Michael Carlson

Michael Carlson (born June 5, 1974) is a chef and restaurateur from Chicago, Illinois.

After dropping out of culinary school, Carlson got his start in the industry working under Paul Bartolotta.

From there he studied abroad in Italy under Valentino Marcattilii, and in England under Heston Blumenthal.

Carlson says he learned more from American chef Grant Achatz than anyone else.

Michael Carlson was born June 5, 1974, in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in the Chicago suburbs of Glen Ellyn and Lombard.

The son of a financial planner father, Stan, and dental hygienist mother, Carlson describes his childhood as "normal".

His parents divorced and his father served as a colonel in the US army reserves during the Gulf War.

As a result, he briefly lived with his older brother during his teens.

Carlson says he is not sure when he first became interested in food, although his mother ascribes his interest to watching Julia Child as a young boy.

He does, however, remember his first encounter with gourmet cooking.

At age 12, while staying at a fancy hotel in Quebec, he had duck with blueberries at the hotel's restaurant.

He got his first professional cooking experience while working a local bar during college.

In 1998, after completing college Carlson enrolled at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC) and got chef's position at Spiaggia under Paul Bartolotta.

He quit CHIC after one semester, due in part to an instructor who began a pasta-making class by demonstrating the proper way to open a box.

Bartolotta, however, saw promise in Carlson and arranged for him to study under Valentino Marcattilii at San Domenico in Italy.

While in Italy, Carlson staged at more than fifteen different restaurants.

Carlson describes the experience as a turning point in his career.

"It was the first time I really thought about food," he explains.

Upon returning to the states, Carlson became Grant Achatz's first hire at Trio.

Carlson stayed at Trio for about 18 months, before moving to England to train under Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck.

Carlson later described Achatz as the best chef he ever worked for and said he learned more under Achatz than he did in four years elsewhere.

He enjoyed the job at Trio so much that he went in to work on his days off, despite only earning $20,000 a year.

Carlson returned to Chicago and was offered the sous-chef position at Achatz's Alinea that was about to open.

He was planning on accepting the position, but before the restaurant opened he bumped into an old friend.

As it happened, the friend owned a small restaurant named Lovitt, which he was planning on closing in order to move out of state.

Carlson fell in love with the space, and worked at Lovitt for several months before it closed, learning the business end of being a chef.

In late 2005 Carlson opened his first restaurant – Schwa – in Chicago.

He quickly earned a positive reputation and Food & Wine magazine named him one of 2006's top new chefs.

In 2007, Carlson was asked to host a gathering of world-famous chefs including Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Pierre Hermé for Charlie Trotter's 20th anniversary celebration.

The night went well, but put a severe strain on Carlson.

He abruptly closed Schwa the next morning, and left the industry for four months before re-opening Schwa in February 2008.

Carlson is known for his "unstressed" approach to food, creating simple dishes from unconventional ingredients.

He is known as a perfectionist who does not like standing still professionally.

One food critic described Carlson as "culinary maverick ... whose choices often [fly] in the face of fine-dining expectations."

Despite Carlson's culinary skill, Schwa has struggled to remain afloat.

Friends have attributed this to a complete lack of business acumen on Carlson's part, as well as his general lack of interest in material possessions.

He has said he would rather cook and run his business the way he wants than make money.

Outsiders view Carlson as an inconsiderate recluse, but co-workers describe him as a kind and generous person.

Carlson is known for his casual demeanor and conversation.

He lives with his girlfriend, Rachel Brown, and his two-year-old daughter, Lily, in Logan Square.