The Chicago Tribune said Achatz, 34, told the crowd at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall he believes the lessons he learned working as an apprentice at the French Laundry in California's Napa Valley helped him win his battle with oral cancer, the treatment for which has left him temporarily unable to taste.

"What struck me about the restaurant was the push, the drive," he said at Sunday's Beard Awards ceremony where he was named Outstanding Chef. "I had never experienced that before. I pulled that in and thought it would make me a great chef. What I didn't know is that tenacity, that drive that I took in would save my life."

Named for famed gourmet James Beard, the Beard Awards are considered the highest honors in the food and restaurant world, the Tribune noted.