Chef and Owner of Baxtrom Hospitality Group

I was definitely most impacted by my time at Alinea. Two weeks into starting my internship, the manager quit and Grant asked me if I wanted to do that job. I worked as an intern/manager for a few months, and then at the end of my internship, Grant sat me down and said he really saw promise in me. He asked me to stay on - I didn't even think the possibility of a job was on the table after my internship, so I was floored. Without exaggeration, I skipped down Michigan Avenue three miles to my apartment at 2 am and called my mom (and woke her up) to tell her I was now officially working at Alinea.

I'm not sure if this will make sense to anyone but me, but it really was a pivotal moment in my career. When I was at Alinea back in the day, I walked past John Shields and Curtis Duffy and heard them say "you failed the test." I asked what they meant, and they said I walked by a door that was slightly ajar and didn't close it. It really stayed with me, and to this day, when I walk past a slightly ajar door or just anything that's not quite right in my restaurant, even an upside-down roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, I fix it.

I am driven by wanting to make my parents and mentors, like Grant Achatz, proud. Those people that have invested so much time and energy into me and my career, supporting me when I was working hard to figure out my path, and I want to do right by them.

My inspiration comes from a combination of the Union Square Greenmarket and dining out on a regular basis. I love researching and seeing what people are really responding to, and what's happening in the culinary zeitgeist.