed to Lifestyle Asia. "So you try to find a chef that's very much just doing their own style. And that's something that's hard to find."

When it comes to Achatz, Dufresne, and Redzepi, however, these traits are delivered in spades. Achatz is known for his unique approaches to plating and designing new dishes, while Dufresne's modern twists on classic recipes have earned a fair amount of attention. Combined with the award-winning Redzepi of Noma fame, Elliot has assembled a first-class roster of creatives leading the world of gastronomy. We can only imagine what kind of culinary alchemy might occur if all of these giants entered a kitchen at the same time.