Walking into Ever feels breathtakingly elegant – so much so that The Bear wanted millions of viewers to experience the restaurant's magnificence, spotlighting it in the iconic “Forks” episode.
That's only a short preview of the culinary magic that awaits. The tasting menu features ingredients at their peak, whether it be sprouted coconut or spring peas (chosen by our MICHELIN Inspectors as one of their favorite dishes in all of 2024).
Behind it all? Curtis Duffy. In another world, the rockstar chef might have become a guitarist in a rock band, but he discovered his passion for cooking while making pizza in middle school home economics class. His natural talent and hard work led him to the kitchens of culinary legends Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz, where he honed his craft.
From there, he has long forged his own path and trained the next generation of chefs, earning MICHELIN Stars at Avenues in the Peninsula Chicago (Two MICHELIN Keys) and later gracing the culinary world with his Three Star restaurant, Grace.
Today, he delivers a stunning tasting menu at Ever with dishes like Alaskan King Crab, showcasing creativity while never forgetting to respect the ingredients.
Below, Chef Curtis Duffy shares more about his journey, upcoming memoir, and future plans.
What is your vision for Ever?
We were just getting started at Grace, getting momentum. Ever is the continuous voice to build a restaurant amongst the best in the world. It first has to start within the four walls of Ever every single day. If it's just one little detail that we focus on a week, that one little detail makes us better in the long run.
Our Inspectors called your spring peas one of their favorite dishes of 2024. How do you approach your food?
Ingredients are the most influential for us, and having that relationship and conversation with our farmers is deeply rooted in what we do. We understand when they feel the ingredient is going to be at their peak, and that's when we capture that ingredient. How do we showcase that ingredient to its full potential and utilize the entire idea of that plant, from the root all the way to the flower to the seed.
Every season, we want to make sure it's different than what we did last year. I've never wanted to be known for a specific dish, replicated every year, and very mundane. It's really that process of making sure it's unique but still keeping the integrity of the ingredient and making sure that we are not losing the guests by creating something so different that they have no idea what they're eating, but explore the creative side as well. I find inspiration through art, everyday life, my daughters, my family, my team at work.
What has been your most memorable moment at Ever?
I'm a huge music fan, right there beside cuisine. We had the pleasure of having Nine Inch Nails in the restaurant a few years ago at the end of [their] tour. My wife and I are such big fans that I've seen [them] live many times.
It's ironic how I relate music and food so passionately together. When I go to a concert, I'm not just listening for the music and watching the performance, but I'm watching the front man – how is he conducting, directing his band, his team. How precise they are.
Trent Reznor was so meticulous on everything, never a beat miss or a sound or a cue. When I brought that back to the team, I said, “the band is coming in. Everything is on a metronome. It has to be perfect.” For me, the meal was that too. We have to go at a pace to keep the right rhythm and tempo. There's no slowing down, no speeding up.
Ironically, at the end of the meal, he said to me how the timing was perfect. He said it was the highlight of his tour. For me personally, that's one of the pinnacles.
What did you learn from Charlie Trotter?
Charlie was one of my biggest influences in [both] personal and professional. I learned so much. Ingredients and the relationship with farmers. Because you have that relationship, the farmer wants to give you the best. Charlie had his pulse on everything that came in the back door, and [he was always] able to get sustainable products.
I was such a young kid in the kitchen at the time. I was so malleable. I was just in awe to be there. He forces you to think in a different way about getting better every day. It's really up to you to be better. Going out and speaking in front of the guests was forced upon you in a way that maybe you hated it at the time, but as time goes on, it's so important, and you're learning so much.
If you look at the lineage of chefs that come from that kitchen, he's built an incredible list of people.
Grant Achatz called your restaurant one of his favorites. What did you learn from him?
Grant is one of the most relentless, passion-driven chefs I've ever met. I've never met another chef with the work ethic that Grant has. In there before everybody else, leaves after everyone else.
Grant was that chef who encouraged and inspired creativity. Always thinking of ingredients in a different way. You look at one thing. He looks at it from eight different ways. He can also pull creativity out of other individuals. We could sit at the end of the night and talk about menu ideas and ingredient ideas, and you just start riffing. It's like how you make music. One guy starts playing a little bit, the other one starts jamming along, and next thing you know there's a harmony, and there's a song. You put it together, and there's your course, a little bit from everybody.
What advice would you give to newer chefs?
Commit. Commit to the idea of putting your head down for ten years and learning the craft. Everybody wants to move so quickly to be in charge, but they don't want to put the time in. And time is so important. Time is what allows us to hone our skills, to refine everything that we do every day, to make sure that everything is just a beautiful moment.
You’re known to be very calm. How do you stay calm?
For me, the greatest thing I can give my teammates is complete self composure. When we're in the middle of service, things are at the highest state, it is up to me as the leader to remain calm and guide the experience, but also guide my team, to make them feel comfortable so they can perform at their highest as well. Nothing should be able to faze me.
Tell us more about your upcoming book, Fireproof.
It is a complete dive into my entire life, from birth to current state. A lot of ins and outs. For Grace barely skimmed the surface. Fireproof was a no holds barred moment. I want to tell my life story, and I'm not sugar coating a thing. That's how raw it's going to be. It’s got highs and lows and everything in between. There's a lot of laughter in there. There's some sadness. But of course, whose life isn't like that?
Who would you invite to eat a Michelin Star meal?
I'd love to have my parents experience that. And obviously we can't do that, but if they were living, I would bring them to dinner immediately. I think they would certainly appreciate the craft, the hard work, the dedication to what I do. And I think they would be incredibly proud to have a meal of that caliber.
That was never their world. Food, cuisine, and sitting at a dinner table was never a consistent thing in my household. It was kind of fend for yourself. Maybe that's what pushed me into the food world. I was hungry all the time. Once I got into a restaurant, I was able to cook whatever I wanted to make.
I only had the opportunity to really cook for them one time, and I made penne all’Arrabbiata, that famous spicy tomato sauce. But cooking for them for the first time was a failure. It was exciting. I think they pretended to like it. Whether they did or not, I don't know.
What was it like earning MICHELIN Stars?
It was the pinnacle of my career. MICHELIN is the pinnacle of what we do. It is what we continue to strive for every day. Prior to MICHELIN coming to the U.S., it was always a dream as a young cook to travel to Europe and work for amazing chefs who had MICHELIN Stars.
It was never the idea of cooking to obtain awards. Most of us get into the business because we want to cook from within. It came from a survival time. I didn't know how to cook or eat. I was eating tortillas with butter for a meal when I was 13 years old.
Achieving that MICHELIN Star for the first time at Avenues was so overwhelming. Sometimes I still think about that and feel like I'm not worthy of it. How could I possibly do this, knowing where I came from? But I know I've put in a tremendous amount of work to achieve what I have.
It's so emotional for me, even talking about it right now.
Nowadays, what’s your dream?
I'd love to see my staff go on and create their own restaurants. It's not so much about me anymore. I'm at an age now where I want to continue mentoring younger chefs to get them where they want to be. They have dreams, just as I did when I was growing up. My dreams are to allow them to come up within and build restaurants with them and watch them flourish.
I'm so proud of Chef Dan Bark in Bangkok, who's achieved a MICHELIN Star. He's one of the first guys I ever hired, and one of the first guys I wanted to fire. But one day, it just clicked with him.
Those are the things that are inspiring to me today, making me proud and happy. We've always said, “when you leave here, I hope you leave better than you were here, and that you go on to do something great.” I hate seeing that somebody would just settle on something less than what I know they're capable of.
Hero image: Michael Muser / Chef Curtis Duffy
