chefg

I have to say designing the Alinea kitchen has been one of the most exciting experiences thus far in the opening of this restaurant. I have been fortunate to have been “raised” in some of the best kitchens in the country. When I arrived at the French Laundry in August 1996 the “new kitchen” had just been completed. Often times you would hear the man talk about the good old days of cooking on a residential range with only one refrigerator and warped out sauté pans with wiggly handles. When I started about 50% of the custom stainless steel was in place. The walls smooth with tile and carpet on the floors. I recall the feeling of anxiety when working for fear that I would dirty up the kitchen, not a common concern for most cooks in commercial kitchens. The French Laundry kitchen didn’t stop, it continued to evolve over the four years I was there. I vividly remember the addition of the custom fish/canapé stainless unit. Allowing the poissonier to keep his mise en place in beautiful 1/9 pan rails instead of the ice cube filled fish lugs. Each advancement in technology and ergonomics made the kitchen a more efficient and exacting machine. When I returned to the Laundry this past July for the 10th anniversary I was shocked that it had metomorphisized once again. The butcher room was now a sea of custom stainless steel low boys, the pot sink area was expanded, the walk-in moved, and an office added to the corner of the kitchen. The kitchen as I left it in June of 2001 was beautiful and extremely functional, of course it is even more so now. It is the relentless pursuit of detail and concise thought that allows the French Laundry kitchen to be one of the best for cooks to execute their craft…..16 hours a day. This was good motivation. When it came time to design my kitchen I drew on experiences at Trio, TFL and other kitchens I was familiar with to define the positives and negatives of those designs. We were faced with a 21x 44' rectangle. This space would not allow for my original kitchen design idea of four islands postioned throughout the kitchen, but ultimately gave way for the current design which I think is actually better than the original. But most the important aspect in shaping the final design was the cuisine. Due to the nature of food that we produce a typical layout with common equipment standards and dimensions do not work. Here is where the team drew on our experiences from Trio. By looking at the techniques we utilized we came to several conclusions. 1. A conventional range was not our main heat source. We do need the flat tops and some open burners for applications such as braising and limited stock work. But our overall use of this piece of equipment is somewhat low. Given that we wanted four open burners and two flat tops with two ovens I began to source out a reliable unit. We settled on the Molteni G230. 2. Upon analyzing our other heat source needs we decided to place a large focus on induction. By utilizing portable induction burners we are allowed the flexibility to give as much power as needed to a specific station in the kitchen. Obviously induction’s radiant heat is very low, and this allows us to keep the temperature in the kitchen reasonable, yet the power is quite high. 31,000 BTU's of highly controlable heat. But the main reason for choosing this flexible source of heat is the fact that each chef typically employed at least four different cooking applications on a given night. This huge flux in technique and the realization that the menu would change entirely in 8 weeks time meant that we had to design a kitchen that could evolve on a nightly basis. And last, we are very specific with temperatures; induction makes it easier for us to hold a liquid at a predetermined temperature for long periods of time without fluctuation. They operate between 85 and 500 degrees farenheit. We did a great deal of research on the different producers of induction and favored Cooktek. The fact that they are the only U.S manufacturer of commercial induction cooking equipment and located in Chicago made the decision easier. Their innovative approach to induction may prove to be even more exciting as we are already talking about new product development in the future. 3. a. The complexity of the presentations and a la minute plate-ups of the food require a great deal of surface area devoted to plating. This was one of the most critical factors in determining the basic shape of the kitchen. The size of some of today's popular plates, the amount detail in each composition, coupled with the fact that producing tasting menus vs. ala carte means sometimes large waves of same dish pick ups made it necessary for us to have over 44' of linear plating surface. b. Virtually nothing goes vertical above the 36” counter top in the space. All food, plates, equipment, and dry good storage are contained by under counter units. There are a few exceptions such as the infrared salamanders, the three-door refrigerator, and the hood. This allows all the cooks a clear line of communication between each other and the front staff. It allows me an easy sight line to survey the entire kitchen’s progress with a quick glance. Given these two points it seemed obvious that we needed to combine the two and create custom pieces that would fulfill both needs. Large spans of plating surfaces with all food and equipment storage below. As you can see we ended up with two 22’ long units. Each function as a pass and under counter storage. The building is 21’ wide wall to wall. This allowed us just enough space to create two lines on each exterior wall with their passes forming a 60” corridor for the pick up of plates and finishing of dishes. 4. We decided to add a station to the kitchen. At Trio we had five including: a. pastry b. cold garde manger c. hot garde manger d. fish e. meat Now that we had more space, and the ability to give each station multiple heat sources regardless of their location in the kitchen, we could spread the workload even further. We also realized it doesn’t make much sense to identify each station by classic French Bragade terms. A saucier did not solely cook meat with classic techniques and prepare various traditional stocks and sauces…in fact quite the opposite. This holds true with most of the stations, with the exception of pastry, but even they will have very unconventional techniques, menu placement and involvement in the kitchen systems. We will add a station that will be responsible for a large majority of the one-bite courses both sweet and savory. 5.Given the size constraints of the building we realized a walk-in would not be possible in the kitchen. If we were to have one it would be in the basement. Having experienced this at Trio we decided to design the kitchen without a walk-in, making up for the space in various lowboy locations and a three-door reach-in. I experienced the walk-in less environment when I worked at Charlie Trotter’s. It is certainly different, but as with most things if done properly it provides a very efficient environment. It works best in situations where fresh products are brought in daily for that days use. And prevents ordering in large quantities. It also provides us with very specific units to house different items. We will utilize the 3-door refrigerator to store the majority of the vegetables and herbs along with some staple mise en place, and items that cannot be made in very small quantities like stocks. Raw meat will have it’s own lowboys as well as fish, dairy, and all frozen products. 6. At Trio we found ourselves using the salamander a great deal. It is very useful for melting sugar, bringing on transparent qualities in things like fat and cheese, cooking items intensely on only one side, and it is a highly controllable non-direct heat source. Due to the air gap between the foodstuff and the heat elements the cook can control the degree of heat applied to the dish based on the technique he is using. It becomes a very versatile tool in the modern kitchen, so much so that we will install three Sodir infrared salamanders. Again, this is to insure that all the cooks have access to all of the techniques in the kitchen. As I said before it is important for our cooks to be able to sauté, simmer, poach, fry, grill, salamander, and freeze at the same time and sometimes for the same dish. We have a few unusual pieces of equipment in the kitchen; the most is probably a centrifuge. A few months ago Nick and I were driving home from a design meeting and ended up talking about signature dishes and menu repetition. Of course the black truffle explosion came up and he asked if I would have it on the menu at Alinea. I replied a firm no, but shortly thereafter said I would enjoy updating it. We threw around some tongue and cheek ideas like White Truffle Implosion, and Truffle Explosion 2005….I said it was a goal of mine to make a frozen ball with a liquid center….but then dismissed it as nearly impossible. Within a few minutes he said …”I got it…we need a centrifuge” His explanation was simple, place the desired liquid in a spherical mold and place on the centrifuge…place the whole thing in the freezer. Within days he had one in the test kitchen. I guess this is better suited for the kitchen lab topic that we will be starting in a few weeks… We are working on a upload of the kitchen blueprints. When those post I plan on going into more detail about certian aspects of the design. Doing so now would be pointless as the viewer does not have a reference point.

Total sqare feet of the building is as follows: Kitchen: 980sq.ft. Dining spaces: 2200 sq.ft. Basement (used for cellar and offices): 1500 sq.ft. Remainder is composed of bathrooms, entryway, service areas ect..: 1000 sq.ft. There will only be one kitchen, on the first floor.

Tobin: We are working on gethering material for a kitchen design post. Within that post I plan to explain the kitchen layout, why we did what we did and go into great detail as far as equipment purchased and its intended use. I can tell you that the kitchen will be 980 sq. feet.

Ellen: Yes, in fact this is an example that Martin has produced as of a few weeks ago. Most of the time there is about a two to three week lag between the development of a concept and it’s posting here at eGullet. For the very reason you stated I enjoy this concept the best to date. As you can see it evolved from a two dimensional concept into a 3-D piece. I think it is important to note that we were playing with the concept of motion in the early stages. Some of the drawbacks that I felt at the time were applications that would not support the motion…IE chef coats, menus etc…..but time based media like websites could. At the time I felt like Alinea should have only one concept but now I feel we could alter the application based on the medium it was being presented in. This may also support the notion that the identity itself should change from time to time…it does not or should not remain static over long periods of time. Here are some examples of the early motion concepts... http://www.egullet.org/imgs/alinea/4_3_1.swf http://www.egullet.org/imgs/alinea/4_4_1.swf http://www.egullet.org/imgs/alinea/4_5_1.swf

We will in time devote a whole topic to the wine program. I suspect that our sommelier Joe Catterson will contribute his philosophy to the food and wine pairing at Alinea.

LSD: The extact thought we had, and we haven't ruled it out as of yet.

I have great respect for Ferran Adria and think what he has done for the world of gastronomy is unprecedented. I feel Alinea will have a unique voice in gastronomic circles as well, but only if we express our own style. The serviceware is the first view of that, and I suspect many of the other facets of Alinea will follow. It is not a conscious effort to run in the opposite direction of the el Bulli team as much as it is a natural course to execute our own vision.

As I mentioned before the idea to name a restaurant Alinea was born nearly three years ago. During a post-service meeting the group was discussing symbolism, and how we could apply it to signify our cuisine. One of the chefs went home and did some thorough research on the subject, returning the next day with the symbol you see above. I liked it, and after he read me the definition I knew eventually I would use that symbol and name as the identity for my restaurant. As the project came to fruition I discussed the facets with Martin and asked him what aspects he would be interested in working on. The identity of the restaurant was one of them. At this point we had been working together for one year and I felt very comfortable with Martin’s knowledge of my cuisine. He had eaten at Trio and was obviously very active in the development of dishes through the service pieces. It was my desire to produce an image that would translate the philosophy and very meaning of the restaurant we were creating. That being said I felt Martin's understanding of the goal would make him the perfect person to realize it graphically. I have culled various conversations amongst myself, Martin and Nick during the process of developing the identity. They will appear in quotes as well as commentary from each of us now. I have also inserted images of concepts we have had along the way. These do not represent the final identity of Alinea, it in fact is still being worked on and we will add updates as the project matures. These images are however in chronological order to better show the evolution of the process. I the initial stages I was naive about the complexity of creating an identity, especially this one. I thought it would be very easy, we already had a symbol… but that in fact is where it got difficult. The existing symbol bore no relation to Alinea the restaurant. It had definitive meaning, which is why it was chosen to begin with, but the image did not convey the essence of the restaurant. In fact after looking at several restaurants logos I became even more at a loss as to what a logo is. Does the logo define the identity of the restaurant? Does the restaurant give meaning to the logo? Does it matter? The more I became aware of symbolism the more I realized most businesses take it for granted. Martin: “Logo is not an identity and identity is not a logo, identity is a message, emotion, impression, reflecting the essence. It is not just a piece of information, it’s a living, breathing organism, a creature.” As you can see from the samples above I was very fixed on the literal shape of the original symbol. Martin improved its asethetic but we decided it still didn’t project Alinea, as we knew it. Nick: "Ok. So when is a logo a symbol... when does it become identity, and what are the limitations of that representation? I contend two things... first, that there is a nearly infinite variety of shapes and forms that the Alinea can take and still be recognized by "family resemblance" --- for example, how does a toddler know that an 'a' is an 'a' is an 'A" is an italic a, an a of a different font etc. In fact, one could argue, no two a's are exactly alike and yet they convey the same meaning. So, I would say that we could stretch, manipulate, and otherwise change a traditional Alinea into something that would only be vaguely recognizable but still honor that and have enough family resemblance to be a brother or a distant cousin of that simple traditional Alinea." It is sometimes difficult for chefs to analyze their work and even to understand it fully…it comes so naturally it’s hard to pinpoint…let alone describe in a philosophic visual language. However, it seemed like this is what we needed to move forward with this project. The next round continued on a very literal representation of the message I was trying to convey to Martin. The symbol superimposed onto a plate. Although visually appealing we felt it carried unnecessary information (the plate) and lacked the complete understanding of Alinea. It became apparent that in order to create a logo that expressed the personality of the restaurant the way we wanted it to, much more thought was required. Martin: “I have eaten your food and that is perhaps the best way you can articulate your vision. But I would like you to try articulating your concept for Alinea verbally or graphically. Try to articulate attributes (there is room for some poetry and metaphor here). What is Alinea’s purpose, where does it stand in relationship to everything surrounding it? What sets it apart from other restaurants that will make people come and appreciate it?” This proved to be very difficult for me personally. I felt at times the appropriate language did not exist to describe the definitions of what Alinea will meant to me… through the food, atmosphere, the overall experience that will be created. Describe the emotional state of excitement, intrigue, and happiness with out getting out the thesaurus and using more words…words are inefficient..they don’t work. The cuisine I can describe. Several adjectives were thrown around, from the literal “I think the logo should be crisp…our presentations are very crisp”…to the more philosophical…creative, contemporary, avant garde. All of this seemed to be helping. Not only was Martin gaining a better perspective on how I think but also I was learning a great deal by studying myself. Martin: "I know we did brush upon this but I don’t think we really got beyond vague, non-descriptive terms. Is the fact that the cuisine is cutting edge sufficient as a restaurant concept? What I see as my contribution, is aiding in finding the visual means (and executing them) for articulating that vision, but the vision has to be communicated by non-visual means first." Here are some samples of concepts from round three. As we moved forward the concepts became more complex. Not the symbols per se but their relation to the fonts, their positioning to express lightness, and some of the superimposing. It is clear that this round was the result of me repeating the need to project modernity. Although we all viewed this as a giant step forward the conclusion was drawn that the symbols captured forward thinking, but left the viewer feeling slightly cold. It was the essence of several of the objectives but was still missing something as a whole. In an email conversation I had with Nick he said the following that really made me understand what we were trying to accomplish.. Nick: “To me, identity occurs when there exists a unique set of facts. Facts in the sense of points of note that are real, concrete, and unique. When a particular arrangement happens of these facts -- a unique pattern of them -- you have an identity. You don't create that at all... it happens all the time, every time. If it is recognizable, it is an identity. We will create an identity for Alinea by default and it will be far more than the logo, the menu, or anything else... it will be as Martin said the grouping of all of these things.” We knew we wanted a manipulated version of the classic symbol that was our own. So we started ripping the experience apart in order to apply the core meaning to the symbol visually. This would not only show a state of evolution but help personalize the symbol...aligning the experience of Alinea with that of the symbol's definition. Martin’s comments below became particularly valuable… "To me, the contrast between a tasting menu and entree is in that sense minimal, it is not a question of choices, the difference is in the wealth of the experience. Where the tasting menu is a journey and the entree is a place. You can experience the exact same place in different ways just by reorganizing the journey. That’s what I find interesting. The restaurant is somewhere where you go to experience the journey, this restaurant at least. That is a part of what the identity should convey. Motion I think is important to convey, define wealth without using a shortcut or an attribute of wealth (which will be misleading). A wealth of experience opposed to a wealth in material. And still make it understandable to the audience, at least to some degree. I think the ripple effect is symbolic of the experience the restaurant should offer - it is not a static idea, it is intended to change and grow, the ripples are symbolic of an action exponentially growing on its own. All the restaurants seem to try to simplify the message. But what I think is attractive about the experience is the change, the motion, action. How do you define something which in essence is an evolution?" In reaction to this dialog Martin submitted round four. Here is a sampling below: After seeing the concepts of motion I knew we were on the right track. It was exactly the visual cue I was looking for to explain the constant state of evolution the Alinea team pocesses. It adds great aesthetic appeal and gives the identity a high level of complexity. For the next round I wanted to incorporate the symbol in manipulated way. I liked this symbol from the previous round and Martin and I discussed applying movement to it. It was just as Nick had said weeks earier...It is a far cry from the original symbol but it still carries the meaning of it, and communicates Alinea very well through its form. Then next round followed: After this round Nick and I agreed that we felt the symbol itself needed more depth.... Nick: ".....to use some difference in tones on some of the Alinea's to give them depth -- in the curvature -- etc. For example, if that new age logo that Martin presented had some gray tones in it so that the roundness had depth, that would be a good thing -- and make it more sophisticated I think. I agreed and asked Martin specifically to comment on extruding.. “As I mentioned I would like to see some more depth or dimension applied to the symbol..... You mentioned not liking the weighted look and said that you didn’t feel it applied to our cuisine...could you explain that?” Martin: "What I see as symbolizing your work is motion, transformation, lightness, whimsy and intrigue. Not materiality. Anything extruded, suggesting volume, feels to me as heavy, immobile, lacking all of the above. It doesn't combine well for that reason. Depth and dimension don't necessarily have to translate into a volumetric illusion. A feather slowly swaying as it falls expresses lightness, grace, symbolizes the travels of the bird; but a feather on a hat is a decoration, a dead relic of a bird, a trophy. Definition and material presence defy intrigue there. And I feel in a similar way in regards to your identity. Volumetric illusion quantifies something that in my eyes is not quantifiable in your case. We are talking about a state of mind, not a material state. When I said I felt strongly about 6_2_3 and 6_2_5 it was because, besides being visually interesting, what happens there conveys what I believe we're trying to say the best of all the work we have done to this point. While there is a symbol of a material object - a plate - it doesn't pretend to be a plate, it remains a symbol." I preferred showing vertical motion as opposed to horizontal so Martin retooled the one of the concepts to show this. I really like the results. He also included a variation of 6_2_3 that I felt strongly about as well. At this point I felt like the process had come to point a strong confidence that we were getting close to the final concept. I asked Martin to comment on color. In a conversation with Nick he mentioned how difficult it is to view the images in black and white. I agreed and suggested it really isn’t a true representation of the existing personality that each concept is displaying. On Aug 20, 2004, at 11:27 AM, grant achatz wrote: What is your suggestion for colors? Do you feel the color of the cards etc..need to be the same as the colors in the restaurant? I like a cloudy clear vellum as the base with the symbol in black it’s blur various shades of gray and the font a stainless. Thoughts? Grant. His reply: "Color is a very important factor and we will deal with it more in depth once we have a more definite direction as far as the symbol goes. Perhaps you could think about and write your thoughts on the significance of colors and your personal preferences. I don't think the colors need to be really reflected in or a reflection of the restaurant's interior." this email followed shortly after.. "As a next step for the process of introducing color into the identity process and understanding your color preference that goes beyond the logo, I would like you to send me a selection of photos (regardless of the subject) that you find attractive color-wise. I can analyze the spectrum and send you back color schemes to look at. For example below are 16 color combinations derived from the photos we took at Trio of the tripod, squid and an antenna (obviously, they're rather monotone). Generally, this is a good way to find a fairly harmonious color combination. If you could find some images you like, it would help me see your real color preferences, most people don't think about the colors much, especially not about color juxtaposition. This is one of the ways to expose it." That just about catches us up to the present state of identity. The manipulations on the symbol reflected below are the latest attempt to manipulate the symbol to our satisfaction. I suspect another round from Martin very soon adressing some thoughts we had last week. The Alinea identity is not yet complete. We will add to this topic as we conceptulize more. I suspect there is enough material here to create a good conversation about identity in general and specifically Alinea's identity evolution.

That is not really true. Of course, as with any well organized high level kitchen, a great deal of prep has to be in place in order to be successful, especially with several intricate dishes to be served each service. At Trio we did prep for the service only, in other words very little food carried over from day to day. The exception being large items like veal stock and braised foodstuffs like artichokes.We did not employ a prep team, each chef would come in around 10 am and be responsible for all of the items on their station. For the majority of the mise en place it was estimated what we would need for the given night, if any remained it was either consumed by the staff or discarded. In fact, I am sure most of the cooks could tell a few stories about sprinting to the whole foods to purchase an item because not only did we not over prep, but we ran it very tight on the food and came into the building everyday. so you are saying things like courses in the clear tubes are all done to order? Or are they just made prior to service in numbers that are estimated to be what you would need for that service? Nothing would ever be pre-plated. One end of the tubes are set in flavored agar prior to service to "cap" an end, but they are filled and the second end is capped to order. Of course all of the foodstuffs to be placed in the tubes would be prepared during the day IE the tapioca, sorrel coulis, flavored gelatin...however the foie gras puree is made to order.

That is not really true. Of course, as with any well organized high level kitchen, a great deal of prep has to be in place in order to be successful, especially with several intricate dishes to be served each service. At Trio we did prep for the service only, in other words very little food carried over from day to day. The exception being large items like veal stock and braised foodstuffs like artichokes.We did not employ a prep team, each chef would come in around 10 am and be responsible for all of the items on their station. For the majority of the mise en place it was estimated what we would need for the given night, if any remained it was either consumed by the staff or discarded. In fact, I am sure most of the cooks could tell a few stories about sprinting to the whole foods to purchase an item because not only did we not over prep, but we ran it very tight on the food and came into the building everyday.

Jonathan: Thank you, it's good to be here. However, aside from the glass bowls made famous from the NT Times Mag cover holding the carrot air, I did not see any visual simularities to our pieces...unless that was your point.

Without experiencing the consumption of my food with the support of these pieces it is difficult to articulate responses to the questions you posed. Because we are taking about an experience….an altered emotional state that is different with every guest…talking about “it” is unjust. That is my explanation to the doubter. This is untrue. Yes we are creating a container that will work in synergy with the cuisine. As of now there are key aspects of the design that will deliver emotional triggers….but our priority is to create a seamless, exciting, comfortable and expressive experience of dining. That being said there are characteristics of the restaurant that will be “normal”. It has been decided that not every element of the restaurant can be new and challenging. When we think of dining at the highest level certain adjectives come to mind…..comfort, beauty, opulence, sophistication, sensuality, and elegance to name a few. In order to achieve these, there are certain sets of parameters that are placed on the design due to the guest’s ideal of these expectations. However we have more creative freedom on the table service. It is on this stage where we will express…the guests meanwhile will be watching from comfortable chairs. It is not our intention to abandon all “traditional” serviceware. We create the new pieces because existing pieces do not support the cuisine functionally. If Alinea creates a dish that is best suited to a plate than we will pick a piece of china that will support it. At the time we left Trio the average diner would receive 13 courses, of those 5 to 6 would be presented on special serviceware. I expect about the same ratio at Alinea. I think the cushioning you speak of is the food itself. The antenna held three basic elements: smoked salmon, pineapple and soy sauce; the eye only two…verjus and fresh thyme.. …tripod only one…. frozen hibiscus tea. For these I ask members of eGullet community that have experienced my cuisine to comment on the effectiveness of the service pieces. How it made them feel and if they thought it was ridiculous. I can’t think of too many media people that have specifically commented on them with the exception of David Shaw in his LA Times feature “I had plenty of room left for the final desserts, including my favorite-which came in a glass tube…You hold the tube upright above your mouth and let the richly flavored and textured mixture slide over your tongue…” As new as these presentation are one thing remains of the highest priority…..the food has to taste good. If we fail as cooks the entire game is lost, it even becomes embarassing, but if we can deliver good tasting food in a way that heightens it’s emotional impact, then we have not only won…..we’ve won big.

In November of 2002 I decided to pursue the development of service ware to support the cuisine we were producing. This process was initiated by one dish; we wanted to present a frozen sucker of unusual flavors. The making of the actual dish seemed easy…basically pick a flavor. But finding the appropriate holder proved very difficult. It was this difficulty that forced us to entertain the thought of building are own. I contacted over 30 designers via email explaining my desire to produce service pieces based on function as the priority as opposed to aesthetics. Pieces would be built around the food, supporting the dish based on its characteristics. Of the 30 designers I contacted only one replied, Martin Kastner of Crucial Detail. We bounced emails back and forth for a period of time, as we got to know each other’s desire to be involved in this collaboration the process developed into more than just a holder for a frozen sucker. As you can see Martin proposed several solutions before we settled on the final form. He suggested that the sphere of ice had enough strength to support three pivoting legs. The legs would become the holder, and when squeezed they would collapse to form the utensil from which the pop would be eaten. We realized that the service of food has remained basically the same for the last 200 years. Looking at how cuisine had developed in the last ten years it became obvious that the need to support the food functionally and emotionally was crucial to the success of the cuisine itself. The involvement of the serving pieces and actual eating utensils plays an enormous role in the emotions that guests can experience while dining. The pieces can add humor, surprise, intrigue, excitement and even a sense of intimidation to the meal. When these emotions are triggered, it leaves a very personal stamp on the experience based on the individual’s reactions. I realized the synergy of food and the serving pieces helps the chef convey the message to the guest. A personalized emotional experience is created, solidifying a meal into a form of art. As food has advanced in technique it has at times become more difficult to serve. For example we wanted to create palate cleanser that was a single bite of intensely flavored ice. I wanted the food to quickly melt on the palate as opposed to the normal sorbet course. We created an ice chip the size of a half dollar and about 3 mm thick. This rapid dissolving is the essence of a palate cleanser…if its purpose is to refresh do you really want multiple bites? One bite…an intense clearing that lacks time and monotony is what we decided this course should be. The problem was finding something that we could serve this very thin ice chip on. This led to the creation of the eye. Of course sight is essential to conveying emotion and in all of the pieces developed we look at the aesthetic value. But in some cases the final form is very dramatic. This is the case of the squid. Upon the creation of the Tempura Shrimp cranberry, preserved lemon, vanilla fragrance we found it necessary to present the composition in an upright position. This would give the guest a visual cue as to how to eat the dish, lowering the end into their mouth while keeping the vanilla bean vertical. Since the dish was tempura fried it was necessary to provide air circulation to avoid steam from softening the exterior. All of these attributes lead to the design of a very dramatic piece that executes the function but also adds a high level of visual appeal. During the course of developing these pieces we made conscious efforts to create pieces that would change the mechanics of eating. The repetition of lifting a piece of silverware to ones mouth seemed unnecessary in some cases, and this thought lead Martin to the antenna concept. The goal was to eliminate the need for a plate and utensils with the exception of the skewer itself. It becomes the only vehicle in the process of preparation, serving, and consumption of the course. Additionally it controls the way the three different components of the dish hit the palate due to their position on the skewer. This helps us achieve complexity in flavor and texture. After several discussions about serving pieces and what we were trying to achieve, Martin approached me with a concept that involved hiding the food. This had been done before; we have all experience the dramatic lifting of a cloche…revealing the food underneath. But what about taking that a step further? Hold the surprise of what was “underneath” until it was on the guest’s palate. We have been working on the pouch since March. This service piece could help us provide a great sense of excitement and intrigue when a given course is served. This concept has not yet been completed. As you can see we started with a few approaches and it has evolved into something quite different. The bow was designed specifically to hang foodstuffs that had characteristics of lightness, motion, and delicacy. Rather than lie a thinly sliced piece of cured duck breast or a piece of savory vegetable leather on a plate, we could give the food dimension.... and encourage movement by creating a piece that swayed slightly when transported and placed on the table. It has become quite typical in high-end restaurants to serve small bites on spoons propped up on folded napkins. I wanted to create a plate that would support the spoon from the bowl not the handle. When Martin presented me with images of the antiplate I knew it was perfect. The simplicity and scale of the piece draws attention to the food and at the same time makes it very easy for the guest to pick up the utensil. I am going to hold this image back for a period, we will insert it later. We have more pieces in development, as they mature I will add them to this thread.

Myself and the entire Alinea team are excited about this opportunity to document the development and creative process of a restaurant trying to push the limits. Thank you to eGullet and the eGullet community for this opportunity.

You can follow this link Alinea to view part one of three of the Alinea website. Keep in mind it may take an extended amount of time to load on some computers. Moderator Note...edited to provide hyperlink

Alinea will be much closer to downtown Chicago than Trio. The address is still undecided at this time.

Self-encapsulation of liquids was something we had talked about at Trio since the beginning of our time here. The concept of it exemplifies the thought processes we have in the kitchen. You will frequently hear me say to a cook asking what to add to a puree to adjust the consistency is. …itself. If you are making celery soup, what should the ingredients be to make that soup taste like the essence of celery? Well, celery ….of course, not water, not cream…celery. The point I am trying to make is if you take a product and wrap it in itself it has nothing to dilute the flavor that you are trying to express. In 2003 a former team member and myself visited the IFT expo in Chicago. (Institute of Food Technologists). The expo is a showcase for food processing companies, similar to the National restaurant show in its respective field. One of the things we stumbled upon was a company that was demonstrating the uses of Alginate. In the food processing industry they use it primarily to adhere spice mixes to frozen chicken breasts to add durability during packaging. We watched the demonstrator pour a clear liquid onto a table. He would then mist it with another solution, and it would congeal before our eyes. The other solution was calcium chloride. At this point we had encapsulated liquid in pasta. (black truffle explosion) At the sight of this new technique we figured we could eliminate the pasta and wrap black truffle juice in itself. We placed an order for the product. One week later the NY Times Magazine piece on Ferran Adria came out. There it was…caviar of apple and the infamous pea ravioli. One step ahead of us for sure…but we were on the right track no doubt. When the product arrived we knew we couldn’t do “caviar” or even super ball sized encapsulations due to Adria’s precedent. So we posed ourselves with a challenge. How do we create an encapsulation the size of a hardball? A self encapsulated soup or sauce depending on the size desired. Two weeks later we figured it out, and the technique has been applied to both sweet and savory applications in the restaurant. Pete Wells does a good job of describing the process in the July issue of Food and Wine…the article on Innovative pastry chefs, check it out.

Cooktek is the leader in induction heat sources in this country. We use one of their portable units at Trio and find that it performs at a very high level. I especially like the versatility found in a portable unit. Their single hob units can reach up to 31,000 BTU’s, which is comparable or exceeds that of open burner or French top sources. As I mentioned before induction is very underutilized in this country. Much more popular in Europe, I expect that it will find it’s place here in the US market if chefs learn about it’s benefits. It is faster in both recovery and suppression, easier to control at precise temperatures, has less radiant heat, easier to clean, more economical and has high aesthetic appeal. I suspect Alinea will have several Cooktek units in the kitchen.

www.alinea-restaurant.com

When I was at the French Laundry a small group of us would sit around after service and fanticize about dream kitchens and how we would change the laundry kitchen to better suit our needs. Of course the kitchen that we were standing in at the time was beautiful by present day standards, however every cook can always come up with ways to make his/her operation more efficient and aesthetically appealing. When the opportunity presented itself for this project the ideas flooded my mind how we would design a kitchen to help us execute our cuisine. Not unlike food… kitchen design has done little in terms of moving forward in modern times. Classic designs and traditional cooking suites are the norm in today’s high-end kitchens. They are dominating by French Top and open burner heat sources. These ranges are fine for kitchens that employ traditional methods of cooking their products. We have these systems in place at Trio and have done our best to make them work for us, however we could be much more efficient if the kitchen were built around the cuisine, not just put in place because it is what everyone else uses. If a cook is poaching lobster en sous vide at 128 F and has componets such as a self encapsulated sauce that needs to be heated in a 155 F water bath, a broth that needs to be boiled prior to serving, a sugar component that needs a salamander to melt it , and an oven to warm the arromatic bread... a raging french top does him little good. However, if he had two highly sensitive induction units that he could set the temperature for the poaching applications, the salamnder above him for the sugar, with the oven below for the bread, and the open burner to boil his broth... he is in good shape. Not to mention the grill pan resting on the French top nearby , the tempura oil at the perfect temperture and the hot saute pan ready for searing the garnish..with the freezer to his immediate left ...all for the use to assemble the other dish he is responsible for. To top all of that off in 6 weeks neither of the menu items I described above will be on the menu, so now he has to be able to morph his station to fit the needs of the next dishes.....and so on. Two months ago on a busy night I took a step back and viewed the line in action. Within a 8 foot linear space the team was employing 11 different cooking techniques. It struck me then that with the complexity and varied cooking we do we need a kitchen that is universal and flexible. With the menu in constant state of evolution it is imperative that the cooks have the ability to manipulate their station to fit the dishes they are responsible for. It is my intention to create a kitchen that can be in constant flux. We will utilize induction as 50 % of our heat sources followed by 25% radiant salamanders and 25% tradition stoves and ranges. The idea here is to provide a wide range heat source possibilities to the cook so the physical design of the kitchen does not become a limiting factor of creativity. The same idea will be applied to refrigoration and freezer spaces. I could and will spend several hours thinking and writing about the kitchen design of Alinea. This is just a glimpse. To answer your question directly. None. I am analyzing the cuisine we currently produce , trying to determine where it will evolve to, and allowing the cuisne to design our kitchen for us. No kitchen table.

I expect it to be between 65 and 75 seats. Roughly 20 to 25 tables. 5 to 7 on the first floor and the balance on the second floor.

July 31st.

As I mentioned before, I have commitments for two sous chef positions. One of the current sous chefs at Trio and the current pastry chef at Trio will fill those roles. I suspect three of the chefs I have on staff here will cross over to Alinea, however with an anticipated opening date in January, this period of time may cause some pre-committed attrition. As I see it now the team will be composed of at least 15, probably closer to 20 with the presence of externs and long term stages. I am included in that count, as my role is a very involved one in day-to-day prep and service. Under me there will either be three sous chefs OR two sous chefs and a pastry chef. That is yet to be determined. All other staff will be at a chef de partie level, we will not utilize commis at Alinea. Nor will we give classical titles to the cooks such as saucier or garde manger, as the cuisine will not follow those predetermined guidelines.

I have only retained management positions for Alinea at this point. I would suggest checking the website frequently when it launches sometime in the next two weeks. It will offer information regarding externships, employment and stage opportunities available when we decide to start taking commitments for these positions.

That's pretty good....want a job???