Jeff Pikus Chef de Cuisine Jeff Pikus took an unusual road to the world of haute cuisine, graduating from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering. After taking a job in a restaurant in Steamboat Springs he returned to the Chicago area and worked at Follia. After reading about chef Achatz in Michael Ruhlman’s book The Soul of a Chef he applied several times to work with Grant at Trio. Persistence paid off and Pikus’ culinary education flourished during his nearly 3 years at Trio. While Alinea was being built, Jeff spent 9 months as a sous chef at 4-star Spiaggia. Part of the Alinea team since opening day, chef Pikus has worked every station at Alinea both as a chef d’ partie and a Sous Chef. His outstanding work ethic, native intelligence, and core understanding of Chef Achatz’ vision for Alinea led to him being awarded the title of Chef de Cuisine in July, 2007.