nick.kokonas

The anniversary menu ended up being 22 courses, not 17 as disseminated in the press. Overall, the tour has been averaging 3 hours and 40 minutes per table over the last month. Larger groups of 6 or 7 certainly bump that average up, as it is more likely for individuals within the group to take breaks during their meal, either for an outdoor smoke or WC break.

Thanks for the kind words Gaya... and Ronnie has pointed you in the right direction. Chef Achatz and I continually discuss ideas for a number of projects, some of which might actually materialize. I can't imagine working with another chef... in addition to his being a unique and prodigious talent, we also work together very well and have at this point become friends. Were we to embark on another restaurant in the future, I doubt we would need to look too far past Alinea's kitchen for talent. But who knows... maybe we will someday run across a unique talent that we simply can't ignore.... anything is possible.

The Kobe dish is served cool by intent...

I think that Doc has it right. We are not pleased about the ban, and consider it ill-informed at best, but it is not a disaster -- not for Alinea or for the Chicago food scene as a whole. There are just too many good restaurants and dishes being served to avoid the city because of Foie. Alinea has generally not served Foie Gras in a "straight" preparation, except as an occasional surprise to various guests (the whole lobe has occasionally been prepared and it is a thing of true beauty!). Instead, it is usually used in creative ways -- "pushed" foie, foie cylinder with rhubarb, etc. Ultimately, creative solutions will be found to create a similar experience through other means.

The proposed fine is $250 to $500 per day... I am not sure if per incident means each and every serving, or just the incident of having it on the menu. I am not a lawyer, but this is a terribly vague ordinance clearly meant to have a political impact... it seems rare to me to cite a Zogby poll in a city ordinance. My thought is that under a prix fixe menu of 14 courses, it is clearly defined what the diner is paying for -- those 14 courses. If the restaurant chooses to serve Foie Gras for free without adding to the check, they have not sold it. In fact, it would then be claimed as a Comp against restaurant receipts, diminishing the revenue for that day by the amount of the cost of the Foie. I would argue that not only is the Foie not being sold, it is in fact a money loser that will reduce the EBITDA of the restaurant. Talk about unintended consequences -- free Foie for diners and tax benefits for restaurants. Good job, Ald. Moore! Thanks!

Found a copy of the actual ordinance here . Interesting to read the "Whereas" section, including the citation of a Zogby poll within the ordinance... Also, it bans the "sale" of Foie, not the serving. I am wondering if there is a meaningful distinction legally speaking. Can a restaurant give Foie away for free?

I finally found a copy of the actual Ordinance here . It is pretty amazing that they actually cite a Zogby poll WITHIN an ordinance... politicians are often accused of listening to polls, but this is a new level... A few other interesting citations in the "Whereas" sections...

The anniversary menu will be available the week of May 3rd only. We will return to our regular Spring menu on May 10th.

Young ducks these days are not what they used to be. Just a few generations ago, ducks were ethical, hard working animals, commuting from Canada each fall via the various North American Flyways. Now they have become lazy, unappreciative, and insolent. The horrible thing is, nearly 15% of the adolescent duck population is now obese. Even free range ducks are exhibiting this problem, reflecting a lack of education about the dangers of eating too much while exercising too little. More often than not, these young ducks grow into obese full grown ducks. And the viscious cycle of morbid obesity extends to their own off-spring. These naturally fat ducks may easily be seen amongst the crowd of their thin counterparts. Farmers have begun to cull these animals from the flock to ensure a healthier, fitter duck for America's future.

I have been unable to find the actual statute passed... does anyone have a link? The question for me is will European Imports and other distributors be able to sell since they are within the city... undoubtably they also supply the suburbs. Is possession illegal, or just the sale to restaurant customers?

there is a good overview of the wine here

Don PX 1971 Gran Reserva, Bodegas Toro Albala, S.L.

We had anticipated that the menu would be around 17-18 courses, but had not yet decided on the exact dishes. Patrons would call to ask about the menu, and we guessed it would be around 17. Chef went through the list of all of the unique dishes produced throughout the year and came up with about 25 - 28 that were the favorites based on various criteria -- some were just popular with diners, some highlighted a new technique etc. Then he solicited input from chefs, servers, me, etc. There are some obvious highlights that cannot be included for seasonal reasons -- for example, the pheasant with burning oak leaves, one of my personal favorites. The white truffle explosion should be on there, but white truffles are not in season. Then he and chefs duffy, stupak, and peters worked on composing the menu... it has to flow like a regular menu -- and so that excluded some dishes while making a few others necessary. At the end of the day, it is a subjective exercise that should be, above all, fun.

ronnie's description is largely accurate.

The showcasing of ingredients has been done for the last 30 years. You need to read Daniel Patterson's article for the NYTimes "To The Moon, Alice?" (here 4 star restaurants should have great ingredients de rigor. You will find, in fact, that the sources for caviar, foie gras, and yes even peaches and pears, will often overlap amongst 4 star restaurants -- even those that are thousands of miles apart. The question is, what do you do with those ingredients?

a peach occurs naturally. while it is quite complex, it is not human-made. what you term complexity is simply "that which is made by man". And those items, any of them, require a degree of creativity - - after all, embedded in "creativity" is "create". What is more or less complex is subjective in some cases. A mandelbrot set looks very complex to the observer, yet very simple to the mathemetician. Complexity can arise from simple things.

while I am a hopeless anglophile, I would respectfully submit that the reason Mr. Gill thinks there is nothing original in cuisine is precisely because he is in GBR. (with the very obvious NB and apologies to chef Blumenthal)

much of it is Spiegelau, with a few specialty glasses from other makers.

Just as millions of people play music every day for their own enjoyment without infringing on copyrights or patents -- I was just playing guitar myself at home -- so too can millions of people pick up cook books and make recipes at home without infringing, or watch a chef on TV and then copy the technique. The issue here isn't a transfer of knowledge, or the fact that a few billion people cook meals everyday. The issue here is copying the work of someone else and then utilizing that without acknowledgement or permission for financial gain. I am not advocating that chefs begin copyrighting or patenting various dishes, but it does seem strange that we can get design patents and copyrights for the Alinea serviceware seen here, but can't get protection for the foodstuffs that are presented by those pieces. The process of creating them both is nearly identical. At the very least a system as proposed by Fat Guy would allow for proper pubic attribution of a chef's work, which may not itself carry much intrinsic value, but which might offer tangential benefits -- many well beyond the ego variety.

I think it would be good humor and an interesting artistic statement, a la Duchamp, to make an exact visual duplicate of these dishes and others, but in plastic (like in Tokyo), and show them in a gallery as art. It certainly beats a urinal. I would bet that would be well received and make the exact point that Fat Guy just made. I would even bet that it will happen.

That is not entirely accurate, Chef. That is for a design-patent, not a "utility" patent -- or "patent for invention". A design patent could conceivably cover food composition (I doubt it though), and would certainly cover serviceware. But for "inventions" which encompass a process, machine, method of manufacture, etc., the process is much more complex, the costs much higher, and the end utility of the patent itself far greater. It will also take several years, requires representation in front of the patent office, and will require much time of the person applying. So, for example, you could easily file a design patent for your "herbacious utensils", but would require a utility patent for the edible ink-jet process. The latter has far more value than the former. In addition, holding a patent is of very little use if you do not have the means (read: $$) to enforce it -- a lesson many patent holders learn the hard way. Most patent attorneys will not take a case on contigency unless there are very clear violations, there is more than one violation, and the violators themselves have deep pockets. Otherwise, you pay out of pocket -- and then you pay up front, so to speak, for an uncertain outcome. I am on the board of a technology company that holds a very broad business-process patent on a widely used internet process, but the utility of that patent is almost nil to our company since we do not have the means to enforce it. Our only chance of making money off of it would be to sell the patent to an aggregator. And that is why the idea of "patenting" food processes for restaurants has not really taken off. Getting the patent is one thing, using it effectively requires deeper pockets and an entirely different skill-set than is typically present at a restaurant.

yes it does matter. The discussion has deviated from one topic to another... as intended of course, but the confusion is not being adequately addressed. One dish, like one brushstroke, phrase in a novel, passage in a musical composition, etc. is very difficult to pinpoint as being plagiarised, stolen, or whatever you wish to call it. These are the details you speak of. That is a huge gray area... subject of the debate going on with Sizzleteeth etc. And in that regard I agree with most of what he is saying. While I do not wish to beat the proverbial dead horse, I do not personally believe that is what went on in this particular case. There are a total of nearly 10 dishes that photographically were identical to their counterparts in the states -- not just the WD-50 shrimp or the Alinea photos pictured here -- plus another 10 or so that verbally meet identical description of highly unique phrasings and ingredients. In this particular example, there is little room for argument about evolution, deviation etc. We are not speaking about a single unique ingredient or technique, but a veritable menu of them. Does this happen elsewhere? Perhaps.. but I have never seen it. I ate dinner tonight at a restaurant that had both "Bocuse" and "Ducasse" dishes noted -- and I also understood that Bocuse and Ducasse do them differently and better. I have seen single dishes replicated exactly. I have never seen a menu of them. The Guardian article was weak in that it made no mention of this distinction. At this point frankly I don't really care. Whatever discussion needed or wanted to take place has already. Apologies have been made... menus are being changed. However, it would be interesting to hear viewpoints on when exactly a dish should be attributed... a unique technique, a particular ingredient set? Or does it require a more exacting replica of the dish? I say it is all about intent -- if a chef intends to make a copy of another chef's dish, he should make an effort to note it.... and while a single chef can easily get away copying a few dishes here and there, I would say this... it's not a legal issue, an IP issue (unless it is a giant company per C. Cantu), an NDA issue, a stage issue... it is just plain uncool. If you worked 16 hours per day, 6 days per week for years to establish some level of proficiency and personal style.. honing your craft only to see someone else claim it as their own, it is a bit heartbreaking. You pause a moment... But then you just go back to work...

You set up quite the straw man Sizzleteeth... and both comment and lack thereof can knock it down... While I am not a chef, I can say this. Throughout my academic career at a liberal arts college, having written hundreds of pages, and in all of my writing since then, I have never knowingly plagiarized anyone else nor intentionally omitted a citation in order to pass off someone elses work as my own. That you find it so hard to believe that someone else can go through life without doing so speaks volumes to your own actions (as you admitted earlier)... and enlightens us, perhaps, as to why reaon #4 cited by Fat Guy is de rigor in these situations.

I would bet that the would be Alinea book would indeed include a thanks to Adria, and most especially Keller. But the point of evolution is crossed when a chef begins to develop techniques of their own. It is interesting to note that in the history of visual art, is is not uncommon for two artists to simultaneously develop a similar style or technique even though they were seperated culturally and quite literally by many miles. So it is possible, and even quite likely, that two chefs will come up with similar ideas independently of one-another. Nonetheless, Cezanne did not see a painting of another artist and then go home and paint the identical subject and proclaim it as his own. Often it is a gray area, sometimes it is not. I think Fat Guy has hit the nail on the head all around. I nominate him to be my spokesperson from here out -- but only on this topic, please!

Actually, you bring up an excellent point... indeed, I think both Grant and Homaro have acknowledged their debt to Chef Adria in forwarding cuisine -- and chef Adria himself cites others like Arzak. Grant frequently cites Chef Keller as his mentor -- I don't know how much more strongly he can make that case. However, when Chef Adria dined at Moto and Alinea earlier this month, he was not presented with any courses that were ever served at El Bulli. In fact, he was impressed with the level of creativity and innovation present at both restaurants -- his direct quote to me is that "everyone here takes this incredibly seriously and it is evident -- you should be very proud". As you say, "and whom in turn owe their existence to others" on down the line. I reiterate -- the very purpose of a stage is to learn techniques and ideas and then apply them to your own ideas and develop a personal style. You don't need to be a diamond inspector to seperate the dishes in question into piles... my 6 year old can tell that they are the same originiation.