Moto Restaurant - Chicago

[Jeffo]

Having had the chance to dine recently at WD-50, I'm looking forward to an upcoming visit to Moto.

My question: can anyone help me evaluate the merits of the GTM vs. the 10-course? Worth the extra $60?

Thanks!

[noambenami]

My question: can anyone help me evaluate the merits of the GTM vs. the 10-course? Worth the extra $60?

Having eaten at WD-50 and Moto, in my estimation, WD-50's food technically well made but fundamentally not particularly tasty. Moto's food is much more fun and the food can be very good at times. So if you liked WD-50, I suspect you'll love Moto...and should go with the GTM.

[BryanZ]

Anything with GT in it has to be good. My question is, how could you not go for it?

[Jeffo]

Anything with GT in it has to be good.  My question is, how could you not go for it?

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You're probably right. I mean what's an extra 60 bucks when you're traveling all the way from Seattle for the dinner (don't get me wrong -- it's not my only reason for going to Chicago!).

[ulterior epicure]

My question: can anyone help me evaluate the merits of the GTM vs. the 10-course? Worth the extra $60?

Having eaten at WD-50 and Moto, in my estimation, WD-50's food technically well made but fundamentally not particularly tasty. Moto's food is much more fun and the food can be very good at times. So if you liked WD-50, I suspect you'll love Moto...and should go with the GTM.

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WOW! Glad to hear I'm not alone on my assessment of WD-50!!

Re: GTM - GO FOR IT!! The one time I ate at Moto, the food was creative, innovative, fun, slightly gimmicky, but very tasty!!

u.e.

[Jeffo]

OK, now here's a tough one: Moto or Alinea?

[ulterior epicure]

That's not so tough for me.... although I've been to A twice and M only once, I would recommend M over A in a heart-beat... but that's just me.

I thought that A was much more like the experience noambenambi described about WD-50 above - A is technically flawless and certainly very creative - but it lacked a certain "fundamental tastiness" that Moto delivered much better on...

u.e.

[babern38]

I was just curious what was going on with Moto? There hasn't been a post for sometime, especially one with any sort of review/details. Has anyone been recently and experienced any new inventions or cool creations?

I still have not been able to make it to moto, but that may not be so for long and I'm curious if I should still consider it to be on my high priority list for my next chicago visit. Thanks.

[JWest]

I was just curious what was going on with Moto?  There hasn't been a post for sometime, especially one with any sort of review/details.  Has anyone been recently and experienced any new inventions or cool creations? 

I still have not been able to make it to moto, but that may not be so for long and I'm curious if I should still consider it to be on my high priority list for my next chicago visit.  Thanks.

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Id be going in if it weren't for being closed on sundays and monday

[djsexyb]

With my wife and I's crazy schedule, we cant get back to Moto for a few months, so I decided to recreate a few of our favorite dishes in the little free time i do have around here. "Ceasar Salad," "Dounut Soup," and if my sodium alginate/calcium chloride ever gets here ill whip up some liquid center b-day cake as well as a few other dishes. hmm, wonder where i could score some liquid nitrogen to make those "Pancakes" I had last time i was there...anyway, heres a few pics followed by a brief description of the process...btw, chef cantu, i have to say they taste nearly exact like yours., consider it a grand cru compliment...

Ceasar Salad

Romaine lettuce, liquified, seasoned, frozen, and scraped into a granita, accompanied with classic housemade ceasar dressing, and a parmasean crudite.

Dounut Soup

Krispy Kremes, liquified, then fortifed with a dounut stock, and confection sweetened cream, gently warmed.

Look for more pics soon, next up, lquid center b-day cake, potato links, etc...

Edited August 2, 2006 by djsexyb (log)

[skidude72]

Chef Cantu, after reading the NY times aritcle "Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science," ive been incredible curious as to how you make the fizzing and foaming hurricane. ( the laser trick is fascinating but... unless santa exists its not in my budget. Back to my original question about the hurricane. could you possibly (begs) share the recipe for the mixture that makes the drink "fizz and foam". I created a topic on this drink here, http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=91115 and there has been some intresting experimentation. but to be honest when mixed into a drink they all taste, well awful.

thanks

[skidude72]

also on a second note... is moto ever planning on releaseing a cookbok. from articles read and pictures seen, im absolutly fascinated by every aspect of moto's food.

[djsexyb]

I created a topic on this drink here, http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=91115 and there has been some intresting experimentation. but to be honest when mixed into a drink they all taste, well awful.

thanks

skidude, sorry i dont mean to be whoring all your posts, but the final drink i did yesterday (the one in the video) tasted great, no trace of baking soda or the byproducts of the reaction. lemon juice/Cream of tartar converts nearly all of it and coupled with the alcohol and cherry syrup, there was no "chemical" taste at all. ok, thats my $.02....

but i would LOVE to know how Moto does it....

Edited August 3, 2006 by djsexyb (log)

[inventolux]

I created a topic on this drink here, http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=91115 and there has been some intresting experimentation. but to be honest when mixed into a drink they all taste, well awful.

thanks

skidude, sorry i dont mean to be whoring all your posts, but the final drink i did yesterday (the one in the video) tasted great, no trace of baking soda or the byproducts of the reaction. lemon juice/Cream of tartar converts nearly all of it and coupled with the alcohol and cherry syrup, there was no "chemical" taste at all. ok, thats my $.02....

but i would LOVE to know how Moto does it....

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There are many ways one can create this reaction. For the advanced home cook, you can separate a mixed drink into 2 inert liquids. One contains an acid and one contains a base. The one that contains a base should have the foaming agent, in this case we use egg white powder. Just be sure to allow the egg white powder to dissolve and strain out any lumps as egg white powder pockets are less than tasty. Use a hand blender rather than a cup blender because the cup blender will create a foaming mass that will spill all over. The only thing one should taste is the drink, not the elements added to create the effect, so only use what is necessary. Depending on the beverage you want to create, you have to adjust the acid vs base. Also bear in mind items like lemon flavored spirits alter the formula and should be taken into consideration. We chose the hurricane because as the base is ejected into the acid, it swirls around in the martini glass thus producing a "milky way" like effect that looks like a satellite image of a hurricane. Any beverage can be adapted to this technique. Cheers.

[skidude72]

Thank You... now if only i could afford to get out to chicago to dine at moto...

[djsexyb]

chef cantu, if you would indulge me once again...

i have recently been reading up about the class I lazer and how you zap the vanilla bean before pouring in some wines. my question...

what wines do you traditionally serve in this method? being a self-admiting wine geek, and also Moto fanatic, i have conflicting view points on this. i would think that you use a wine of lesser quality, therefore the vanilla perks it up. right?

because infusing something into a high quality (and possibly expensive) pinot sets off a few alarms in my head.

so which wines do you use for this?

Thanks in advance, as always.

[inventolux]

Just to clarify, the Class Type is 4. It is a 20 watt Carbon Dioxide Gas Model with an infrared wavelength. It is similar to ones used in the military for star wars and lasik surgery.

I only believe in top quality ingredients. We change the wine daily, but the characteristics that we look for (with vanilla caramelaserization) is a very oaky wine, because oak contains similar flavor compounds that are found in vanilla beans. So the idea is food and wine pairing, in this case, the food is an element found in the wine that is simply reintroduced back into it. This food is just a little closer to your wine than most food.

The most interesting part of this procedure is the winemakers that have tried it, like it the most. Forward thinking is something that winemaking is also being revolutionized with and its a technique that can add very rich qualities to an already exquisite wine.

Vanilla beans are one of thousands of "caramelaserized notes" we can impart into a glass. We can even extract notes from complex sources like an entire fruit basket. The notes can run the entire sweet and savory spectrum.

chef cantu, if you would indulge me once again...

i have recently been reading up about the class I lazer and how you zap the vanilla bean before pouring in some wines. my question...

what wines do you traditionally serve in this method? being a self-admiting wine geek, and also Moto fanatic, i have conflicting view points on this. i would think that you use a wine of lesser quality, therefore the vanilla perks it up. right?

because infusing something into a high quality (and possibly expensive) pinot sets off a few alarms in my head.

so which wines do you use for this?

Thanks in advance, as always.

←

[djsexyb]

Just to clarify, the Class Type is 4. It is a 20 watt Carbon Dioxide Gas Model with an infrared wavelength. It is similar to ones used in the military for star wars and lasik surgery.

I only believe in top quality ingredients. We change the wine daily, but the characteristics that we look for (with vanilla caramelaserization) is a very oaky wine, because oak contains similar flavor compounds that are found in vanilla beans.  So the idea is food and wine pairing, in this case, the food is an element found in the wine that is simply reintroduced back into it. This food is just a little closer to your wine than most food.

The most interesting part of this procedure is the winemakers that have tried it, like it the most. Forward thinking is something that winemaking is also being revolutionized with and its a technique that can add very rich qualities to an already exquisite wine.

Vanilla beans are one of thousands of "caramelaserized notes" we can impart into a glass. We can even extract notes from complex sources like an entire fruit basket. The notes can run the entire sweet and savory spectrum.

ok, i see where you are going with this and i will sure try it for myself the next time I am in. My wife and I are planning on dining again in a couple months, once our businesses reach their slow time of the year.

I am assuming that the vanillan compounds would add a distinct, though not overpowering nose, and perhaps a little added bite on the palate. This is kind of like the "Randal the Enamel Animal" filter used in some bars to impart more hop flavor (though waaay more high tech) (quick note: the "Randal" machine is a two foot tall cone filter that gets attached after the tap and is filled with 1-2 pounds of dried hops, or fresh when available).

hmm. seeing as you said that you can impart any flavor you want into the glass, wouldnt it be different if you did a deconstructed wine course that consists of all the primary and secondary flavors of a specific wine carmelized into a glass. it could be served along side a tasting portion of the actual wine for comparison's sake too. just a thought (i am assuming that by carmelizing the flavors into the glass you obtain a product with amazing nose/scent...man, i just have to come in and try this already....)

Much thanks Chef

[Swicks]

Facinating!

[babern38]

My family and I have been planning a trip to Chicago right after Christmas for some fine dining, of which, Moto will be one of the restaurants we visit. Just to get everything planned I tried to reserve a table on Opentable.com yesterday. When I entered that we were a party of 4 for December 27 at around 7:15PM I was surprised to find that only a 5:30 and 8:30 spot was available. I was surprised that the restaurant would be so booked 3 months out. Anyway, I called and the pleasant receptionist mentioned that they currently had plenty of spots as I had suspected and commented that opentable can act funny sometimes.

Has anyone else ever encountered such an issue?

Anyway, I am very excited to finally get to visit Moto for the first time and looking forward to experiencing as many of the technological/tastylogical creations that Chef Cantu and his team can conjure.

[Lenski]

THis is my first time posting. I live between Chicago-NY and Barcelona. In the last seven months, I have visited many restaurants from old favorites ("Celler," "Moo," "Cinc Sentits," "Schwa," "Tru," "Grand Vefour" among many others) to new(er) ones such as "Alinea," "WD-50" and trying to experience as many restaurants/cuisines as I can. From Jean Georges to the corner hot dog stand and everything in between. I am mentioning these restaurants not to show off but just to prove that I am not new into the culinary scene. Gastronomy, and its cultural implications, is fast becoming an area that fascinates me to no end.

I went to Moto at the beginning of September by a strange twist of fate. I had the 10 course (I had the mistake of having had lunch that day) plus some freebies. I had read comments on this site plus the website and some of the articles. I was not prepared for Moto to be such an incredible experience. Although the night started off iffy (the soup, though spectacularly presented, was mild), the dishes just became more and more extraordinary. Among the winners, the "Champagne," "popcorn," the "barbeque" and the desserts. However, the element of unpredictability mixed with the luscious orgy of tastes became the big (Gastronomical) surprise of the year for me.

I would also like to commend the owners for having assembled such a great service team.

The question between Alinea vs. Moto is a perverse one. I will go to "A" for my third time this Xmas and I have only been to Moto once (repeating next week, I will post). However, I have to say that Moto, from its innovative cuisine, its impeccable service, and great wine pairing (thanks Matt) created such a relaxed and enriching experience that, from now on, in Chicago, Motohas gained my total devotion.

[babern38]

wow! what an inspiring post. I didn't think I could be even more excited for my december trip to chicago and Moto, but I am. I can't wait to hear details.

[docsconz]

THis is my first time posting.  I live between Chicago-NY and Barcelona.  In the last seven months, I have visited many restaurants from old favorites ("Celler," "Moo," "Cinc Sentits," "Schwa," "Tru," "Grand Vefour" among many others) to new(er) ones such as "Alinea," "WD-50" and trying to experience as many restaurants/cuisines as I can. From Jean Georges to the corner hot dog stand and everything in between.  I am mentioning these restaurants not to show off but just to prove that I am not new into the culinary scene.  Gastronomy, and its cultural implications,  is fast becoming an area that fascinates me to no end.

I went to Moto at the beginning of September by a strange twist of fate.  I had the 10 course (I had the mistake of having had lunch that day) plus some freebies.  I had read comments on this site plus the website and some of the articles.  I was not prepared for Moto to be such an incredible experience.  Although the night started off iffy (the soup, though spectacularly presented, was mild), the dishes just became more and more extraordinary.  Among the winners, the "Champagne," "popcorn," the "barbeque" and the desserts.  However, the element of unpredictability mixed with the luscious orgy of tastes became the big (Gastronomical) surprise of the year for me.

I would also like to commend the owners for having assembled such a great service team.

The question between Alinea vs. Moto is a perverse one.  I will go to "A" for my third time this Xmas and I have only been to  Moto once (repeating next week, I will post).  However, I have to say that Moto, from its innovative cuisine, its impeccable service, and great wine pairing (thanks Matt) created such a relaxed and enriching experience that, from now on, in Chicago, Motohas gained my total devotion.

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Welcome to eGullet, Lenski. That is strong praise, indeed given the roster of restaurants you mentioned. I have been to Moto once under less than ideal circumstances(immediately after a long delayed flight). I will have to return when next in Chicago.

Nice picture of Chef Cantu on the cover of the new Gourmet.

[kevinAspork]

Ok, Not to be a party pooper but I too recently dined at moto and although the Food was really an experience to be had, I personally thought that the service was so poor that Im not sure I will go back.

First off, I felt that we were rushed. We ordered a couple of cocktails that were recommended by our server. When they arrived he asked if we would like a wine pairing. We said no, but we would like to order a bottle with dinner. Not even two sips into our drinks and our wine was being poured. So at this point we have a martini glass, a white wine glass, and a water glass all working at once. If it were a red wine maybe it would have been alright but the white we ordered, as I 'm sure chef Cantu would agree, was a little warm by the time we finished our first drinks.

Next, as the courses became a little more headier, my fiance ordered a glass of red. No big deal except they kept pouring the white for her and at this point she has about a 10oz pour of red and a full glass, of by now, room temp white. It just dosen't make sense.

As a chef, I hate to say I would have a problem going back. And I love the fact that Chef Cantu allows the kitchen staff to experience all aspects of the business, but it shouldn't be at the cost of the diner. The meal went from being a 10 to an 8 because of the service.

With all that being said, the food itself rivaled any dinner we've had, and I'm glad that we ate there. Maybe by the time I visit Chicago again the once green service staff will have a little more experience under their belt and the experience will be different.

[Lenski]

Ok, Not to be a party pooper but I too recently dined at moto and although the Food was really an experience to be had, I personally thought that the service was so poor that Im not sure  I will go back.

First off, I felt that we were rushed.  We ordered a couple of cocktails that were recommended by our server. When they arrived he asked if we would like a wine pairing. We said no, but we would like to order a bottle with dinner.  Not even two sips into our drinks and our wine was being poured.  So at this point we have a martini glass, a white wine glass, and a water glass all working at once.  If it were a red wine maybe it would have been alright but the white we ordered, as I 'm sure chef Cantu would agree, was a little warm by the time we finished our first drinks. 

Next, as the courses became a little more headier, my fiance ordered a glass of red. No big deal except they kept pouring the white  for her and at this point she has about a 10oz pour of red and a full glass, of by now, room temp white. It just dosen't make sense. 

As a chef, I hate to say I would have a problem going back. And I love the fact that Chef Cantu allows the kitchen staff to experience all aspects of the business, but it shouldn't be at the cost of the diner. The meal went from being a 10 to an 8 because of the service.

With all that being said, the food itself rivaled any dinner we've had, and I'm glad that we ate there.  Maybe by the time I visit Chicago again the once green service staff will have a little more experience under their belt and the experience will be different.

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I agree that the wine tasting service can be a problem. The attached picture shows the problem that you so elegantly presented. The wines were all very good (a couple exceptions aside) but the dishes come out pretty fast and then you have to drink fast or create a (wine)traffic jam. From now on, if (a completely rethorical if) I order the GTM, I will ask for the 10-wine pairing service.

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11610160...3747_512510.jpg