367 replies to this topic

[tenor15]

An evening dining with Lady T is always an edu-tainment. Therefore, count me in!
We might be able to drag along a buddy of ours too

[Lady T]

Aaiiieeeee, the expectations!



All right, all right: I love it.

[tan319]

I just speechless - I can't believe that Chicago - where I grew up - is ready for this kind of cuisine - very cool.

Chiacgo has been privy to this cuisine for over two years.

It is called Trio and it is in Evanston.

Seems like alot of influence on Motos menu came from Chef Achatz.

Just a thought.

Klinger:

How are you?

OK, I feel the need to comment on this now while it is still in it's early stages. I have said this before, when people commit to work outside of the box they unintentionally enter a smaller box. I assure you Moto's cuisine is as original as Trio, as the Fat Duck, as Veyrat, as Gagnaire and so on. So chef Cantu has attached rosemary to silverware, does the intentional olfactory sensation become a link to Trio's lobster with rosemary vapor. NO. When something is new it is scrutinized, analyzed, and deconstructed. People will find the common demoninators where they want. They will try to imobilize the movement. They will corrupt the style to the point where they disable themselves from enjoying a wonderful meal because they overthink it. Please, go to Moto, come to Trio, these are restaurants that are taking risks, introducing a style of cuisine new to this country. We should all be happy that Chicago is now leading the country in culinary innovation.

Chefg,
what a classy post.
Inventolux and Hobbes,
best wishes and the best of luck.
If I get to chicago, I'm there!

[inventolux]

..........This is going to be fun.

This it what its all about. It continues to be the main focus at moto, as the old saying goes.........do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.

Are we fine dining? Yes, however I feel the days of strict dress codes are fading. If im about to drop 350.00 for two I want to wear anything I want. Are we globally influenced? Sometimes. Are we pushing the envelope? NO, but that day is coming.
All we can do is continue to explore our imaginations, when reached that limit then the envelope will begin to stretch. That has to be our focus.

Klinger, sorry you feel that way, im sure you will change your mind if you come in for dinner. The new shift in gastronomy is gaining speed, nothing can stop it from catching up with technology at this point.

Gotta go, fun is calling.

Edited by inventolux, 17 February 2004 - 08:48 AM.

[cbarre02]

What do you hope for, for the future of moto? What do you think that it can bring to the rest of the culinary world? I see alot of promise in the work that is being done here... I wish nothing but the best for you.

Just wondering.... places that are moving forward in food seem to still depend on classic wine service. Now I love wine, and everything that it stands for, but will we see some thing differnt offered here?

Edited by cbarre02, 17 February 2004 - 10:01 PM.

[inventolux]

We will not offer a wine list per say, just wine progressions. Every tasting menu will have a new world and old world pairing offered with it. We feel the best way (and the only way) to experience moto is to allow us to set the parameters for wine and food pairing. A wine list would be futile when exploring this type of gastronomy, so we have decided to minimalize it altogether. It just makes sense from a financial and creative standpoint.

As far as the future of moto..................
as long as every new team member is totally commited to forgetting their past experiences and retaining only a high level of attention to detail, moto will carry forth in an acceptable fashion. Idiscourage all of the cooks from reading cook books and only focusing on knowledge of ingredients. Techniques are things we can invent and reinvent.

Thank you for your kind words, it means a lot.

"Omar"

[cbarre02]

So it's been a little over a month... I hate to ask, but how are things going?

Best of luck!

[Mark Sommelier]

We will not offer a wine list per say, just wine progressions. Every tasting menu will have a new world and old world pairing offered with it. We feel the best way (and the only way) to experience moto is to allow us to set the parameters for wine and food pairing. A wine list would be futile when exploring this type of gastronomy, so we have decided to minimalize it altogether. It just makes sense from a financial and creative standpoint.

As a sommelier, this is a very interesting statement to me. Rather than minimalize the winelist, why not focus it? It doesn't have to be loaded with big, oaky and buttery chardonnays, (ick) pinot grigios, sweet shiraz and monster cal-cabs. I would be interested to see a listing of your wine pairings. Is it listed on your website, yet? When people go out to spend a lot of money on a memorable dinner, the NEED a winelist. Focus your list on things that compliment your food. You pick the parameters. Buy wines in all the price categories. You'll be surprised.

Edited by Mark Sommelier, 24 February 2004 - 09:59 PM.

[nightscotsman]

We will not offer a wine list per say, just wine progressions. Every tasting menu will have a new world and old world pairing offered with it. We feel the best way (and the only way) to experience moto is to allow us to set the parameters for wine and food pairing. A wine list would be futile when exploring this type of gastronomy, so we have decided to minimalize it altogether. It just makes sense from a financial and creative standpoint.

As a sommelier, this is a very interesting statement to me. Rather than minimalize the winelist, why not focus it? It doesn't have to be loaded with big, oaky and buttery chardonnays, (ick) pinot grigios, sweet shiraz and monster cal-cabs. I would be interested to see a listing of your wine pairings. Is it listed on your website, yet? When people go out to spend a lot of money on a memorable dinner, the NEED a winelist. Focus your list on things that compliment your food. You pick the parameters. Buy wines in all the price categories. You'll be surprised.

Normally I would agree that offering customers a choice in styles and prices can only be a good thing, but having just dined at Moto last night (don't worry, I'll get a review up soon), I have to say that the wine pairings were so brilliant and unexpected that it would be counterproductive to present a wine list. The food and wine worked so well together that it really was a "sum is greater than its parts" experience. Unless I was supremely well versed in a huge range of wine styles and vintages (which I'm certainly not), as well as knowing what I was going to be served based on the rather coy menu descriptions, there is no possible way I could have come close to making choices from a list that worked, let alone enhanced the cuisine.

[yellow truffle]

Ok here goes my first real post. Hopefully not too long or boring.

My friends and I dined at Moto last Friday, the following are my first impressions.


Ambience.
Moto's exterior facade does not present itself as a restaurant, where you can see the diners (unless you put your nose to the glass and focus to the rear) or have any description to what the establishment does. One may interpret it as a bar, nightclub, or even a gallery. I thought it is was a bar that would turn into a club atmosphere as the evening progressed.

Upon entering, there are a few small tables, perhaps for reservation-waiting customers. The main dining room is an extension of the waiting space at twice its depth. Room is dark and invites a change of moods from the waiting space. Transitioning through brightly lit waiting space, into the dimly lit dining area, allowed us to relax and prepare ourselves for 'the experience.' This is a nice detail.

The staff, dressed similarly in black, Dr. Evil-esque tops, matched the minimal esthetic to the interior, with its tall beige colored fabric booths and dark walnut venered table tops. The lighting is even throughout the dining area. IMHO, I had wished there to be a series of small/minimal pendant downlights that would accent the dishes. The music selection was varied. Not necessarily techno, more hip tunes that range in beats per minutes. The music was at a comfortable level and did not distract from the dining experience.


Food.
We had the ten course and brought our own wine, not knowing that they had just gotten their liquor license. Generally speaking, the food preparation and presentation is expressive of the chef's other interests (read the Tribune article, see below). I want to focus on my two favorites, the amusing "flat" ware with toro and the pacific bass baked tableside.

The amusing "flat" ware with toro, was a great introduction to "the experience." Flatware it was not. Imagine a long metal rod, pounded out at one end to represent the shape of a spoon and then curly-qued at the base of the to act as a handle with depth. The ingenious part is that a sprig of lavender was inserted into the spring-like coil of the "flat" ware. By default of function, you are forced to use your sense of taste and smell at the same time to experience two different ingredients separately. This reminds me of the chefg's rosemary bath/spa/vapor at Trio.

Earlier in a previous post "Moto Restaurant", people have been writing about 'herbacious utensils.' I wonder if this is the same as the 'amusing flatware?' If so, I like the sound of herbacious utensils, better. It has a higher hippness factor than amusing flatware, that goes with the overall aesthetic. The chef has taken great care to create these innovative dishes, with (sometimes) custom made vessels, why not continue the fun and play with the name of items on the menu.

The toro reminded me of Bobby Flay rubbing his special spices on the Kobe beef in an Iron Chef battle with Morimotto in Japan. Everyone gasped at Flay for introducing other flavors to such an incredible ingredient. I was feeling the same way when I heard that there would lavender introduced to the dish. But since fresh fish should not have a strong aroma, the slight and uplifting smell of the lavender made (IMHO) a perfect pairing. The toro was a melt in your mouth experience. The texture was creamy, almost like soft cheese that would melt with the heat of the mouth. It was not as sweet as I thought toro to be. I understand there to be three types of toro. I do not know where this one fits into. Have not had enough toro to know.

The pacific bass baked tableside was fun. We received the dish a course before we were to taste it. It sat tableside in a soft acrylic rectilinear box with boiling water at the base, a screen to hold the fish 2 inches above and a cavernous top to move the heat around. One would expect there to be an abundant collection of water droplets along the insides of the box, not allowing you to see the ingredient, but there was only a minimal amount. Almost like a bamboo steamer that collects some of the water, perhaps this box does not allow the act of condensation. I assume the box was preheated and because it has some weight, can hold temperature longer. Nice detail. Somebody was paying attention in science class.

Ohh, and the bass. Perfect texture, wonderful color, flaked in exacting pieces and full of flavor. The bass was another melt in your mouth experience. I am going to be experimenting this technique at home.


Complaints.
Not all the dishes were on the same level as that of the toro and bass. Some a little better, some a little worse. I wish that I could tell you more about the other dishes, but I dont want to spoil the fun and your experience (read: I have to get back to work). My only real complaint is that we did the 10 course and not the 18. And would have allowed for the wine pairing.


Overall.
I am amazed at the attention to detail that goes into the experience of the dishes. There is an awakening of multiple senses as one goes through each item. The chef is really having fun in creating, experimenting, presenting, naming his works. I hope that my next experience will be completely different.

Yeah, I would go back. This man respects ingredients and uses minimal, but prime, seasonings. I thought, it's so simple we can all do this at home. Yeah right. This reminds me of Nobu. In his cookbook, he states that even if you were to follow his recipes exactly, Nobu is quite sure that you would never be able to perfectly recreate the same flavors and textures that he makes. "For I always put something special in my food, my heart, or kokoro as we say in Japanese..."

Other notes.
I found out from our sever, that we missed chefg (Grant Achatz) by a couple of days. I would have paid money to hear those two talk (ohh wait, that's egullet is all about). I noticed that they are both under 30. I wonder if this has anything to do with their desire to think outside the box. The origin of the name Moto interests me. Can anyone chime in on this. I wonder what this means in other languages/cultures. And what does the Kanji character (on the website) mean. For more reading, check out this Triune article:

Science-minded Moto chef is willing to experiment

Side bar.
I called Moto to verify the menu I had a couple of days before. I spoke with a gentleman who was unable to help me. He insisted that he transfer me to the Chef. At that moment, thoughts of Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential raced across my mind. Where Bourdain gets a call from a purveyor during lunch trying to sell him something. Bourdain lets him rattle on until he puts him in check and unloads to the guy. On hold, I was about to hang up for fear that the same might happen to me, but of course I had waited to long. I got the Chef. I had asked him a couple of questions about the menu items, and he relayed the information in as much detail as needed. This was much more than what I had expected. In fact, if I did not call at 4:30 on a Thursday, he would have told great stories about each of the items on the menu. So thanx for your time Chef.

[yellow truffle]

Chicago Tribune article from Friday February 20.

Science-minded Moto chef is willing to experiment

[maggiethecat]

Welcome to eGullet, yellow truffle, and thanks for your review, and the link. I'm charmed by the inventive hardware and the attention to detail you encountered.

[Alex]

Thanks for the report, yt, and welcome to eGullet. Could you possibly post a link to Moto's web site; it appears to be eluding Google. I wonder if the kanji on the web site is moto.

[Lyle]

http://www.motorestaurant.com/

[yellow truffle]

I wonder if the kanji on the web site is moto.

Alex
I took a look at the link you provided. Was not the one. But I did attach an image. Any thoughts to the character.

[chengb02]

not sure if its meant as a kangji or not, but in Chinese, the character is "yi" and means something like meaning/idea or hint/suggestion...This month's Chicago mag has an article about Moto that made me very interested, I'm looking forward to a visit soon.

[chefseanbrock]

had dinner at moto on tuesday night............19 courses, i took pictures and will post them along with a review as soon as i get a chance.............amazing restaurant!!!!!!!!!!

[tan319]

I just read a blurb about MOTO in the new Food Arts.
Looking good and congrats!

[herbacidal]

I just read a blurb about MOTO in the new Food Arts.
Looking good and congrats!

Hey, you beat me to it!

Anyway, congrats yet again, Senor Cantu.

[nightscotsman]

Last Monday was my birthday (thanks - I'm 40. yay.), and following my own personal tradition I booked a table for one at the restaurant of my choice. This year, the choice was the new Chicago restaurant Moto, helmed by head chef Homaro Cantu (eGullet member inventolux). Also on his kitchen staff is eGullet member and Chicago potluck favorite Hobbes.

Approaching the address given on Moto's web site, I was beginning to wonder if there had been a typo - the neighborhood is gritty industrial warehouses with big trucks and semis blocking many of the sidewalks. But then here is this clean little storefront hacked out of the raw urban wilderness. And coming inside everything is calm modern minimalism and chic all-black clad staff (including what look like lab coats in black). In fact the space is so minimal that you find yourself wishing for just a bit of artwork on the walls, but then the food starts coming and you forget all about pictures.

The current menu offers four tasting menus of five, seven, ten, and nineteen courses ranging in price from $50 to $160. Each menu also has a wine progression option for an additional charge from $30 to $65. There is no separate wine list, which is fine with me since there is no way I could have hoped to pick better matches with the dishes that were about to appear. I would even go so far as to say the the wine progressions are an essential part of the Moto dining experience. A complimentary glass of a lovely proseco was poured to enjoy while I'm studying the menu. It's a tough choice, but given my temporary financial situation I go for the seven course - the nineteen course will have to wait for a time when I'm feeling a bit richer.

(Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, but I didn't want to be rude and use a flash in the restaurant.)



Toro, Sturgeon Caviar, 11:45am Live Uni & a Utensil Study
NV Herbert Beaufort Bouzy grand cru, Champaigne, France
As you can see, the custom made spoons are an integral part of this dish. Inside the spiral handles are sprigs of fresh thyme that you smell as you eat the toro tuna, sea urchin (alive until 11:45 that day) and caviar. Magnets on each end of the little posts they are resting on keep them attached to the plate. The flavors here were very subtle and clean, but the mouth-feel is pure silken luxury. The champaigne had a strong yeasty, buttery finish - almost like drinking brioche. It beautifully enhanced and complimented the tuna and uni.



Candy, Hot Gelled Hash & Slurpee with a Special Ingredient
2000 Cuilleron Marsanne, Rhone, France
This dish was a study in fennel - the candy in the lower left was chewy sweet fennel with an edible wrapper, on the right is a baby green salad with fennel gellee cubes and fennel puree, and top left is a fennel soup slushy with a Slurpee® straw direct from 7-11. The strong anise and sweet and sour flavors going on here had to have been a nightmare to pair a wine with, but the Cuilleron Marsanne was simply amazing. In combination with the fennel the alcohol in the wine was completely suppressed and the herbal notes accentuated - specifically a strong dill flavor. Surprising and delicious.



Sashimiesque Plate
I was given an extra pour of wine with this dish, but I'm afraid I don't remember what it was. Anyway, as you can see there are three portions of fish on the plate - lightly seared tuna, raw scallop, and raw salmon, each with it's own light sauce - along with a small cup of wasabi soda. The seafood was fresh and perfect with the light glaze of sauce just enough to enhance without overpowering, and the soda was sweet, but the fish was rich enough to stand up to the sweetness.



Inside Out Duck Roll
1998 Domaine Lorentz "Rotenburg" Gewurtztraminer, Alsace, France
Here we have three portions of duck, each with a puree of duck skin, duck confit, and duck breast cook sous vide. On top is a crispy fried wonton tube with a sweet and mildly spicy liquid sauce inside. You are instructed to break the wonton and pour the sauce over the duck. A fun presentation and simply delicious. The flavors of the duck were deep and rich with the light, sweet sauce refreshing, and the play of textures from smooth to tender to slightly chewy was very nice.



Before the next course was served, the waiter placed this translucent plastic cube on my table. He explained that the fish inside would cook slowly from the heated liquid in the bottom of the cube and would be perfect by the time I had finished the next course.



Citrus & Togarashi
This was a light pallet cleanser consisting of a citrus emulsion, and citrus ice with a sprinkling of praline underneath. The waiter also used a stainless steel spray bottle to mist a bit of Japanese pepper liquid over the top. Very refreshing, nice textures and a little kick of spice at the end from the spray. A charming dish.



Pacific Bass Baked Tableside
2002 Cusumano, "Angimbre" Sicily, Italy
Now the plate for the fish that had been cooking in the cube was brought out with a bit of what looked like soba noodles, but turned out to be seaweed with a light sweet and sour sauce and a sprinkling of powdered nori. The cube was opened and the waiter used a spatula to transfer the sea bass to the plate. OK, so I know it looks like the whole cube thing could be just a gimmick, but this fish was simply amazing. It was cooked through, but the texture was silky smooth and fragile, melting in my mouth. The bass was also expertly seasoned and perfect with the seaweed and sauce. Did I say it was amazing?



Poached Pork with Curry
1999 W.H. Smith Wines "Hellenthal Vineyard" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
Mmmm... pork belly. On the left is a small dish of "beans and rice": wild rice and firm beans (runner beans?) in a thickly flavored cream sauce with a pyramid of bean ice cream. On the right is the meltingly tender pork belly topped with a piece of deep fried pork skin and surrounded by dots of lightly flavored curry sauce. Three words - rich, rich, rich. Deep, full bodied flavors that coat your mouth with unctuousness. In fact, this dish might have been just a little too much of a good thing as I was starting feel a bit full at this point.



Triple Seared Beef & a Sapporo Head
1997 Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy
I'm not sure exactly what cut of beef this was, but it was treated like a beef sashimi with a darkly seared crust outside and extremely rare, basically raw inside. It was served on top of a richly flavored "wonton puree" and the waiter added a scoop of Sapporo beer foam at the table. Very nice.



Chocolate Rice Pudding Made Your Way
2002 Marenco Moscato d'Asti, Piedmont, Italy
On the right is a dish of puffed jasmine rice with toasted house-made marshmallows and mint micro greens, and on the left is a cup of rich hot chocolate. The idea is to pour the chocolate over the rice however you wish to create a rice pudding, or you can choose to eat the two sides separately. This I think was the least successful dish of the evening. All of the components were fine and tasty, but combining them didn't really add up to more than the some of their parts. A fun idea, but not very satisfying to eat.



Mignardises and Moto To Go
On the left is an intensely flavored pineapple chip, in the middle is a spoonful of rich and luxurious white truffle ice cream (more, please!), and underneath is the take-away - a sealed plastic pouch containing two separate liquids that when combined are supposed to make a chocolate/honey/anise soda. The flavors of the drink were really good, but it was a bit overly sweet and didn't really have much of a soda-type fizz. It was fun to play mad scientist at home, but the results where underwhelming.

Chef Homaro was kind enough to invite me downstairs to the lab - I mean kitchen to meet the crew and see the goings on. He showed me some of the stuff they are working on for future menus and talked about plans for more inventions that are really going to blow some minds. I think some of it may actually be alien technology - do Scully and Mulder know about this place?

Obviously everyone is going to be comparing the direction of Moto with what's going on at Trio, since both chefs are clearly into challenging expectations, pushing the envelope, and using technology to bring new experiences to the diner. I think the biggest difference is Moto's strong Japanese influence in ingredients and flavors, but their presentations also tend to be a little simpler, which you could also see as part of the Japanese tradition. The meals I've had at both places are certainly a couple of the most memorable and exciting.

I wish chef Homaro all the luck in the world on his new adventure and I look forward to seeing his cuisine develop and grow in new directions in the future.

[yellow truffle]

Great post nightscotsman. Love the images. Within two weeks when I was last there, they have changed the presentation.

You will be missed.
Good luck.

[niterider]

I had an excellent meal at moto (3rd times the charm). Everything was awesome. Service, atomsphere and the kitchen team were kind enough to invite me back as a guest chef - thank you chef Cantu. Just wanted to mention that the restaurant is getting tons of press, just this past sunday the tribune wrote an interesting article available here . I also saw them in aprils elle magazine and I hear they may be on WGN next wednesday in the morning for a live cooking demonstration, however I could be mistaken.

Edited by niterider, 24 March 2004 - 11:31 AM.

[tan319]

Great article about a great guy.
Congrats!!!

[Suzi Edwards]

i really couldn't resist and despite being pretty jet lagged, i ate the tasting menu at moto on monday. the restaurant is pretty stark, no art on the walls to intrigue me or keep me from the powerpoint presentation i was writing :-)

i like to eat the tasting menu when i first go to a restaurant but i really wasn't sure I'd be up to it, but i thought of egullet and bit the bullet. i decided against the paired wines and instead had a couple of glasses of herbert beaufort bouzy grand cru champagne, which was fantastic and saw me through the meal very well.

i think the menu i left with was slightly different to the meal i ate, but i'm happy with that as it means you're eating food that's evolving while you're in the restaurant. this is especially important with the food at moto. having met homaro afterwards it's clear that he's having a blast and i'm really glad that i've eaten here at the beginning of the resturant's life as he is capable of producing some stellar food. the menu is reproduced almost in full here in bold, i havn't commented on all of the dishes.

two things to start that weren't on the menu, toro with caviar and a "palate cleanser" didn't do what it said on the box. two pipettes, one with chili and eucalyptus, the other with cilantro and scallions (i think). this seems to be a new preparation for them and chef showed me after how they're going to change the presentation slightly so the oil isn't at the bottom of the pipette as all i really got was an oily mouthful. not a auspicious start...but it got much better.

raw "smoked" watermelon soup & virtual smoke saw a motorised smoke box placed on the table what wafted some applechip smoke over the plate of watermelon soup with a creamy and zingy mango puree. the presentation of this dish reminded of a wylie dufresne dish i ate last year.

fennel phase one

salmon, hamachi and black young coconut soda

peeky toe crab and caramelised burdock a very simple preparation of almost soupy crab just sauteed and served with a whole soft shell crab to garnish.

caramelised cucumber sorbet and soup this was the first really amazing thing for me. the cucumber sorbet had been encased in a sugar "window" that shattered as you ate. the cucumber flavour in the soup and sorbet was killer, this would have been a better palate cleanser.

a duck roll pulled apart this upped the wow factor even more. in fact, i was excited when i was pulling the wonton apart that i managed to spill it all down my white tshirt. undeterred i poured the rest of the sweetly soyish sauce over the pile of confit duck, sliced duck breast and duck skin. it's a study of what you can do with duck and each flavour and texture really sang out. stunning.

citrus and togarashi again, great. nightscotsman said everything i want to say about this.

four story hill veal with beans and rice the veal was small nugget cooked sous vide and served with a veal consomme. in a separate dish was some puffed rice and beans.

bass baked tableside with live sawagani river crab my crab was served with another dish (i think) but that didn;t matter. this was the stand out dish of the night for me. this is probably the most delicious fish dish i've eve eaten in a restaurant. it was so perfectly steamed with japanese stype aromatics, the texture and flavour so subtle but the dusting of pepper (i think) made a great counterpoint. who says this molecular gastronomy is all about complex preparations and flavours?

wood poached pork belly with curry very tender pork and a really subtle curry sauce but it was slightly lost on me as i was starting to get very full at this point.

juniper and gin didn't work for me, it was served as a drink. too herbal.

prime beef, trumpet royale mushrooms and a beer head way too much for me at this point but the beef was charred and cooked very rare and was very good.

fennel phase two

parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes and branch water in the words of simon cowell "not for me"

saffron and cardamom but this one was. i believe it was a saffron icecream floated in a beautifully small bubbled soda. delish.

chocolate rice pudding made your way i'm a huge fan of chocolate and the milk chocolate sauce was so creamy and chocolately. and the homemade marshmallows. OHMYGOD. i kind of ignored the rice. i really had to stop myself licking the bowl.

i had a quick kitchen tour at this point and then a rushed final desert, not on my menu, while i signed the bill and ran to my waiting cab. this final treat had some white truffle icecream that mobyp should cross the atlantic for :-)

i didn't get to try the moto to go as i left it in my hotel room, along with my laptop and pursue :-( but still, i can't wait to go back.

[maggiethecat]

He showed me some of the stuff they are working on for future menus and talked about plans for more inventions that are really going to blow some minds. I think some of it may actually be alien technology - do Scully and Mulder know about this place?

All right, you lucky ducks who have eaten at moto and posted here: You've got my attention! The sense of play, and, well, invention is exhilarating to hear about, and that fish-in-a-cube thing reads like Jules Verne. Very, very cool.

Felicitations, inventolux and Hobbes -- and to all those non-eGulls involved.

[gmi3804]

Congratulations on the Three-star Review in this morning's Chicago Tribune!

I'm intrigued.

[chefseanbrock]

congrats inventolux........well deserved and i look forward to experiencing your restaurant again in the near future)))))))))))

Edited by chefseanbrock, 18 April 2004 - 10:53 AM.

[RagallachMC]

I just saw chef Cantu and read a sample prix fixe menu in my monthly mailing from Chef's Garden. Looks really cool and will definatly be a stop my next time in Chi-town. I wish you much future success.

[chefseanbrock]

the most groundbreaking restaurant in the country...............the coolest thing is the service along with the food....after having dinner at the best restaurants in the country....i found moto to be the most fun because the service was super laid back and dead on.........as good as daniel, jean georges, trio, gramercy tavern, .......and the servers were so down to earth with amazing knowledge of what they were serving and the everyone was so cool.........often when dining at the best restaurants i have felt a little uncomfortable because the servers were so uptight....if i recall correctly at one point the sommerlier poured a glass of wine and in his description he said" this is a killer wine".... enough said......i can't wait to go back.............they are doing everything right and it won't be long before everyone finds out what's going down..............before long getting a reservation at moto will make getting a reservation at the french laundry look easy......take my adviceand get a seat while you can))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[razer]

My g-friend and I visited Chicago two weekends ago and I decided to get a copy of Chicago magazine, primarily because it touted the "best restaurants" on the cover. We were intrigued by the description of both the cuisine and experience of MOTO, and decided it was a "must do" for Saturday night. (Sushi-wabi was Friday but thats another story). Like others have mentioned in this thread, driving up to the restaurant was part of the fun - were we going to enjoy a great dining experience, or be shot down, gangland style, between the trucks lining the docks along the district?

We were delighted by Moto! Ten courses and three hours later we left incredibly satisfied. The chef was able to accomodate my companions "no meat" preferences as well, something we always appreciate.

Some of the highlights - thin sliced scallops with pickled daikon, the incredible scarlet runner beans and puffed rice (!!), the chilled watermelon soup with frozen dijon mustard (although we did not get a "virtual smoke machine" ), the chocolate rice pudding.

The one dish that really didn' t live up to billing, nor to what I have read from others here, was the bass cooked in the cube. The experience of watching it cook was fun, but the fish itself was bland and left us both wondering what was missing.

Our server was knowledgeable and fun. At one point, between the two dessert courses, I noted that I was just about done in by the meal. He quickly said (with the proper Monty Pytonesque inflection) that we had only one more course "a wyfer theen mint". Not to be outdone, I replied "you'd better bring me a bucket, then"

I must say that this was one of the finest dining experiences I have ever had. Thank you chef and thanks to your fine staff.!