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Awesome pics Jason. Can't wait to hear the podcast. Also glad to hear that your preconceived notions were pretty much shattered. That, in my opinion, is what makes Alinea such a wonderful and fun restaurant.

Phil Vettel responds

There's not a whole lot of terribly exciting food in the immediate area of Wrigley Field, but a good meal can definitely had. Here are some suggestions, starting closest to Wrigley and moving out. Raw Bar - This used to be one of my favorite places in the city. An interesting menu of some Persian and non-Persian food. I was there probably about a year ago and I thought the food had gone way down hill. Some people still like it though. At the very least, it's a pretty cool place to have a drink at the bar. Chen's - Chinese/Japanese. Certainly not the most traditional, but can still be pretty good. Twist - Mix of traditional and non-traditional tapas. Most things I've had there have been pretty good. They don't take reservations, so getting a table could be tough after a game, especially with a large party. X/O - Another small-plates place. Not tapas. Kind of a trendy, scene-y place but I've always enjoyed the food. Very cool outdoor dining area behind the restaurant. Socca - Italian/French bistro. A bit more expensive than the other restaurants in the area, but worth it. Very good steak frittes. Those are probably your best bets in the immediate area. You'll see a couple of sushi places on Clark if you approach Wrigley from the south. Avoid them. Raw Bar 3720 N Clark St Chen's 3506 N Clark St Twist 3412 N Sheffield Ave X/O 3441 N. Halsted St Socca 3301 N Clark St

Now having eaten at both the bar and a table, I like them both but for different purposes. Sitting at the bar allows you to focus more on the food, as the Chef and cooks are right there presenting and explaining dishes. On the downside, conversation becomes difficult if you are there with one or two more people. For a larger group, or a more intimate occasion with a smaller group (celebrating an anniversary, catching up old times), I would prefer a table.

Great shots Doc! I'll just add a couple of my thoughts... - The scallop was one of the cooler dishes of the night. While the foie gras panna cotta was awesome, the addition of Pop Rocks made the dish unique to Chef GEB. I'm not sure how much they added to the dish taste-wise, they were just cool. - The asparagus was probably my favorite dish of the night. Either that or the beef/lamb/foie combo towards the end. Fresh asparagus, bacon, egg...how can you go wrong? - I was very disappointed with the risotto as well. Just drastically underseasoned. For me, the widest miss of the night. - When the lamb/beef/foie dish came out, I thought it would be completely overwhelming. Boy was I wrong. The tastes and the interaction of all of the flavors on the plate made this a wonderful dish. It's hard to describe, but everything was just a bit more "subtle" than I thought it would be. Extra props to my girlfriend for polishing off this dish like a champ. - These cheese was great. The brioche cooked in foie was nice at first, but I thought got a bit too overpowering as I made my way through the course. - As Doc said, this meal was a perfect amount of food. I left full, but satisfied and certainly not uncomfortable. - Chef GEB and the rest of the staff could not have been nicer. We were extremely well taken care of all night. Quick story: At one point my water glass was refilled with sparkling water when I had been drinking still (and still had about half a glass left). I leaned over and laughed about it to my girlfriend at no louder than a whisper. Within a minute, my glass had been taken, replaced with a new glass and filled with still water. Great save by the staff. Again, thanks to Chef GEB and the rest of the Avenues team for a great night. ETA - One more thing...I thought the kangaroo course was sweet, but not overly so. My only issue was that this course combined with the following course of the foie-lava made for two "sweet" courses in a row, which I wasn't crazy about. Both courses were great independently, but one after the other was not the greatest progression for me.

Scoozi is a very solid choice, especially for a family. Nothing remarkable, but certainly a major, major step up from Friday's and the like. Excellent profiteroles. And for future reference, if you go on Valentine's Day they make heart-shaped pizzas. Good times.

This show is as much about cooking as "The Apprentice" is about running a business. I just look at it as pure entertainment, nothing more. If I remember correctly, at least in terms of background, the group this year actually has WAY more related experience than last year's group. I think last year's final two were the only contestants who had any culinary experience whatsoever.

27 courses over 5 hours at Alinea on New Year's Eve. I almost needed to be airlifted home. Like Robert, loved every moment.

First foie gras, now french fries? Article here Apparently diapers for horses are also on the Council's agenda

I'm thrilled to hear that Quartino has an outdoor section. Does anyone have an idea of how many they are seating outside?

This could be the craziest discussion I've ever been a part of. How can you possibly look at this picture and make any sort of judgement about whether this dish tastes good or not? I don't care if you've never been do a fine dining establishment of if you've been eating at nothing but Michelin 3 stars everyday of your life for the last 50 years. Current technology does not allow you to taste things on your computer screen. You cannot know the following: What the beef was seasoned with (that you cannot see) How the sauce on the side of the plate works with the beef How the flavors of the ingredients under the beef work with the beef What the different combinations of things on the plate would taste like when eaten together Is it just me, or is there a growing trend on food boards of people judging food at restaurants they have never eaten at?

Unless you can gain some insight from licking your monitor, I still don't understand how you can judge the taste of something by the way it looks on a website photo. All sorts of nasty looking things taste good. I mean, how attractive is bone marrow?

Great write-up Ron. Vie has definitely been on my radar for quite sometime, but you know us city-folk. Maybe I'll just have to drag myself out to the 'burbs. I'm sure there will be more schlepping in my future, especially once prohibition starts.

I'd be curious to hear the restaurant's response too. This whole thing seems very un-Alinea-like.

Wow, looks like you were right in the middle of a meatwave!

Please Robert, that's a three cheese blend. That makes it classy.

If you go to Alinea and do the Tour with wine pairings, and are still hungry...I will personally buy you a pizza afterwards.

Well, it looks like The Modern has won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant (beating out my favorite, Alinea ). So, New Yorkers...what's your take? Good call or not?

I thought that the beef was one of those dishes where the whole was significantly greater than the sum of its parts. I thought that all components of the dish (the taste/texture of the beef, the melon, the sauce) all needed to be taken together to fully appreciate the dish. I'd like to give more detail, but it's been a couple of months since I at the dish. I think it's important to view a lot of Achatz's dishes this way. If you focus on any one component, you may miss the point. If you take the dish as a whole, you then start to see the whole story. This runs parallel to Ron's point about the menu. Evaluating a meal at Alinea dish by dish almost misses the point. You really need to take a step back and evaluate the meal as a whole.

Can I ask why? It seemed to ruin the meat to me. ← This may be a "different strokes" kind of thing. I had the kobe beef on my last visit and it quickly became one of my all-time Alinea favorites.

Good Lord! How much if I want to just sit at the Chef's Bar and drink foie gras milkshakes all night?

Just thought I'd bump this up. We'll be in Iowa City for a wedding this weekend (staying at the Sheraton). Any ideas for lunch/brunch on Saturday?

Yeah, I thought about that, but I've never eaten at the Chef's bar so I didn't want to comment. I'd love to hear people's impressions that have been there, though (in the appropriate thread, of course).

There is no bar. For single dining at a bar, Avec is hard to beat.

1. Alinea 2. TRU 3. Schwa 4. Avenues 5. Avec