1409 replies to this topic

[yellow truffle]

24. PINEAPPLE angelica branch, iranian pistachios

[yellow truffle]

25. SASSAFRAS CREAM encapsulated in mandarin ice

[yellow truffle]

26. STRAWBERRIES argan, lemon verbenna

[yellow truffle]

27. LIQUID CHOCOLATE milk, black licorice, banana

[snekse]

THE COURSES

Following are posts with image only. I will discuss each item in later posts.

Amazing. Thank you for taking such great time and care in sharing your experience.

[yellow truffle]

28. SPONGE CAKE tonka bean, vanilla fragrance

[GordonCooks]

................Wow!

[Varmint]

Yowza! So many questions, all of which I'm sure you planned to address eventually. Nevertheless, let me ask a few:

7-1/2 hours??? Was it manageable? How was the overall pacing? Do you think they'll compact that time frame eventually? Obviously, with such an arrangement, there's very little table turnover. The kitchen must be exhausted.

When was the ginger used in the meal?

It seems that the bubbles' position on a left to right basis may have something to do with the relative sweet/savoriness of a particular dish.

How did the specialized serving utensils/contraptions work out?


I have a ton of other questions, but I'll wait for your report. Thanks for the awesome photos.

[johnnyd]

Absolutely
Astonishing.

Thank You Yellow Truffle!

[eggplantconfit]

i'm curious how the meal took 7.5 hours. in the several trio tour de force meals that i had the longest was probably 5 hours at most.
is there just more time between courses?
e.

[clifford]

After the cessation of information on the Alinea Project page, I kind of forgot about this place.

I am now drooling on my keyboard and simultaneously trying to schedule time to get to Chicago.

Very intriguing and impressive.

[Pugman]

WOW!!!!! Thanks. I thought about NOT looking at the photos, so I'd be more surprised when I eat there. But, like a kid trying to find where mon stashed the Christmas gifts before the big day, I couldn't wait.

I'm going on Sunday and the wait has been killing me. ChefG already has two spots on my personal "Top 10 Restaurant Meals of All Time" and I have a feeling a third is coming.

[VeryApe77]

I am eating there two weeks today and I cannot wait! I told myself that I would not read any reports before my meal, but I'm only human...

I'm interested in the timing too though...if one had a reservation for, say, 9:30 and ordered the tour, would they (and the kitchen and serving staff) be there until 4:30? Or did you just have very leisurely meal, Yellow Truffle?

[ronnie_suburban]

Anthony,

Thank you for the thorough post and the sensational photos. I can barely wait until we go to Alinea tomorrow night.

Having enjoyed the Tour de Force at Trio (when Grant was there) in just over 5 hours, I too am wondering about the duration of your meal. Can you elaborate a bit?

=R=

[Mayhaw Man]

The serving piece for the bison? Was that glass or some kind of acrylic?

The Strawberries Argan? Could you describe that in a bit of detail?

I notice that there is no ketchup on the table. Was this a problem?

[Varmint]

I notice that there is no ketchup on the table. Was this a problem?

They covered that with the beef dish with the flavors of A-1. Nice to see the crew still has a sense of humor.

[hshiau]

Thanks for all the great photos! The meal certainly was a work of art.

It looks like there's a lot of unique serving pieces. Does anyone know if they were designed specifically for these dishes?

Also, the fried bread looks like it's sitting on a folded napkin suspended in mid-air. Was someone holding it or is there something missing?

[snowangel]

It looks like there's a lot of unique serving pieces.  Does anyone know if they were designed specifically for these dishes?

Also, the fried bread looks like it's sitting on a folded napkin suspended in mid-air.  Was someone holding it or is there something missing?

There is a whole forum devoted to the The Alinea Project. A behind the scenes look at the making of this restaurant.

In that forum, there is a topic on Alinea Serviceware.

[chefseanbrock]

the ginger was grated and the juice was used to flavor the beef with a1......also I saw another table get the same treatment for their snapper dish...

we did the tour in a little over 5 hours.......

i have to admit.....I would've had trouble sitting there for 7.5 hours, or anywhere for that matter........

the bison dish was fun you could smell it all over the restaurant and the flavors were fantastic, the tube was glass

I guess I don't need to post pics now...nice job yellow truffle

seaninnashville

[tanabutler]

NOTE: those are not "metal dowels" piercing that piece of raw ginger.

I believe those are acupuncture needles. If they are not, they are surely intended to be, though I've never seen them pierce flesh and come out the other side. At least not on my supine body.

And if they aren't, he should tell everyone that they are, as that would be a sublime visual joke that wouldn't be lost on me. Very clever indeed.

[snekse]

I guess I don't need to post pics now...nice job yellow truffle

Nay! Post! Post! We can never have too many pictures. Heck, check out the French Laundry thread. There's TONS of pics on there.

[edsel]

10. BEEF flavors of A-1

I can't resist asking: Where's the beef?
Is this one of those deconstructed things where the title ingredient is implied by a synthesis of flavors? Or is there an actual identifiable piece of meat that I can't spot in the photo (maybe hidden behind the crispy-looking thing on the right)? Just curious...
Thanks for posting the reviews, chefseanbrock and yellow truffle. Really intriguing stuff!

[docsconz]

Remarkable. I will be there in two weeks with my wife and two eldest sons. The duration of the tour is something I believe I could handle, but I'm not sure about the others. As such, I too am interested in more detail, discussion of this aspect as well as the other menus.

[ducphat30]

Yellow truffle et al,

Thanks for sharing this amazing journey you took, I hope your photo essay did not interfere with your overall enjoyment of the experience.

I am going in June, I almost feel like the kid at the top of the stairs watching "santa" put presents under the tree.

ducphat

WOW!!!!! Thanks. I thought about NOT looking at the photos, so I'd be more surprised when I eat there. But, like a kid trying to find where mon stashed the Christmas gifts before the big day, I couldn't wait.

I didn't even see your post, you hit the nail on the head.

Edited by ducphat30, 06 May 2005 - 10:13 AM.

[Osnav]

Thanks to all for the info and photos. How about someone talking about how the food tasted. What worked, what didn't. What combinations surprised you. With 28 courses you must have had favorites.

More details, please!

[bilrus]

When I made a reservation last week, the person I spoke with said they estimated that the Tour would take about 4 hours.

[VeryApe77]

That sounds about right. My TDF at Trio took about that. I think with menus of this nature, that it is maybe a case of different people taking radically different amounts to time to get through their meal. For example, when I had the grand tasting menu at Moto, it took about 4 hours (maybe less). Someone I know had the exact same menu and was there for 8 hours ! So I don't think it's a cause for alarm.

When I made a reservation last week, the person I spoke with said they estimated that the Tour would take about 4 hours.

Edited by VeryApe77, 06 May 2005 - 11:01 AM.

[snekse]

When I made a reservation last week, the person I spoke with said they estimated that the Tour would take about 4 hours.

The way I kind of looked at it was simply figuring an average.

You have 28 dishes that will porbably take you about 5 minutes a piece to eat (again on average) assuming you take the time to savour your food. I'm a slow eater, so it might take my 7 minutes on average. That's about 2 hours, 20 mins to 3 hours 15 mins if the food is coming out on top of each other. If you figure about 3 mins between courses you have another 81 mins of waiting. Finally you can probably figure at least 15 mins of time (at least) for initial seating, order taking and bill presentation. So basically don't make any time sensitive plans if you plan on eating 28 courses (like you could move anyway). I personally am not bothered if I'm there for 4 hours or 5 hours. This is what I came for

[jesteinf]

Thanks for the report and awesome pics yellow truffle. We're going on the 27th and I can't wait.

Our TDF at Trio was also about 4.5 hours. I'm also curious about the 7.5 hour length of your meal.

[RonThePirate]

That is amazing. My mouth is still on the floor. I can't wait to see how this restaurant matures.