Alinea

Reasons Why Alinea (Chicago, IL) is Cool:

1. MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY.
2. Chef Grant Achatz was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2008 and subsequently lost his sense of taste as a result of chemotherapy and radiation.
3. It is currently the #10 Restaurant in the World.
4. Chef Grant Achatz studied under Thomas Keller at the age of 23.
5. The readily apparent focus on the play between flavors and textures.
6. I MEAN, LOOK AT IT:

The functional centerpiece - to be continued.

Flatware was set up before each course on top of a padded plate.

Steelhead Roe - with traditional garnishes, including creme fraiche and "bread and butter" in the form of foam.

Pork Belly - with compressed iceberg lettuce, cucumber, micro cilantro, coriander seeds, and a "thai distillation" shot (background) to prep the palate.

Lilac - with scallop, mussels, razor clams, celery leaves, and honeydew foam.

Wagyu Beef - with powdered A-1, fried potato custard covered with crushed salt & pepper chips and micro chives.

The chef tried to recreate the flavors of A-1, but with natural ingredients and in powder form.

It just deserves another photo.

A broth was poured into "functional centerpiece" to create the aroma of a grill. And also to make our table look awesome.

Heirloom Tomato - with fig, nicoise olive, pine nut cheese, and olive oil snow (THAT WHITE THING IS OLIVE OIL).

Bacon - wrapped with butterscotch, apple, and thyme.

Lavender air filled pillow.

Rhubarb - with goats milk cheesecake, vidalia onion, and lavender air (COMING FROM THE PILLOW).




These weren't all the courses from the tasting menu, but gives you a pretty good sense of our dining experience. An "experience" was exactly what it was - you can't even call it a mere "meal." Anyways, I wish the photos turned out better (or that there was better lighting/I had a faster lens/I wasn't so hungry) because the food was truly beautiful. Not to take away from the TASTE of the food, of course, b/c MAN DID YOU SEE THE MARBLING ON THAT WAGYU.