Alinea previewed in Food & Wine

[ronnie_suburban]

A great piece, by Pete Wells, appears in the March 2005 issue of Food & Wine:

Brain Food | Grant Achatz

Your waiter will appear bearing a small steel contraption. Wires radiate up and out, like the skeleton of an upside-down umbrella. Snuggled into those spokes will be a small bunch of grapes, but the grapes are gone—all but two, which still cling to their denuded branch, partly visible through a lacy, paper-thin wrapping of toast. It won't look like food, exactly, but you're in a restaurant and this seems to be your first course and you're hungry, so you will pick up the whole weird mess by the stem, dangle it over your mouth, Roman emperor-style, and bite. The outside will be crisp; inside will be something juicy. A grape, of course. But there will be something else, something sticky and totally, utterly familiar. You've known this taste since before you could tie your own shoes. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich! And you will wonder: Just what kind of restaurant is this, anyway?

It's called Alinea, and when it opens in Chicago this month, I predict that it will quickly prove itself one of America's most unusual, provocative, challenging and entertaining restaurants. Also, I'll bet, one of its best.

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[tan319]

This is a great article.

The thing I probably liked best was when chefG discussed Adria and spoke about critics of his style.

LOVE IT!!!

Got to get there.

Sounds like the whole restaurant will be a trip.

Thanks for posting.

[nick.kokonas]

On Monday, February 7th, Alinea will begin taking reservations for the period of May 4 - 28. The reservation line will be open from 2 - 6 pm cst. 312-867-0110 .

Alinea will be open Wed. - Sun for dinner only.

Also, you may email GM Joe Catterson at Joe@alinearestaurant.com between now and then. Please include your name, daytime phone number(s), and requested dates and times. We will then call you by Monday afternoon, before the reservation line opens.

We have already received many, many emails from eGullet members and we sincerely appreciate the interest and have enjoyed your questions and comments. We look forward to meeting and serving you all.

[ronnie_suburban]

As a lifetime Chicago-area resident, I'm feeling almost giddy about Alinea's opening. I also feel fortunate that I will enjoy such ease of access (no air travel required ). If support for Alinea is even a fraction as strong as the pre-opening buzz, it's going to be a very tough reservation.

Congrats. The F&W piece is terrific.

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[docsconz]

Fantastic article! I am anxiously awaiting my call. I think I may want to bring my two oldest sons (15 & 13) along with my wife and I. I also want to go to Moto the same weekend. The combination sounds like great fun to me.

[ronnie_suburban]

The print version of the March F&W arrived at my house today. It includes a couple of nice pictures -- not shown on line -- to go along with the story.

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[JimInLoganSquare]

I confirmed my reservation for Wednesday, May 4 -- opening night. I'm looking forward to being a guinea pig on this one. Thanks for providing the email address; I received a call at 6:45 p.m. and got the feeling the reservationist had made a LOT of calls before he got to me!

[PurpleDingo99]

Im reading this fantastic article right now and noticed something a little funny. Three pages after "Your sauteing a piece of fish!" ( ) is a recipe for Mai Phom's sauteed salmon rice bowl (w/ ginger lime sauce.) Dont you love irony?

[bentherebfor]

Congrats to all involved with Alinea. The article is fantastic and will certainly attract even more interest in what is sure to be the greatest thing to hit the American culinary scene since sliced bread.

Edited February 12, 2005 by bentherebfor (log)

[chefseanbrock]

Any news on when the website will be changed...........really looking forward to seeing the food and the menus