Alinea - Part 2 (Chicago, IL)

(Continuing on from PART 1, CAPS are links)

Hot Potato | Cold Potato, Black Truffle, Butter

Starting back up, we move to the 10th course, and one of the Achatz's signature dishes. Along with so many other courses, this has another specially designed service piece. In the paraffin wax bowl was a cold truffle and potato soup. A pin is pierced through the wax, holding a hot potato sphere, chive, a small cube of butter and parmesan, all topped with a slice of black truffle. You pull the pin out of the bowl to drop all the contents into the soup, and quickly drink it all in one gulp. This dish had a terrific temperature contrast between the cold soup and hot potato, and the truffle provided a powerful earty punch. This dish was one of our favorites, and lived up to its billing. Kristen's previous experience with truffles has been truffle oil, and she was unsure if she liked truffles. She's been converted. There's no picture here, since our waiter stressed the time sensitivity of the dish, not wanting it to turn into "warm potato, cold potato." See HERE for a picture of the dish (again, deferring to Ronnie_Surburban's pictures).

Short Rib | Olive, Red Wine, Blackberry

Earlier in the meal, two "flag" CENTERPIECES had been placed on our table. Fancy decorations. The waiter brought out a small pot, filled with red wine braised short ribs. A two layer SERVICEWARE was brought, with the top containing the garnish for the dish. From top left, there was smoked sea salt, blackberry, charred onion, black garlic, white asparagus, nicoise olive, dehydrated cherry, tomato seed vinaigrette, salsify, and a tobacco gel. Underneath the garnishes were a few METAL PIECES that we were instructed to assemble. These parts assemble a CHAIR-like structure. The waiter then used the "flags", which turned out to be tomato and black garlic PASTA, which would be used to wrap the short ribs and garnishes into a taco/burrito. This was absolutely delicious, and exhibited a bit of playfulness, and keeping the dinner from being overly formal.

Hamachi | West Indian Spices, Banana, Ginger

Another dish, another innovative presentation. This was a piece of hamachi (yellowtail), deepfried along with a ginger pate de fruit and curried banana. A vanilla bean was used as the skewer, providing a hint of taste and aroma. The hamachi was extremely tender, and the banana and ginger melded together to almost form a sauce component to the dish.

Agneau | Sauce Choron, Pomme de Terre Noisette

At this point, after each dish all service ware and utensils were being cleared and replaced after each course. However, crystal wine glasses, antique china and untensils were brought out. This course was a nod to Next Restaurant, Achatz's new restaurant. The restaurant changes every 3 months to serve a cuisine from a different time and place. The current menu at Next is Paris 1906. A complimentary glass of French Burgundy (didn't catch the name) was poured to accompany this classic Escoffier dish. Two layered stacks of buttered toast, medium-rare lamb saddle, artichoke, and asparagus were served with sauce Choron, a tomato hollandaise. There were also small balls of potatoes on the side, which were cooked in browned butter and the meat drippings. They were fantastic. My only complaint is that I enjoy the gaminess of lamb, probably more than most, and thought that this lamb was fairly mild. Kristen, however, tends to like it a bit less gamy, and loved this dish.

Black Truffle | Explosion, Romaine, Parmesan

Along with the hot potato cold potato dish, this is another specialty and mainstay on the menu. A single ravioli is placed on a spoon, topped with truffle puree, romaine, and parmesan. The ravioli is filled with a truffle stock, fortified with butter. Instructed to make sure your mouth is closed, once the ravioli is bitten into, it truly does explode with truffle. I could eat a hundred of these.

Snow | Yuzu

This dish marked the end of the savory dishes, and was a bridge to the desserts. Unfornately, this also marked the beginning of further camera problems. Mimicking a snow cone, a thin layer of YUZU "SNOW" was sprayed onto a freezing metal surface. This melted in the mouth, with a pure yuzu flavor. Very refreshing. Kristen thought she'd be funny, suggesting to me that I should lick the snow off. Fortunately, I saw through her ploy, having already experienced the embarrassment of getting my tongue stuck on a metal fence as a kid. Good thing I wasn't going heavy on the wine tonight......

Sweet Potato | Cedar, Bourbon, Pecan

The smell of burning wood preceeded this dish, which was plated on a plank of smoldering CEDAR PLANK. A mound of sweet potato puree was surrounded by a number of accompaniments: cayenne cotton candy, sperification of cranberry, cinammon, butter, and bourbon gels, apple, maple syrup, and pecans. In was fun taking different combinations of the puree with the garnishes.

Lemongrass | Dragonfruit, Finger Lime, Cucumber

A test tube came out next, which we were instructed to suck the contents out in one gulp. A lime gel capped the close side, while a round of dragonfruit capped the back side. In the middle was a liquid lemongrass distillation, mint, basil, and finger lime sacs.

Bacon | Butterscotch, Apple, Thyme

Nutella | Bread, Banana, Chocolate

Lychee | Jasmine Tea

Pictures blurrier than ever on this 3 dish course. Deyhydrated bacon was covered with a strand of butterscotch and apple was a terrific combination of sweet and salty. The nutella bite was a dry homogeneous cube, but when you begin to chew it, it rehydrates and you can taste each of the elements. The lychee was in the form of a thin plasticy skin. It tasted like concentrated lychee fruit, which came dusted with jasmine tea powder.

Chocolate | Blueberry, Honey, Peanut

To begin this course, our table was cleared, and we were asked to hold our glasses. A silicon mat was rolled out and a number of plates and bowls were put on our table.

Moments later, Chef Achatz himself walked up to our table, plating the dish personally! He began to plate (table?) each of the components, turning the blank silicon mat into art. Among the dessert items were hot chocolate sauce, blueberry puree, chocolate-peanut powder, red wine-pickled blueberries, peanut nougat, honey whipped cream, honey creme brulee, and dehydrated blueberry. Of course, the creme brulee had to be bruleed on the table with a blow torch. Why not? When the plating was nearing completion, a waiter came out with a brick of chocolate mousse that had been frozen solid in liquid nitrogen. This was broken by the chef on the table , and finished with basil leaves. Each combination yielded different flavors. The texture of the frozen mousse was fascinating, as it changed while it melted. Even though we were quite full, we demolished this in record time.

I was planning on taking pictures of the actual plating, but my focus was shot as I was watching in it happen. A video of the dessert presentation (with slightly different components) is available HERE.

Alinea was an amazing meal. The best meal I've ever had. The service was exemplary, and the servers weren't stuffy and overly formal, even joking with us on a number of occasions. We were there a total of 3 hours, eating 21 courses, and it didn't even seem that long. Only one (third of a) course from the entire meal didn't impress me. Its difficult to justify paying prices this high for one dinner. Pondering the meal in the days following, as a first time diner, I think it is worth the splurge. Its not a restaurant that I'll be able to return to for in quite a long time, but there is truly nothing like it. It lives up to all of its rankings and more. Although much attention is placed on the unique flavor combinations and avant garde techniques, above all the food tastes fantastic. When I finally win the lottery, I know where I'm having my celebratory dinner.