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Alright, be nice No real disasters to speak of (although I did give myself food poisoning once at my own BBQ, but I blame the meat more than my cooking), but certainly no successes. At this point my theory is that I can't produce food as tasty as where I like to eat, so I might as well let them do the cooking for me. I'm happy to pay a premium for my inneptitude/laziness.

YT, Unbelievable work. Great, great job.

Confession: I can't cook. There, I've said it. Sure I can whip up some ok scrambled eggs, or I can grill you a hot dog or burger. But that's about it. However, I'd still like to think that I can tell good food from bad and resist (when possible and appropriate) spending too much, if any, time at chains (not really a problem living in downtown Chicago anyway). Edited to add: Yes, for me cooking IS a hassle. However, going out and eating great food is one of lifes greatest pleasures for me.

Noam - glad to hear another positive review of Schwa, which has become one of my favortie spots in Chicago. The pork dish is killer (they cure the belly in house).

Grand entrance, I think not, but thanx anyway. On New Year's Eve, everyone gets a grand entrance. Edited because I misspelled "grand" and "grant", which actually would have been kind of a funny pun in this case.

New Year's Eve at Alinea Every year my girlfriend and I do something different for New Year's Eve. Casual party with friends, dressy party with friends, casual dinner with another couple, etc. This year we continued the trend and decided to do a crazy, over the top blow out dinner. After thinking about the location for about 1.4 seconds I was on the phone to Alinea. 9pm, December 31, it was on. We arrived about 15 minutes early for our reservation since cabs were a bit more plentiful than I was anticipating. So we were brought into the kitchen to say our hellos to ChefG. I think I freaked out Joe C. a bit when I told him a had a message for ChefG from New York (no, not a Sicilian message, just a regular message). He felt a little better when I passed along best wishes from Thomas Keller whom we had met after dinner at Per Se last month. With sighs of relief all around we said our goodbyes and went back to the front waiting area. Our table still not ready, Chris was kind enough to pour a couple of glasses of Lillet for us to enjoy while we waited. This was when YT made his grand entrance. Our table was ready a few minutes later and we were seated at a lovely 2-top upstairs. Our waiter welcomed us, gave us menus, and then uttered the words that strike fear into the hearts of men, "The Chef was wondering if he could just cook for you?". Hmmm, let me think about that? Oh, fine, twist my arm. We'll take the wine pairings. Thank you very much. Here began the extravaganza. As I said earlier we had the same Tour menu that BryanZ had on 12/30 (Doc - it looks like you also had several of the dishes we had), and it left me completely speechless several times throughout the meal. I won't go into details on each dish since YT's pictures will tell more than I could ever hope to describe, but some of the highlights (as I remember them) were: Hot Potato, Cold Potato - This was our first course. Fantastic combinations of texture and temperature. And the big old slice of white truffle on top doesn't hurt either. This just screams, "Welcome. You're in for a hell of ride". Mango - I screwed this one up and spilled the soy off the top of the "lozenge". I managed to get it back on, but not before I wondered, "How the heck does he come up with this stuff?", which I thought to myself many more times over the course of the night. Pear - Another exploding ChefG creation. The ball was about twice as big as I thought it would be so I had a little trouble getting it in my mouth. Everyone please remove your minds from the gutter. Lamb - The combination of the lamb and the pistachios (especially the braised pistachios) was perfect, just perfect. Idiazabal - The best cheese doodle you've ever had. Nicoise olive - The frozen olive cookie. The olive flavor wasn't as pronounced as I thought it would be, but it still worked especially as a 13th course. Yuzu and Yuba - 2 great transitional courses. The yuzu was a nice cold, slightly sour palate cleanser. The yuba was a nice way to start to re-excite the palate and prepare for the second half of the meal. Our version had shrimp, but it looks like Doc had tuna. The shrimp was very nice, but I would have liked to have tried this with Tuna. Pork - I'm a sucker for pork. This course which also had cornbread on honey was another dish that can only be described as perfect. It was about at this point that my girlfriend announced she was full. Full? We're just starting the second half of the meal. I told her to rest for a bit. We had a little bit of a break while some flamenco dancers performed, but she was still stuffed. She got up to use the restroom and our waiter asked if everything is ok (since my girlfriend had left an untouched plate, while mine was clean). I told him everything was wonderful, but my tiny girlfriend was getting full. So, she came back and Chris came to our table. He had heard the problem so we had a meeting to decide the strategy for the rest of the meal. He let us know the types of courses that were coming and based on his descriptions my girlfriend decided to opt out of the remaining "substantial" courses and only have the "one bite" courses. However, Chris was not about to let her skip the next course: Black Truffle, in the center of your table - The centerpiece that night was a black truffle, about the size of 1.5-2 golf balls. The course was a simple, house made tagliatelle in a butter sauce. Chris then took our black truffle and shaved it down to nothing over our two plates. Wow was this good. A bit challenging to eat as the 19th course, but still. Highlights from the back end of the meal: Kobe Beef - Not so much for the food, but the wine. A 2000 Domaine de la Solitude "Reserve Secrete" Chateauneuf du Pape. Outstanding wine. Joe, seeing my glass was empty, asked me how I liked it. I told him it was outstanding, at which point he poured me a second glass. Good lord, I don't think we're making it out of here alive. Gingerbread - The exploding butter was the key to this dish. Peanut - Nice surprise (and a bit jarring) with the frozen wine under the peanut. At about 2am we stumbled downstairs to profusely thank ChefG for an unbelievable night. The whole team really went above and beyond to make this a very special evening. Some final thoughts... I don't think I've ever laughed so much during a meal while talking to waiters, runners, Chris, Joe, and everyone. Anyone who thinks this restaurant is stuffy just doesn't get it. Is Alinea the best restaurant in the US? I'm not even going to try to answer that, but you could make the case. I know I've said it before, but this place has been open for 8 months. Just think about that. If a restaurant offers to get you a cab at 2am on New Year's, take them up on it. Walking a few blocks will turn in to more than a few (like 9 or 10).

while i certainly respect everyone's right to express and hold their opinion(s), i'd have to agree with robyn on this one. alinea was very good on my one visit this summer - and unique, but i personally could not say that it is the best restaurant in any one category - not even in chicago... that's just my opinion. ulterior epicure. ← UE - I would urge you to give Alinea another shot. I went in May shortly after the opening. I really liked it, but certainly did not think it was the top restaurant in Chicago (and since we apparently need to trot out credentials I've been to all of the top places in Chicago: Tru, Trotters, Everest, Avenues, Spiaggia, etc). I returned in July to find that the restaurant had evolved exponentially both in terms of food and service. My dinner on New Year's Eve was possibly one of the best restaurant meals I've ever had. It keeps getting better and better, which is a pretty scary thought when you consider that they've only been open since May. To others - I think that it was Doc who said that most detractors have never been to Alinea and I would tend to agree. To rule out visiting a potentially important restaurant (I only say potentially because, again, the place hasn't even been open a year yet) due to a preconceived notion or bias seems silly to me. I'm certainly no fan of vegetarian cuisine, but I was more than willing to give Green Zebra a run. I'm not sure I have a point here. I guess all I'm saying is don't knock it till you tried it.

I feel like you can get better food at the price point. There does seem to be a lot of positive buzz, so Butter may just wind up being a restaurant I don't get.

Bryan - Looks like you got pretty much the menu we had on NYE. The only difference was the addition of a black truffle pasta course on ours. I too thought this menu was outstanding, and the best of the 3 meals I've had at Alinea so far. The only course that didn't really work for me was the black cod. I thought it was a bit "fishy" and all of the powders gave it a strange mouth feel.

Completely unbelievable NYE dinner at Alinea last night. 5 hours, 27 courses. Yellow Truffle was in the house, and you all know what that means... I'll post a full write up later, I'm having trouble moving at the moment.

Have you been to the Palace Grill on Madison near the stadium? Greeks -- my dad's cousins -- and lots of attitude (and fun). To me the quintessential diner and a Chicago classic... all of the old pols eat there, and even Gorbachov when he was doing his Perestroika tour. Say hi to George. ← No, never been. Does it meet the following criteria? 1. Menu at least 3 inches thick 2. Gravy fries available 3. Lemon chicken soup always available 4. Full bar

Great topic. My wish list: 1. NY style pizza. Not thin crust. Honest to goodness triangular shaped slices that flop around and you can fold in half to eat. 2. Decent chinese delivery in the Belmont/Halsted area. 3. Greek diners. Jersey style. 4. Ramen joints. And, as a sub-point, more traditional Japanese places (a la Matsumoto) rather than the current trend of "hip" places. 5. Upscale seafood (along the lines of Le Bernardin).

I thought I read somewhere that he was going to try wine making. Of course, I could be completely wrong.

Week in Cabo, Part II Nick-San (Las Palmillas) - I like to think of myself as a sushi purist. I prefer to eat straight-up sashimi, maybe a couple of rolls, just don't mess with my fish too much. When we went to Nick-san, our hosts and the chef did all of the ordering for us, which got me excited. However, just about everything that came out was swimming in some kind of sauce, dressing or whatever. All of the fish seemed to be of very high quality, there was just no way to appreciate it given how busy each plate was. I will say that we went to the Nick-san in Cabo the last time we were there and had a great dinner. I think that's what we'll probably do on the next trip. That and order for ourselves. French Riviera (Cabo) - The last night. A great dinner, but this restaurant has serious issues with the menu. It was quite possibly the hardest menu to read that I've ever encountered. It looked like the menu was orignially written in French, translated into Spanish, and then translated into English. The result were menu items like "roast breast potato". If anyone can tell me what a breast potato is, feel free to PM me. Anyway, the menu aside, the food was very very good. The meal started with two amuses. The first was comprised of three items, salmon tartare on a mini potato pancake, olive tapanade on a little piece of toast, and a mussel with s sauce I forget served in a little spoon. The second amuse was a very pleasant brandade. For my appetizer I had seared foie gras, served with some sort of fruit (again I forget) and a little salad. My main course was herb crusted rack of lamb and for dessert I had an assortment of mini creme brules. Everything we ate was great. The pace of the meal was quite leisurely and made for a very relaxing last night in paradise.

Just got back from a week in Cabo, here's where we ate... La Dolce (San Jose) - Perfect meal for our first night in town with everyone tired from traveling. We had been to the Cabo location on a previous trip and the San Jose location was just as good. Very good pizzas (I had the San Danielle, which is topped with prosciutto di parma). Great casual eating. Morgan's (San Jose) - The restaurant probably has my favorite decor in Los Cabos. We were seated in the open air courtyard on the lower level. The menu is a little bit of everything, French, Meditteranean, Italian, but all locally influenced. I had the whole red snapper which was basically prepared Veracruz style but with a couple of modifications. The fish was extremely fresh and perfectly cooked. The only downside to our dinner at Morgan's was that everyone's clothes and hair absorbed the smell from the open air grill in the courtyard. Pancho's (Cabo) - Tourist trap? You bet. However, dinner was still great. I ordered the globo margarita and wound up with a cocktail the size of my head. Not necessarily a bad thing since I was on vacation. Many in our party started with the tortilla soup, which is advertised as the best soup in the world. I'm not sure about that, but I did enjoy it. The chilis gave it a great smokey and complex flavor. In the interests of full disclosure, most others at the table did not enjoy it, so order at your own risk. For my main course I had the John's special which contained grilled chicken (just ok), pork ribs (very good) and carne asada (outstanding). The carne asada had been marinated in beer and tequila, which made the meat both tender and sweet. One of my favorite dishes of the trip. Edith's (Cabo) - The previous night, Pancho's claimed to have the best tortilla soup in the world. Most people in our party weren't nuts about it and some claimed that the soup at Edith's was better. So, in service of my fellow eGulleters, I ordered the soup at Edith's as well. I did not think it was better than Pancho's. In fact, I thought it was a little bland. The verdict: Pancho's has the best tortilla soup in the world (if by "world" you mean "Pancho's and Edith's"). For my main course I had the Wally 2 combination (that's right, 2 nights of tortilla soup, 2 nights of combo platters...I'm on vacation damnit, don't make me think). The Wally's 2 had grilled lobster tail, shrimp and a petit filet. Everything was great, but the petit filet had the added bonus of being wrapped in bacon. Score. C's (Las Palmillas Hotel) - On our last trip to Cabo, my girlfriend and I had one of our most memorable meals at C's, Charlie Trotter's restaurant at Las Palmillas Hotel. Our return trip was good, but nearly as memorable as the first. C's got a new chef a few months ago and the menu now seems to be more heavily asian influenced than the last time we were there. We opted for the tasting menu (which is not actually on the menu, we had to ask our waiter). The dinner started with roasted abalone (which my girlfriend heard as "roasted baloney", good times), and continued with a tower of sushi, seared tuna (which was cooked a bit past seared), a pasta dish with buffalo mozzarela and arugula (way to heavy to be in the middle of a tasting menu), grilled yellow tail, short ribs in a mole sauce with coconut foam and banana (my favorite of the night), and a dessert of a chocolate terrine. I should emphasize, this was a very good meal. I just felt like I could have gotten it at any fine restaurant in any other city. There was nothing uniquely "Cabo" about it. Next time, we'll be going to Ventanas. To be continued with nights 6 and 7 later...

I have to say, I am not as over the moon as others on Butter. Granted, I only went once, but I just wasn't that impressed (especially given the hype). Maybe we were there on an off night, who knows? Perhaps a return trip is in order. I will say that it looks like there were some new dishes on the menu that weren't there when I was there (the chicken and lobster, the tortilla foam), so maybe things have evolved a bit.

Hope you went to Mi Cocina in San Juan del Cabo. And French Riviera. Those were our two favorites. I expect a report in the Mexico forum! ← No on Mi Cocina, but we did make it to French Riviera on our last night. Report will be forthcoming. My brain is still re-adjusting to reality.

I'm not sure I could rank, but here's my list: Spring (Chicago) - Birthday dinner with my girlfriend. Avenues (Chicago) - Anniversary dinner. My first foie-li-pop. Upperline (New Orleans) - Even more special now, for obvious reasons. James Beard Benefit Dinner at Charlie Trotter's (Chicago) - Dinner featured 7 CT alumni, each cooking one course. Per Se (New York City) - As close to perfection as possible. Is there anything better than Oysters and Pearls? Alinea (Chicago) - Went twice in 2005. Both meals were great but the second was better than the first. Picasso (Las Vegas) - Classy and understated, by Vegas standards. Wonderfully executed food, and probably the best single scallop I've ever eaten. I'm not sure if 2006 will be able to top 2005, but I want you all to know that I will try my absolute hardest

Just got back from a week in Cabo and saw this great thread. 2005 was a great year of dining for yours truly, so a 2006 wish list was hard to come up with. Here's what I've got: 1. Quarterly visits to Alinea. Actually, 2005 will end with New Year's Eve at Alinea. 2. Matsumoto - Looks like the girlfriend is taking me for my birthday, so I just wish that I'll like it. 3. Custom House - I'm always looking for a new place to get my meat on. 4. Moto - I still haven't been, and that's inexcusable at this point. 5. Sweets and Savories - I can never go too much. 6. Trio Atelier - Again, still haven't been...inexcusable. 7. Decent Chinese food delivered to my apartment - The one gaping hole in the Chicago dining landscape IMO. 8 - Charlie Trotter - Only been once and wasn't impressed. Of course, the one time I ate there was the night after my first dinner at Trio under Achatz. 9 - Schwa - See Sweets and Savories. 10 - Le Francais - Loved it before, can't wait to try it again. I think that about covers it. 2006 looks like it will be off to a great start with Alinea on NYE, Carlos' at the end of January and Matsumoto in early February. Happy Holidays all!

I wanted to follow up on a message I posted to the white truffles in Chicago topic with a report on our second dinner at Schwa this past Saturday night. First the food is as good if not better than the last time we were there. Unfortunately, the restaurant was only half-full at best throughout our meal (and we were there for about 3 hours). Schwa may have the worst location in the city, so it is up to us to spread the gospel and keep this place going. They are serving really special food and it would be a shame to see Schwa go away. Hopefully they were just quiet because of the weather. The menu was mostly unchanged from the last time we were there. The most significant addition is a tasting menu options ($70) which you can upgrade to include white truffles (supplement is $30...hmmm, next installment of Thursday night truffles? ). At the moment they are serving a homemade tagliatelle with parmigano-regianno and shaved white truffles. Simple and delicious. I had one of the new main courses, which was pork tenderloin cooked sous vide served with a house cured pork belly, sourkraut and raisins. Outstanding. Dessert is still a choice of two dishes, but one is now chocolate (a brownie served with pumpkin ice cream), the other was an upside down pineapple cake with ginger cream. Both were very good. Following dessert the kitchen sent out an experiment. The top of an apple with holes poked in it. Sticks were in the holes and at the end of each stick was a little ball of carmelized apple. What was it called? (Wait for it...and, all together) Carmel apple! A fun little treat to end the night. So, once again a great meal at Schwa, a restaurant that certainly deserves a larger audience than it appears to be getting.

FYI, Schwa is now serving white truffles. They have a tagliatelle entree for $40. You can also upgrade the tasting menu ($70 for 8-9 courses) for $30.

Doc, Great stuff, great pictures. We're going New Year's Eve and this is only building the anticipation. Keep it coming!

My father made the reservation. I believe he called 2 months in advance but was only able to get on the wait list. They called a week in advance to let us know we were in for Friday night at 7pm.

While in town visiting my family for Thanksgiving, my family was lucky enough to score a 7pm reservation at Per Se for last night. This was my first time eating at either FL or Per Se, so needless to say I was extremely excited. We went for the 9 course tasting menu, here's what we ate: Salmon coronets - I'll have 5 more please Oysters and pearls - Something I could eat all night. I couldn't believe the quantity of cavair included in this dish Seared foie gras, braised flowering quince and "Pain d'Epices" with Mulled Wine-Duck "Jus" - One of the best foie gras preparations I've ever had. As good as the foie was, the pairing with a hungarian dessert wine was even better. Sauteen fillet of "Itoyori", miso glazed eggplant, "Tempura" Kabocha Squash, Stir Fry Bok Choy and Sesame-Soy vinaigrette. Itoyori is a sweet Japanese whitefish that I haven't encountered before. It has a wonderful soft texture and a very delicate, clean flavor. The eggplant and bok choy were perfect accompaniments. "Fricassee" of Maine Lobster "Mitts", "Ragout" of Swiss Chard Ribs, Braised Cardoons, Globe Artichokes and Nicoise Olives with "Barigoule" Emulsion - I believe the mitts were pieces of claw meat, likely poached in lobster and tossed with the rest of the ingredients listed. I've never had olives with lobster before, but the contrast of flavor and texture worked really well here. "Carnaroili Risotte Biologico" with White Truffles from Alba and "Castelmagno" Cheese - As I said to my girlfriend before we left Chicago. "The only thing better than going to Per Se is going to Per Se during white truffle season". Our waiter came out with a large box which he opened to reveal three fist sized truffles. The smell was unbelievable. He then proceeded to shave the largest pile of truffle onto each of our plates that I have ever seen. They're charging a $54 supplement for this dish if you get the 9 course menu. Given the quantity and quality of the truffles, well worth the extra money in my opinion. Snake River Farm's "Calotte de Boeuf Grillee", "Wagyu" Beef Brisket "Hachis Parmentier", Black Trumpet Mushroom "Duxelles" and "Haricots Verts" with "Sauce Bordelaise" - This was a beef cap that just melted in your mouth. Plus, if it weren't luxurious enough, the beef was accompanied by a good size piece of crispy bone marrow (crispy on the outside, soft and marrow-ey on the inside). This dish came with a small Sheppard’s pie, which was good but in my opinion totally unnecessary. "Brie De Meaux", Perigord Truffle "Coulis", Slow Roasted Young Beets and Bulls Blood Greens - A very soft, creamy brie but with a nice strong flavor. The truffle coulis was just a smudge on the pate, but complimented the flavor of the cheese nicely. The cheese was served with a choice of either pecan or fig/anise seed bread, which were both fantastic Ruby Red Grapefruite Sorbet, Vanilla "Moelleux", Poached Grapefruit and "Cosmopolitan" Emulsion - No matter how much I try, I just can't enjoy the flavor of grapefruit. Everyone else at the table liked it, I'm just not a fan. Per Se "Sacher Torte", Chocollate "Pain de Genes", Apricot Marmalade, Ginger Custard, Apricot Ice Cream and Juniper Berry "Gelee" with Spiced Bread "Nougatine" - A serious chocolate dessert, but not as heavy or as overwhelming as most. The ice cream was served on top of the crushed spiced bread, which was a really great combination. The bottom line is that this was a perfect example of what fine dining should be. The highest quality ingredients, perfectly prepared and presented, with exceptional (but not stuffy) service. The highlight of the meal, though, was not on any of the plates. Thomas Keller was at the restaurant last night. He came by our table to say hello and took a few of us in back for an extensive kitchen tour. He must of spent about 20 minutes with us showing us around and graciously answering all of our questions. Given the fact that in the grand scheme of things we are absolutely no one to that restaurant or to Keller, this was an unbelievable gesture. As my dad said afterwards, "That was like getting a tour of Yankee Stadium from George Steinbrenner". The perfect end to the perfect dinner.

A few nominees... 1. The Michelin Guide coming to NYC 2. The continued rise of molecular gastronomy/avant garde cuisine in the US (Alinea, Moto, etc.) 3. The continuing debate over foie gras