Nick Kokonas is the co-owner and developer of the renowned restaurants Alinea, Next, The Aviary, and Roister. 

As an outsider to the restaurant business Nick's approach has been markedly innovative.  He has pioneered the use of alternative booking solutions and is the founder and CEO of Tock, a software company now in use by restaurants in 7 countries.  Nick has been featured in dozens of publications including the WSJ, NYT, Businessweek, Fast Company, GQ, and others.  

Prior to building Alinea with chef Grant Achatz in 2005 Nick spent a decade as a proprietary derivatives trader.  He studied the philosophy of language and logic in college.  He lives in Chicago with his wife and two sons.