As I mentioned previously, Ilyssa and I had made a last minute decision to go to Chicago, so I did not have the luxury of booking reservations at Alinea two months in advance to guarantee myself a table at the 7th best restaurant in the world. And when I called Alinea to book a reservation, they were…booked. A few days later I called just to see if there were any openings, and fortunately for us we were able to secure a 9:00 reservation on Sunday night. I was elated. I wonder if the reservationist is used to such breathless excitement when a guest gets upgraded from the waitlist.
First things first, I decided that I would not bring my camera to Alinea for a variety of reasons. The first reason is that Grant Achatz was interviewed in an article back in May about all of the photography that goes on in his restaurant. He wants his guests to focus on the food, and not worry about getting the right picture while the food gets cold. Second, if I am going to spend that much money on dinner, I want to enjoy it, and not worry about how I am going to write a course by course description for EatMore Drinkmore (sorry readers). Lastly, I was ninety percent sure that the majority of diners at Alinea have their own food blog, so I knew getting the pictures I wanted wouldn’t be a problem. I was very happy to receive permission from a great blog The Nordic Nibler to post some of their photos on my review. We were seated in the downstairs dining room and we were the only table that did not have a camera or a camera phone out the entire evening. Cell phone pictures really can’t capture the beauty of the food at Alinea.
If you are not familiar with Alinea, the chef, Grant Achatz opened the restaurant after working under Thomas Keller at the French Laundry for a number of years. It received the Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in North America Award, and I would expect it to receive 3 stars from Michelin when their Chicago Guide is released in November. Needless to say, our expectations were very high, and our meal surpassed all of our expectations.
When you enter Alinea it is a little bit like going down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. How cool is that entrance? The mood is set as soon as you walk in the front door that you are about to experience something incredible.
We arrived a bit early, and as soon as we arrived they offered us a tour of the kitchen. It’s as if they read my mind. The kitchen was very quiet and very clean. I can’t imagine making dishes this complex without creating a huge mess. I am fully incapable of making anything that doesn’t fill up the sink with dirty dishes.
I am not going to do a course by course description of the meal, it was 20 courses and I really just wanted to enjoy each dish and not dissect each and every component. Each course was a wonderful surprise. We avoided looking at the tables that were farther along in their tasting menu so we wouldn’t see our next course in advance. We did enjoy watching tables that were behind us in the progression of courses to see their reaction to each stage of the meal.
As soon as we sat down, two flags were placed on our table. We were instructed not to touch them and that we would need them later in the meal. Ilyssa and I just stared at them for a bit and tried to figure out what we would would possibly use them for.
I can’t even imagine the amount of work that goes into making each course at Alinea. I have an enormous amount of respect for Carol Blymire who is cooking her way through the Alinea Cookbook. I love to cook and have no problems spending the day in the kitchen, but some of these courses, I had absolutely no clue how they came together.
A few of my absolute favorite courses are below:
I had heard about this dish and I specifically requested that it be on our tasting menu when we arrived. To enjoy the dish, you pull the pin through the paraffin wax dish which drops a hot potato and truffle into a cold potato soup. Our server informed us that people have started stealing souvenirs from their meals at Alinea. I am not sure what you would do with a paraffin cup and little pin at home, but if you really want their custom serving ware you can purchase it here. If I made something this delicious, I don’t think I would have the patience to thread it onto a needle before I consumed it. I would down 10 of these like Irish Car Bombs given the opportunity.
This dish is called Black Truffle Explosion. Our waiter informed us to eat this ravioli in one bite and make sure that we keep our mouth closed. As soon as you bite into the ravioli and explosion of truffle broth covers the inside of your mouth. It was heaven. If I could have one bite of food before I die, I think it would be this ravioli, a close second would be the Komi stuffed date.
Remember that flag from earlier? It is used as a spring roll wrapper later in the meal. Our spring roll was filled with Berkshire pork and half a dozen condiments to place inside the spring roll. The picture above has black cod, but you get the idea.
This dessert was flat out ridiculous. It was a play on the flavors in earl grey tea. This dish is brought to the table on a pillow that has been filled with air with the scent of tea. As the plate weighs down the pillow which spreads the aroma of of Earl Grey Tea as you are enjoying the dish.
Our final dessert was done table side. A silicone mat was placed over our table and the pastry chef came out and used our table as his canvas. It’s hard for me to describe how absolutely incredible this dessert is. Check out the video below to see this dessert.
I know this has not been the most detailed review, but I really just wanted to enjoy this meal with my wife and appreciate it for what it is. It is a once in a lifetime experience to dine at Alinea. I’ve done it and I enjoyed every minute of it. A meal at Alinea is not a short affair, our reservation started at 9:00 and we did not finish until after 12:30. We seemed to be the only people that did not get the wine pairing. We had an early flight the next morning, and I am fairly confident we would have missed the flight had we gone with the pairing. A nice bottle of champagne was a great compliment to our meal.
Alinea
1723 N Halsted St
Chicago, Illinois 60614
(312) 867-0110
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Nice review, Chad. A meal at Alinea is indeed such a special event, and I totally agree with you on your Michelin prediction. That’s funny about people taking souvenirs with then – I saw on Grant Achatz’s Twitter feed that someone tried to take the glass tube from the bubble gum tapioca dessert. Just Bizarre!