Alphonse Griger

About Alphonse Griger

For many people in the Culinary Industry, their passion began with a simple flip of a pancake or crack of the egg into a hot pan as a child. For me though, it was shoveling that piping hot food into my mouth and enjoying every last drop of love that went into its creation. After finding out that my goals of entering the science field were not going as planned, I decided to follow my mothers\' words and try cooking for a living. This simple choice led to the combination of the two things in life I love most, Science and Food!As the saying goes \"If you\'re doing what you love, you\'ll never work a day in your life\", I couldn\'t find this statement to be any truer. As I continually work towards learning new concepts, techniques, cultures, trends, and more, my desire to obtain the next new chunk of knowledge grows stronger.Through my years of experience, I\'ve been involved in leadership projects, creative concepts, fine dining, QSR service, event production, and ideation collaborations to name a few. Though my years of experience are short, the amount of information I\'ve collected from the different fields I\'ve touched has grown my knowledge base to allow me to adapt and overcome most situations I\'m thrown into. The out of the box thinking I provide wherever I go has allowed others to rethink generic concepts while also bringing them together to form closer bonds within teams.Outside of work, I pursue many activities to keep my brain continually moving. Things such as frequent visits to museums, art festivals, music events, food tastings, athletic outings, which all play a role in my progressive attitude towards others and a positive outlook on life. If I\'m not doing any of these things, you can probably catch me munching down on something sweet, I\'ve got a big sweet tooth!

Experience

1. Director of Research and Development

   Class Act Nightcap

   Jun 2025 — Present · Chicago, IL, US

   Research and Innovation: Collaborate with the Chef to research, test, and determine which advanced orcutting-edge culinary techniques are appropriate for Class Act’s menu and culinary direction. Culinary R&D Procedures: Develop and document standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all culinary researchand development (R&D), ensuring a streamlined and efficient process for experimentation. Recipe Development: Continuously improve existing recipes and develop new, exciting dishes that align with therestaurant’s vision, ensuring both creativity and consistency. Track Culinary Experiments: Create, organize, and track all culinary experiments, maintaining a record of resultsand adjustments to ensure future success and reference. Present New Ideas: Regularly present new culinary ideas to the team, including techniques, ingredients, and dishconcepts, fostering a culture of creativity and innovation. Team Education: Help teach and train the kitchen team on new recipes, dishes, techniques, and concepts,ensuring that everyone is aligned and can execute the vision seamlessly. Assisting in Prep: Assist in daily prep work for service, ensuring that ingredients are properly prepared and thatthe kitchen is ready for efficient execution. Second-in-Command During Service: Cook and oversee operations as the Chef’s second in command duringservice, ensuring that dishes are executed to the highest standard and service runs smoothly. Team Management: Help manage the kitchen team during the creation of new menus, prep work, and service,ensuring that the team remains organized, motivated, and focused on delivering excellence. Problem Solving: Work closely with the Chef and the kitchen team to quickly address any challenges during prep,service, or menu creation, ensuring that solutions are found and things get done efficiently.

Education

• Johnson & Wales University

  Bachelor's of Science, Culinary Nutrition, Culinary Science/Culinology

  2016 — 2019