Alinea
Sep 14, 2009
Reasons Why Alinea (Chicago, IL) is Cool:
- MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY.
- Chef Grant Achatz was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2008 and subsequently lost his sense of taste as a result of chemotherapy and radiation.
- It is currently the #10 Restaurant in the World.
- Chef Grant Achatz studied under Thomas Keller at the age of 23.
- The readily apparent focus on the play between flavors and textures.
- I MEAN, LOOK AT IT:
Steelhead Roe – with traditional garnishes, including creme fraiche and “bread and butter” in the form of foam.
Pork Belly – with compressed iceberg lettuce, cucumber, micro cilantro, coriander seeds, and a “thai distillation” shot (background) to prep the palate.
Lilac - with scallop, mussels, razor clams, celery leaves, and honeydew foam.
Wagyu Beef – with powdered A-1, fried potato custard covered with crushed salt & pepper chips and micro chives.
The chef tried to recreate the flavors of A-1, but with natural ingredients and in powder form.
A broth was poured into “functional centerpiece” to create the aroma of a grill. And also to make our table look awesome.
Heirloom Tomato – with fig, nicoise olive, pine nut cheese, and olive oil snow (THAT WHITE THING IS OLIVE OIL).
Bacon - wrapped with butterscotch, apple, and thyme.
Lavender air filled pillow.
Rhubarb - with goats milk cheesecake, vidalia onion, and lavender air (COMING FROM THE PILLOW).
These weren’t all the courses from the tasting menu, but gives you a pretty good sense of our dining experience. An “experience” was exactly what it was – you can’t even call it a mere “meal.” Anyways, I wish the photos turned out better (or that there was better lighting/I had a faster lens/I wasn’t so hungry) because the food was truly beautiful. Not to take away from the TASTE of the food, of course, b/c MAN DID YOU SEE THE MARBLING ON THAT WAGYU.
