[CHI] Alinea – Grant Achatz – Reviews & Discussion (Part 1)

[snekse]

We were a little saddened to not see the "crate and barrel" serviceware used for the "smoking cinnamon and also missed the plate that the prosciutto had been shown on. We were instructed to pick up the prosciutto from a presentation napkin held by our server.

Does anyone know anything about these service pieces being changed out? Seems kind of odd to me. I know the prosciutto dish was a prototype, but that's a huge 180 in the feel to have it served on a napkin (I'm assuming it was planked like the other bread dish). What was the cinnamon dish served in?

Also, when the table behind us continually used the flash on their camera we were asked if it was bothering us. When one member of our party answered yes, the server said "then you can go ahead and use yours". Strange response, we thought.

So do you have some pictures for us?

Lastly, one of our party was struck in the head by the flying wire from a neighboring table's bacon course. so....

I would have brought that to a manager's attention immediately. That, to me, means the service piece needs to be redesigned and some form of compensation was in order. It's one thing to have a waiter spill something on you, but flying projectiles at a place like Alinea seems a bit overboard.

[eggplantconfit]

concerning the "flying bacon wire", one of the servers saw it and said,"first time thats happened", so hopefully it's being addressed.

the prosciutto was served on a napkin plank and the fried bread course was the one that we never recieved though it was on our menu. i, too, would like to know what was up with changing the prosciutto plate. the server said that two other restaurants in chicago were already using the smoking cinnamon tube so the kitchen decided to stop using it. thats a shame because we got very little cinnamon aroma from the small amount of smoke that came out from under the lifted bowl.

one member of our party did take pictures and i will try to get them but the previous pics from some egullet members are, i'm sure, superior.

m

[jesteinf]

Fantastic quote from Eric Aubriot in today's Chicago Magazine Dish newsletter.

“We are going to try to beat Alinea. We have a new concept: No silverware. Only straws."

–Eric Aubriot, joking about Narra (Hotel Orrington, 1710 Orrington Ave., Evanston), which is opening June 6th

[Bicycle Lee]

We were a little saddened to not see the "crate and barrel" serviceware used for the "smoking cinnamon and also missed the plate that the prosciutto had been shown on. We were instructed to pick up the prosciutto from a presentation napkin held by our server.

Does anyone know anything about these service pieces being changed out? Seems kind of odd to me. I know the prosciutto dish was a prototype, but that's a huge 180 in the feel to have it served on a napkin (I'm assuming it was planked like the other bread dish). What was the cinnamon dish served in?

I was told they stopped using it because it ended up being TOO smoky...The dish was served on a nice rectangular plate with a small lidded dish in the corner that was opened to reveal the smoking cinnamon, salt, and ground cinnamon.

I was effective, but I too was disappointed to not see the glass peice.

[bilrus]

I'm fascinated by the passion that this cooking seems to be provoking - on both sides of the coin.

While at the same time eG members and posters on other forums have been waxing poetic about the food, I've seen a group of reports from several diners on another site that was absolutely scathing.

Has anyone seen a report anywhere (excepting maybe Bruni in the NYT) that falls somewhere between rapture and disgust?

[JPW]

Bill,

I thought that Ruhlman's post upthread was likely the most even-keeled opinion thus far.

[johnder]

I would expect to see quite a few service changes in the coming weeks. While these presentations (smoking tubes, bacon wires) look great and definately cause a media "buzz" -- which is obviously what they are after, it will soon prove to be too much to deal with both on a logisitics as well as a cost perspective to maintain.

I think anyone who wants to see the presentations in their most complex form should hurry up and eat there before most of it changes.

[VeryApe77]

I'm fascinated by the passion that this cooking seems to be provoking - on both sides of the coin.

While at the same time eG members and posters on other forums have been waxing poetic about the food, I've seen a group of reports from several diners on another site that was absolutely scathing.

Has anyone seen a report anywhere (excepting maybe Bruni in the NYT) that falls somewhere between rapture and disgust?

←

I found this while googling around earliar this week - a pretty positive review but not too OTT.

http://www.toomanychefs.net/archives/001428.php

Restaurants of this type often seem to polarize diners, I have noticed - I have read many reviews of the Fat Duck (many by very experienced diners), for instance, that seem to convey a really extreme dislike of the place, sometimes verging on the personal. At the same time, it seems to be doing pretty well and those that like it, often like it A LOT.

Edited May 18, 2005 by VeryApe77 (log)

[ronnie_suburban]

I would expect to see quite a few service changes in the coming weeks.  While these presentations (smoking tubes, bacon wires)  look great and definately cause a media "buzz" -- which is obviously what they are after, it will soon prove to be too much to deal with both on a logisitics as well as a cost perspective to maintain.

I think anyone who wants to see the presentations in their most complex form should hurry up and eat there before most of it changes.

←

I don't know if I agree with this assertion completely. That certainly wasn't the case at Trio as chefg was finishing his stint there last July. Yes, I agree that there will be some modifications, but in the end, he will continue to be true to himself and push the manner in which dishes are presented to the diner.

=R=

[ronnie_suburban]

I'm fascinated by the passion that this cooking seems to be provoking - on both sides of the coin.

While at the same time eG members and posters on other forums have been waxing poetic about the food, I've seen a group of reports from several diners on another site that was absolutely scathing.

Has anyone seen a report anywhere (excepting maybe Bruni in the NYT) that falls somewhere between rapture and disgust?

←

I found this while googling around earliar this week - a pretty positive review but not too OTT.

http://www.toomanychefs.net/archives/001428.php

Restaurants of this type often seem to polarize diners, I have noticed - I have read many reviews of the Fat Duck (many by very experienced diners), for instance, that seem to convey a really extreme dislike of the place, sometimes verging on the personal. At the same time, it seems to be doing pretty well and those that like it, often like it A LOT.

←

From the linked review:

. . . Still, I felt some of the things done with the food was done in the interest of show and not necessarily in the interests of taste. I left sated and happy, but not as impressed as the build-up to the opening led me to belive I would be. So right now, I'd say its certainly worthy of the company of Tru and Charlie Trotter's, but my last visit to Charlie Trotter's still stands out in my mind as the best meal I ever had. I'll be interested in revisiting Alinea in a year to see if they can top that experience, and I expect they will.

=R=

[eggplantconfit]

I feel like most of the reports have been pretty even keel.

though we did have some problems with some of the service, the over all experience was still 4 star to me.

I also feel like the style of the food will not change. Rather than change the style and reach of the food and service i think the staff and chefg will just simply make it work.

Like i said before, i think a few months from now alinea will be at the very top of the food chain.

m.

[jesteinf]

First look, not quite a review, from Phil Vettel in today's Chicago Tribune

Regardless, people don't want to know if Alinea is good. They want to know if it can possibly be this good.

The short answer: Yes. Alinea is a thrill ride of a dining experience, one that leaves you exhilarated, spent and eager for more.

...

This is big. Charlie Trotter big. Ducasse-comes-to-America big. Don't miss it.

No stars given at this time, but based on this I think we can guess what's coming.

[docsconz]

More to come, but briefly, I had the Tour last night with my wife, two eldest sons and a guest. It was phenomenal with everything firing on all cylinders. The food was dazzling, the wines perfect foils that complemented the courses rather than compete with them and the service as good as I have experienced ever.

I will say that I was extremely happy that I skipped lunch.

[docsconz]

My dinner at Alinea on Saturday night was one of the finest and most enjoyable dining experiences I have ever had for a number of reasons. I found the restaurant decor to be understated, interesting, elegant but not at all stuffy. The entrance was a truly fun beginning. Even though I had some idea what to expect, it was still somewhat of a surprise and set the tone for culinary magic to come. We arrived promptly at our reservation time of 6:15PM and were escorted to our table after a short tour of the kitchen and introduction with ChefG. We were seated upstairs in the back.

The service proceeded to be amongst the finest I have ever encountered. It succeedeed at mixing the best of European elegance with American charm and did so in a way that was both warm and ultra-professional. The course delivery was seemless, which is saying something over twenty five courses. I was amazed that everyone appeared as fresh and energetic at the end of service as they did at the beginning. The servers' knowledge base about the food was also excceptional as were the explanations proffered for how best to eat it. My comments apply equally to the wine service as well as the food. I cannot say that I have ever experienced better.

The food was fabulous. While I certainly enjoyed some courses more than others, there were no misses amongst them The pacing and progression was superb as the courses weaved in and out of the distinctions between sweet and savory. I was a little skeptical about this at first, but like the reverse progression at Susur in Toronto, it most certainly worked, especially at keeping the palate refreshed and energized. I took pictures of every course and though they are helpful to me they do not anything significant to what has already been posted here, so I will refrain. I will give specific comments about the courses shortly.

The wine list is unbelievable for such a young restaurant, in terms of variety, depth, quality and value. To be sure there were a number of extremely valuable wines on the list that were well out of my price range, but it was also studded with interesting selections from various areaas at very reasonable prices. We opte for the pairing, however. This was simply sensational with the wines blending with or complimenting the food rather than overshadowing it. Joe catterson and his staff have simply done a remarkable job here. Again, I will provide more specifics shortly.

No matter how good the food, service, wine or ambiance it is possible that all of this can be undermined if one is in the wrong frame of mind, too full to begin with or by any of a number of other possible external issues. Conversely, the experienced can certainly be magnified in the same way. It is my opinion that all truly great dining experiences require the diner and the diner's companions to supply some magic as well. The restaurant can only do so much. For me, one of the elements that supplied additional magic and made this a particularly special evening was sharing it with my wife, two eldest sons and my sons friend, who moved to Chicago from our hometown last summer. It was special for me to see each of them really get into the experience and enjoy it as much as they did. While I have certainly eaten very well with them and have had great experiences this was the first time either of them have had a twenty five course five plus hour tasting menu. My younger son at 13 years old is so far the youngest to have done this at Alinea. That they did it was one thing. That they enjoyed it as much as they did was particularly gratifying. It was also gratifying to see my 15yo son's friend enjoy it as much as she did. I knew my boys would be up to the task, but that she too got into it as much as she did was a very pleasant surprise indeed. It certainly endeared her to me! It also helped that she was a particularly pleasant and interesting dinner companion. It had the possibility of being an excrutiating five hours.

Now to the food and wine!

The PB&J, while not my favorite course from a gustatory point of view is emblematic of what I love about a restaurant like Alinea. I certainly love to be wowed by new taste sensations and pleased by the visual beauty of a beautiful presentation, but I also love the wit and creativity involved in taking something standard and reshaping it into a new identity. PB&J is one of America's classic comfort foods. This take on it while clever, fun and truly evocative of the original brought it to a new height. The wine pairing, one of my favorites of the night, was the Barbeito "Charleston" Special reserve Sercial Madeira from the Rare Wine Company. This wine had exceptional flavor and balance. The acidification level was perfect. It wasindeed a perfect foil for the PB&J.

The Sour Cream, smoked salmon, sorrel and star anise was a refreshing dollop to return the menu towards a moresavory direction. This course was one of the favorites of my wife and 15yo.

The Dungeness Crab with raw parsnip, young coconut and cashews served with Susana Balbo "Crios"Torrontes 2004 from Cafayate, Argentina was my first "Wow" of the evening. The flavors really sang to me off of this beautiful plate. It was a sublime juxtaposition of flavors and textures.

A lot has been said about the Hearts of Palm. Once again, I felt these were a tremendous combination of flavors and textures with the added element of a definitive depth progression through the course. The vanilla pudding was probably my leat favorite of the five although I still enjoyed it. My favorite was probably the last, the pumpernickel with black truffle. Indeed the progression got more intense with each bite. This was paired with Hildegarde 2000 from Au Bon Climat.

My absolute favorite course was the turbot with shellfish, water chestnuts and hyacinth vapor. This spectacular dish was magically enhanced by the scent of the hyacinth. The fish wa cooked perfectly and the broth wa rich punctuated by the crisp bits of water chestnut and the succulent morsels of shellfish. This was a grand-slam home run in my book. We tasted a Gaja Rossj Bass that was a beautiful complement to the dish. I was afraid it might have tried to compete, but the combination was one of harmony.

The frog legs were another "Wow". they were served with spring lettuce, paprika and morels fresh and crisped. The legs themselves were served as bite size boneless morsels that were tender and delightful. The texture was reminiscent of shrimp. This was well matched by Altos de la Hoya Monastrell 2001 from Jumilla, Spain. We sopped up the remainder of the delicious sauce with the "tasting" breadds with which we werre supplied. Yum.

Beef with flavors of A-1 was better than any A-1 could have been and was a fairly substantial course. Valpolicella from Tommaso Bussola was an inspired match.

Hazelnut Puree with the apricot capsule of savory granola and curry shifted the meal back towards the sweet side. The curry was subtle but provided a lovely undertone. The pairing was "Pata de Gallina" Oloroso sherry from Lustau. I believe that like the name Alinea this course served as a marker or "new beginning" to the rest of the meal. This was a course more closely associated with breakfast items and like the PB&J a new riff on a classic. We headed into new directions.

Next came the beautiful Prosciutto discs with passionfruit and zuta levana. I was quite pleased to see it served on the bed of mint sprouts. I was told that the presentation was dependent on the supply of these sprouts. from a visual point of reference this was one of my favorite dishes although from a taste point of view I didn't feel that it was as successful as some of the other dishes. My 15yo son thought it to be one of his favorites, though. We were served a cocktail of Guy Larmandier Rose Champagne Vertus with Vya for this and the following course, the Melon with gelled rose water and horseradish. I felt this dish had great balance although the dominant player was the horseradish.

I adored the finger limes with olive oil surrounded by dissolving eucalyptus. This was totally refreshing, delicious and novel - another "Wow".

Foie Gras with rhubarb, sweet onion and walnut was a success with Abbazia di Novacella Moscato Rosa 2001 from Alto Adige in Italy.

The burnt orange with avocado and picholine olives was fun bit from the skewer - an interesting combination a well as presentation.

Broccoli stem happens to be my favorite part of the vegetable. This too was delicious, although I must confess to having been slightly disappointed that it didn't follow the dish documented here on eGullet more closely. This paired with a dry 2002 Tokaji Furmint "Mandolas" from Oremus.

The snapper with yuba, heavily toasted sesame and cucumbur was a wildly gorgeous dish that was pleasantly subtle. The wine was Saint-Roman 2002 from Alan Gras.

Lamb Neck with sunflower seeds, kola nut and porcinis was a model of tenderness with the contrasting crunch of the seeds - delicious. I love a good nero d'avola and the "Tancredi" 2002 from Donnafugata in Sicily was no exception.

The Artichoke "cussy # 3970" was a spoonful of bliss. It was served in the "antiplate".

The bison with beets, blueberries and smoking cinnamon worked very well with the cinnamon notes provided by the olfactory presentation of the burned cinnamon. The Bowen estate 2002 Shiraz from Coonawarra, S. Australia stood up to this well.

As we headed into the dessert portion of the meal, the bacon with butterscotch, apple and thyme gave us our "new beginning" This took another breakfast savory and modeled it into a pre-dessert, quite successfully IMO, but then I love bacon in desserts.

Pineapple with Angelica leaf and Iranian pistachios was another "Wow" and was my favorite dessert of the evening. The combination was new to me and simply marvellous. This paired with Nittnaus Sauvignon Blanc BA 2001 from Austria.

The Sassafras Cream encapsulated in mandarin ice was another example of comfort food taken to another level. Torres Malvasia de Oro from Spain was the match.

The tube of Strawberries with argan and lemon verbena was another playful dish that worked on all levels. One must be careful not to aspirate the contents though!

Liquid Chocolate with "milk" ice cream, black licorice and banana - superb as was the pairing with Domaine Despres "Cuvee Monsieur" 1995 from Monbazillac.

The meal concluded with the sponge cake on the vanilla bean (to provide fragrance) and tonka bean cream.

Needless to say we were quite full after five plus hours of eating one spectacular course after another. Quite full, but not unpleasantly bursting. The quantities werre right on as was the pacing as each of us was able to get through the meal without it becoming an ordeal.

My hat is off to Chef Achatz and his staff. I will have to find a way to return to Chicago.

Edited May 23, 2005 by docsconz (log)

[bleachboy]

Wonderful report, Doc, thank you! I don't think the wife and I are going to wait for a birthday to go...

[gaf]

I have enjoyed the comments on this thread immensely; here is an account of my experience at Alinea:

AGAPE AT ALINEA

A dinner at Alinea is to be reminded of how Charlie Trotter has, like Alice Waters and Rick Bayless, transformed American cuisine. The impact of a chef is, like a teacher, not in his/her creations, but in the influence of students. As little Waters flowed over the American landscape preaching the doctrine of the local and the pure, as little Baylesses covered the landscape, reminding us that ethnic ingredients can be as haute as any, Trotter's students - whether trained by him or no - proclaim that gastronomy is, after all, a branch of philosophy. A chef as Cu.D., doctor of cuisine. Unlike the great French chefs, often working class men trained through harsh apprenticeship, creating amazing robust explosions of flavor, the new American chef is an aspiring intellectual. While we do not (yet) require cooks to receive a Masters of Culinary Arts (a fearsome and faux MFA), can that be far away? Our new chefs wish to amaze us with the idea of dining: robust hunks of meat are out, deconstruction is in.

This trend, if trend it be, is all to the good, until it becomes old. The more ideas of how to cook, serve, and eat, the better is a diners lot. And for a cuisine of amazement - Agape Cuisine - Chicago is Ground Zero. With Homero Cantu's science experiments at Moto, and Graham Bowles subversively straining at the constraints of hotel dining at Avenues, Chicago is what San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York once were. (As on contemporary Broadway, most of the important restaurants are imports from beyond the Hudson). In what is the most awaited, significant restaurant opening of the year, Grant Achatz has given us Alinea. Bowles, Cantu, and Achatz were all influenced by Trotter, directly or indirectly, and it shows. Even if some of the impulse derives from Ferran Adria at El Bulli (I haven't eaten there, so cannot speculate), much of the inspiration comes from Lincoln Park. These chefs confront the modern diner's ennui and attempt to shake, rattle, and roll. Dishes, unlike any other, breaking conventions, destroying paradigms are the order of the night.

The place of the chef is evident in the centrality of the pre fixe menu. The control that diners once held over the kitchen in selected those dishes that appealed to them as clients (even asking that chefs, like portrait painters, fix the imagined errors) is transformed so that now the chef is in charge. At Alinea, this is evident from the moment of arrival in which supplicants at the alter of cuisine find no signage (not even a cross of knife and fork) as if to suggest that this restaurant will either sell itself or sell itself out. The entrance to Alinea ("Yellow Truffle" has provide astonishing photos on eGullet) is a remarkable, if somewhat frightening space, in which the scalloped gray passage seems ever narrowing and the ceiling apparently lowering, ending, it seemed, in an impossible walkway: the door can only be seen as one reaches it. The customer is put in his place at the outset.

After inquiring about food allergies, the customer becomes the chef's audience, not the chef's master. At Alinea, one is provided only that flatware that Chef Achatz feels is required. (One of my strongest responses to my first meal at Moto was similarly how Chef Cantu controlled my experience of dining by doling out only those utensils that he wished for me to use). The serving pieces, too, reveal the chef's control over the experience. The crisp prosciutto sandwiches with passion fruit cream is served on a bed of mint - a "plate" in which the micromint is still growing. One imagines a wearhouse of mint in the outer reaches of the Gold Coast. The little pedestals on which Chef Achatz placed his Hearts of Palm in Five Sections, with no forks allowed, meant that, unlike Burger King, he had it his way.

While Alinea began with a twenty-eight course menu, the grand tasting menu, after three weeks, it has been trimmed to a comparatively svelte twenty-five (twenty-four listed and one extra). And in 330 minutes, we never felt full, just filled.

Those chefs who prepare two dozen dishes expect to fail occasionally, and should wish to. Diners are experimental subjects. At each of temples of agape, I have been served dishes that I would not wish to have again (such as a foolish foie gras sucker at Avenues or a nasty oatmeal stout with chocolate at Moto). At Alinea, the Hazelnut Puree with a capsule of savory granola was the memorable failure. Aside from the wit of breaking open a baked capsule (a trick of Cantu as well), seeing curried granola tumble down, one was treated to a somewhat sodden, if exotic, breakfast. I'll stick with Trader Joe's. Yet, these failures revealing the workings of the chef's mind. I also wasn't very fond of the too, too precious deconstructed beef with A-1 on a potato carpet - my wife pronounced it excellent - or the impossible to eat strawberries with lemon verbena and argan (a type of nut). The strawberries, successful as to taste, were inserted in a glass tube that required more suction than I was capable of providing at that time of night.

This, of course, still leaves us with nearly two dozen other dishes. Each had its measure of amazement as we were constantly reminded of the possibilities of food. Food at Alinea depends on four of the senses (sound is left to Moto). Achatz is more attuned to the variations of subtle tastes than either Bowles or Cantu, but very much reminiscent of a dinner at Trotters. Outstanding examples included the seasonal and woodsy frog legs with morels and paprika and a spectacularly indulgent Dungeness crab with parsnip, young coconut, and cashews. Each bite (and, of course, there were only a few of them) promised something different and produced it. The melon with gelled rose water and horseradish was another triumph in which quite unexpected tastes, from different corners of the taste pyramid, combined with an unexpected synergy.

Where Achatz was perhaps most successful was in playing with smell. The single strongest and most memorable dish of the evening was his stunning turbot with geoduck clams, dried water chestnuts in an eggless custard. In its own terms it would have been a spectacular dish of textures and flavors. The bowl in which the turbot was served was placed in a larger bowl filled with hyacinth flowers. The server poured steaming water on the buds and the aroma of spring was gloriously overpowering; we were close to sensory overload. The dish, otherwise first-rate, became transcendent as taste, sight, texture (the water chestnuts), and a distinct and external smell merged into a Platonic experience. Something similar might be said of the finger limes in a eucalyptus tea or the one-bite burnt orange, olive, and avocado, this latter one of the most agressively flavored dishes of the evening. The broccoli stem with grapefruit (!) and caviar was similarly a remarkable combination of sensory experiences as was the bison with beet salad with a "smoking cinnamon" bowl. The smell of the cinnamon transformed the bison to the strongest of Achatz's meat dishes.

No discussion of Achatz's cuisine would be complete with mention of the culinary references of several dishes - this is a referential cuisine. The signature dish (although not in itself the most outstanding) is the opening amuse bouche: PB&J. Achatz (well, his staff) peels a grape, nestles it in peanut butter, surrounds it in a brioche pastry, and places it in a metal holder. The dinner picks up the amuse from the grape stem and in a jiffy mouths it, grinning with astonishment. What is amazing is not so much the taste of the dish, but the way that our humble memories of childhood afternoons have been transformed and made haute. Similarly Achatz's "hanging bacon" takes another humble food of childhood memories (Who eats bacon today?), and creates it anew with butterscotch, apple and thyme, hanging it out to dry. It is another one-bite triumph. Finally there is a homage to Escoffier, the subtly fried artichoke heart, "fonds d'artichauts cussy #3970" (the number refers to Escoffier's recipe). It was a brilliant tribute, made more clever in that it was served in what our waiter described as an "anti-plate" - a ceramic ring on which the spoon which held the artichoke was placed, again reminding us of the chef's control of our experience.

I could continue praising many of the dishes (at least twenty were very successful), but by the end I was slightly troubled. A diner who wants to be smothered with wonder will find much in which to wrap one's memory. And, yet many great meals have a logic to them. When one goes to Charlie Trotters and order his degustation menu, one is not merely served a collection of astonishing dishes, but one is served a meal - a set of dishes with a "culinary logic," a totality. After two dozen dishes, I struggled to make sense of the evening. Perhaps dining, like much rock music, should stop making sense, but I admit some philosophical pretenses. Take evening lying in bed (and after two dozen courses and a dozen glasses of wine how could one sleep?) I hoped to find the chef's hidden theme. Perhaps an Agape Cuisine should suffice by providing Barnum-like miracles, but I wished a meaningful sequencing. I wished for a sense of what Achatz considered his unique philosophy of dining (a sense that one does get, strongly, at Moto). Of course, shorter menus may provide more of what a chef considers his most important work. But the competing strands and loose ends force us to recognize that Achatz is still a chef in process whose control of dishes is stronger than his control of the meal.

Our party ordered the wine tasting menu. The wines were designed to match the dishes, and most did so quite successfully. I particularly enjoyed the opening nutty Madeira (which, oddly, was billed separately from the wine flight, even thought it wasn't ordered separately). In contrast to the brilliant selected wines that Matthew McCammon offers at Moto or that Aaron Elliott chooses at Avenues, at Alinea wines are more modest affairs. There was not a single wine, adequate as all were (we were not served vinegar on this visit!), that I would select for my own cellar.

The service was extraordinarily attentive as one might expect at a restaurant of this caliber. However, there were almost too many people (a dozen?) serving us throughout the evening. I prefer establishing a temporary, if intense, tie with a few men and women who I can come to know, question, josh with, and rely upon, but at Alinea just as each course was different, it appeared as if each dish was served by a different person (not true, but close). Like the meal, the service was both excellent and somewhat disjointed. I must note that our check was improperly figured, which they caught (the original bill had been in our favor, but we were too blissed out to notice and to decide how far our ethical sensibility would stretch). This is something that if common demands correction.

The bill: approximately $400/person - the grand tasting menu, the flight of wines, coffee, tax and tip. Was it worth it? Surely. Would I try the long menu again?: Probably not. Would I return?: Tomorrow. The meal was not flawless and is in progress, but Alinea is a four-star restaurant and unlike such fine Chicago establishments as Everest, Ambria, or Tru, Alinea is a restaurant with a national reputation. Grant Achatz's experiments matter for all Americans who care about how high a chef can fly. We should be astonished when a chef soars towards the heavens, and be moved when the downdrafts send him hurtling to rocky shoals, trusting the wind of imagination will send him still higher.

Meal: Saturday May 21, 2005

Cross-posted on LTHforum.com

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, John and gaf for sharing your terrific accounts. Reading them both made me want to go back to Alinea asap. In fact, before Alinea opened I wondered whether its success hinged on its ability to draw repeat local diners. After all, part of the fun at Alinea is being surprised by the courses and the pairings as they arrive at the table. But after just a few weeks, I'm already eager to go back and I can't wait to take some friends who haven't been there. Part of the fun will be seeing our friends' reactions to the seemingly endless parade of creations turned out by chefg (and his team) another part of it will simply be our joy in experiencing it -- in a slightly different way -- all over again.

I also wondered how dependant Alinea would be on out-of-town diners but now I don't think Alinea needs that segment to thrive. Don't get me wrong, I believe that the out-of-town market will absolutely be there (especially if this first month is at all representative) but I don't think it'll be necessary for Alinea to succeed. Chicago's fine food devotees and business diners will likely fill Alinea's 65 seats for a long time to come. That Alinea is likely to evolve into an important culinary destination is basically (deconstructed) gravy.

=R=

[docsconz]

gaf,

What a superb debut on eGullet! Great writing and discussion of this restaurant. Welcome to eGullet! If this is any indication of yopur writing and insight I hope to see much more of it here.

It seems as if we were most impressed by the same dishes on the same evening and had similar reactions to varying degrees. While I wouldn't say that you were harsh on the wine pairing, I have a slightly different viewpoint. I think that wines at a dinner like at Alinea is an important, but still supporting actor. It should not overpower or steal the scene from the food. instead it should enhance it and make it more pleasureable. The wines I had at Alinea at Alinea fulfilled their roles admirably. Most of them did not call too much attention to themselves, but I felt they all enhanced the meal. There were certainly a few that I wouldn't object to in my cellar and one I plan to go out and track down - the Madeira.

In my recent expeerience directly and vicariously two of the most exciting food cities in the country right now are Chiago and Washington, D.C. I can't wait to get back to either!

[eggplantconfit]

recently i posted a slightly less than perfect experience that i had at alinea and the responses that followed have moved me to ask some questions.

firstly, has anyone else in the egullet community had any negative experience? they don't seem very represented. (just so i don't feel singled out). and also, it seems like some people who have posted were treated to some vip treatment in terms of kitchen tours and the like. this leads me to bring up what a slowfood representative told me, which was that some of these egullet representations of the alinea experience are told from the pont of view of someone less that anonymous to the alinea crew. like many very high end restaurants (daniel, le bernadin, etc), will the average diner not experience the attention to detail that a recognized guest will? this would be a real shame and hopefully below the alinea crew. anyone have any thoughts on this? i'm hoping to hear from some of the big hitters here.

e.

[ronnie_suburban]

It should come as no surprise to anyone here that I am acquainted with the Alinea crew and they do know who I am as we worked together on this project. But I'm not sure if that played any part in our dining experience. In the room where we ate, at least 2 other couples ordered the full Tour and were served the same courses we were. Like us, they seemed to delight in many of them -- even chatting with each other and laughing as the evening went on. Did they enjoy their experiences as much as we did? They seemed to, but who really knows?

As for the tour (small "t"), my experience is that pretty much anyone who asks for one is given one -- not just at Alinea but at any restaurant. But I especially can't imagine anyone being refused such a "perk" at a place like Alinea, where customer service is a critical component of the overall experience. We were not offered a tour but we asked if we could take one after our meal was over and were obliged.

And on that note, I find it hard to believe that a restaurant which strives to be one of the best in the world, would intentionally provide varying levels of service to its customers. To do so makes very little sense to me. The Chicago Tribune's Phil Vettel wrote that he dined at Alinea under a pseudonym. The eGullet Society is a great place populated by a very knowledgable membership (and we, as individuals, may even have a little influence), but 800,000 people read the Chicago Tribune everyday. If anything, Alinea should be reserving the "VIP" treatment for those in the restaurant whose true identities they don't know. From a business perspective, that makes far more sense.

If there was anything that differentiated my Alinea experience from someone else's it may have simply been incidental. But, beyond saying "hello," to a couple of people in the restaurant, I'm not sure my familiarity the Alinea team changed anything about my experience there. We knew our server Scott, from his days at Trio and he is a great server, but I'm sure anyone would have taken just as good care of us (or tried to). We had the same courses and wine pairings as everyone else (as far as I could tell), we paid the same price as everyone else (as far as I know), and we left a tip.

Did I think every dish was perfect? No. But I really did enjoy them all, but not equally. I think most everyone who's posted here has made it clear that they had a few favorites. I've posted plenty of negative comments on this forum over the years and I'm not shy about doing so. But there isn't a whole lot of negative that I can come up with regarding Alinea. The stuff we encountered was minor . . . one of my wife's hearts of palm pedestals toppled over on our table and needed to be re-plated. That took about a minute. One time I made it back to the table before my napkin had been refolded. There wasn't a whole lot more.

One has to allow for the fact that everyone's perception is going to be different. Even if our experiences at Alinea were physically identical, we're not all going to share the same reaction to them. I know you're not saying that you didn't enjoy it but if someone told me they didn't, I'd respect that. I wouldn't think "oh, you are so wrong, let me explain why." I'd just drop it and figure that Alinea wasn't for them. Perhaps the little problems that came up during our meal would have really irked someone else. For us, they were so minor I didn't even think they were worth mentioning. It's quite possible that your standards (or anyone else's for that matter) differ from mine. But in the end, based on what Alinea is trying to acheive, I do expect that the positive reviews will far outnumber the negative ones.

=R=

[jackal10]

Maybe its just a personel or its a European rather than a US view, but when I had a restaurant I tired of the universal praise. I'd go up to a table, often people I knew (yes, an intrusion), and ask about the meal, and almost always was told that it was wonderful. What I really wanted was constructive feedback: this or that dish was OK, but might have been better with a different sauce or garnish, or the salting was too heavy/light, or the meat was slightly tough, or if its been water bath cooked for a long time, too tender.

Not everything goes right all the time in a busy restaurant; peoples tastes vary. Realistic feedback is more valuable than peons of praise. Saying the meal was wonderful without detail means nothing (actually said to a chef it means piss off and leave us in peace), or more likely that the guest has only a limited palate and memory.

[docsconz]

recently i posted a slightly less than perfect experience that i had at alinea and the responses that followed have moved me to ask some questions.

firstly, has anyone else in the egullet community had any negative experience? they don't seem very represented. (just so i don't feel singled out). and also, it seems like some people who have posted were treated to some vip treatment in terms of kitchen tours and the like. this leads me to bring up what a slowfood representative told me, which was that some of these egullet representations of the alinea experience are  told from the pont of view of someone less that anonymous to the alinea crew.  like  many very high end restaurants (daniel, le bernadin, etc), will the average diner not experience the attention to detail that a recognized guest will? this would be a real shame and hopefully below the alinea crew. anyone have any thoughts on this? i'm hoping to hear from some of the big hitters here.

e.

←

This is a legitimate question.

We were treated very well. Of that there is no doubt. Were we treated "differently"? I honestly feel from observing the service around us at other tables that evening that the only thing significantly different was that I was referreed to by name. That certainly provides a warm feeling, but is generally insufficient to make up for lapses in service or decor or food quality. Those things are there or they are not. The tablesaround us appeared to get the same attention we did. As for the tour, I asked to see the kitchen upon our arrival. It was right there at the entrance as was Chef Achatz. It was also early enough that they were not yet in high gear. Beyond that I don't believe we received special treatment. We weren't comped anything. We received no extra courses. There was already more than enough food on the tour. I paid for every aspect of the meal and left a tip commensurate with my feeling of the service.

As I wrote in my report above, there are a lot of intangibles that a diner brings to the table for better or worse. At a restaurant of the caliber of Alinea it is very easy for high expectations to be dashed often through no fault of the restaurant and sometimes through their fault. When things click it is phenomenal and one of my favorite things in life. By the same token, when they don't click it can be a huge disappointment. It has certainly happened to me, though fortunately not this past weekend.

[eggplantconfit]

thanks for that response. i do feel a slight sense that you might feel like we came to the table without the right attitude and this, i feel, is not true. i am a chef myself and have looked forward to alinea for as long as anyone. sure the diner brings something to the event, just as any observer of art sees things things through their own eyes. the issues we had were not originated in this. there were mistakes made in menu discription, and server attitude. i know difficult patrons and we were not them. i suppose it's possible we just had a little worse experience than other people. i just want to know how much of an exeption we were. seems like we just got unlucky. we'll be back but i will give them 6 months to even out.

e

[gmi3804]

How large are the pours when the wine pairing program is chosen? Are there different wines with each course on the Tour, or do several of the pairings cover several courses?

[ronnie_suburban]

How large are the pours when the wine pairing program is chosen?  Are there different wines with each course on the Tour, or do several of the pairings cover several courses?

←

I'm guessing that the pours were each about 2-3 oz. Each course doesn't necessarily come with its own pairing. Some pairings are intended to accompany more than one course. All in all, I think we had about 15 different pours, (IIRC) over the span of our 28 courses. And when one of us happened to finish a pour in advance of its final course, we were always offered another splash to get us through. Our experience was that empty stems are either refilled or removed from the table immediately.

=R=