Nick Kokonas

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. Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas Chicago Tribune, Chris Borelli, Archived March 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  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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