Reading Grant Achatz' memoir "Life, on the Line" last year, I was so impressed by his incredible creativity, imagination and drive, that I was determined to eat at his restaurant. Mr. Achatz is one of a handful of American Chefs known for their avant garde (modernist) cuisine, inspired by the Spanish Chef, Ferran Adriá. Here is a link to an interview with Chef Achatz on Fresh Air last year.
So first I found a conference to go to in Chicago that I could attend (so that the trip would at least be tax deductible), second I made sure my friend, colleague, and fellow foodie Jessica could join me.
The taxi pulled up to a predictably dark, brick building, with no signage. The only clue that it was a restaurant were the valets standing out front. Once in the doors, we were led down a Kubrick-like tube-shaped hallway glowing in pink lighting . The decor was modern, with subdued lighting and neutral, dark colors. We sat in a small room on the entry floor, near the kitchen, not in the main dining room. There were four tables in this room, making it an intimate dining experience. There was a giant block of ice with three holes in it as a centerpiece on our table and we spent much of our time making predictions on what it would be used for, knowing that it had to fit into our meal somehow. We had three main waiters and every once in a while, someone new would show up for a particular course. I was happy to hear that the meal would be a surprise, with no menus, until after the meal.
Regarding wine, the sommelier was very flexible and allowed us to pair wines as we went along, rather than agreeing on the 10 glass wine pairing. We ended up having about 5 small glasses each throughout the meal. A bit on the sommelier. He looked like he got plucked from an art school somewhere. His hair was a big bird's nest-like cloud sticking up from the top of his head, had a nerdy/hipster look about him and he looked younger than 30. He was definitely quirky, but he seemed to know about the wine on the list and talked about the wines with confidence.
I did not take pictures, but now a days who needs to take pictures? I simply googled the name of a dish and 'alinea' and found a couple blogs featuring photos of the dishes I had and one blog that had entirely the same meal! And, he shot it with a professional DSLR camera with fancy fast lenses!
Summary: I was most impressed by the creativity, fun and playfulness of the meal. Despite the modern, staid decor, eating at Alinea is relaxed and fun. The waiters were personable, while also being professional.
The food highlights were Char Roe (layers and balance of flavors, rich/satisfying and interesting combo of roe with coconut and curry), scallop in dashi broth (custard scallop, rich but simple broth and again the balance of flavors), Hot potato/cold potato (loved the hot/cold dichotomy and creamy truffle--also the presentation) and ginger 5 ways (amazing how 5 mini cubes of ginger can vary in flavor). A close second because although very, very good, the presentation really was what made the dish: the venison (see this blog, go to the 9th course and he shows the steps involved in this course), anjou pear and dark chocolate (same deal with this one, check out the last course on this guy's blog for a series of photos and make sure to note the square liquid puddles) were .
The courses that did not work so well were squab inspired by Miró. Basically 10 spoons laid out in an abstract pattern in front of you, each with a different taste. The squab itself was really good, but the rest just didnt work. The mussel--chorizo was overpowering and the mussel was overcooked. Wild mushrooms-the well known dish where the plate is placed on a pillow that leaks out pine-juniper-forest scent. The scent was way too powerful for me and I couldnt taste the food for the fake pine smell. Razor clam-shiso and soy overpowered it.
So, if you want a course by course break down, continue reading...
On to the food! Each course came with an introduction; a description of the dish and directions on how to eat it. The most striking part of the experience was that it was fun, playful and interactive. The diner interacts with their food in different ways-often we used our hands, sometimes no hands or utensils at all. The presentations are meticulous, as one would expect, but each course is a surprise. Everything was very good, not everything was excellent. Everything made you think and feel. It was an experience.
First course: Char Roe, carrot, coconut and curry
This was a little portion that packed lots of flavors. A great balance of sweet and salty. The curry and coconut made it rich and cozy-warm. My first clue that this wasn't going to be a strictly intellectual experience.
The second course took me to an ocean tide pool. And reminded me of a dish at Atelier Crenn, which I have not been to yet--but high on my list. It was drift wood draped in seaweed (the Atlantic kind with the strands of bubbles--which Jessica proceeded to pop to relive childhood memories). The smell of the seaweed was wonderful. On the seaweed were (in order that we were instructed to eat them: an oyster with a leaf in mignonette sauce (second from right in photo). Yes, a leaf! This leaf made us all laugh just because it fit the criticism of fancy, pretentious food. "Its a leaf for Christ's sake! How much are you charging me for this?!" Not only that, this oyster leaf from Scottland, flew in the face of the slow food movement- of eating local, sustainable, etc. However, it was really cool! The leaf really tasted like an oyster! Amazing--even if it was probably the most expensive green Ive eaten and the carbon footprint was large.
king crab with passionfruit, heart of palm and allspice. The photo does not do this little guy justice. Maybe this is a little better. The crab meat was a nice sized bite and beautifully adorned with a flower and other micro things. This one was my favorite of the four bites because of the layers of flavor and balance. The passionfruit was a great surprise with the crab.
Mussel with saffron, chorizo and oregano: This was not as well balanced as I would have liked. The chorizo totally overpowered the mussel. My mussel was small too.
Razor Clam with shiso, soy and daikon. Also not as balanced as it could be. Too sweet and didnt get any taste of the razor clam.
Third course: Woolly Pig with fennel, orange and squid. This little bit is sitting at the end of a long wire and we were encouraged not to use our hands. In fact the bite was at the level of our mouths, so all we had to do was lean forward and put the morsel in our mouths. Another layered with flavor one. the orange, fennel, squid was followed by jamon Iberico. Nice.
Scallop acting like agedashi tofu So, before the wooly pig, one of the waiters places on the table, a glass vacuum coffee maker on a burner, only that instead of coffee, there are various aromatics in the top chamber. He turns the heat on and for the following 10 minutes, the dashi broth for this dish brews.If you are curious to see how a vacuum coffee maker works, here is a cute video. So, the broth gets poured over the meticulously arranged food in the bowl and extra broth is poured in a tea cup. The scallop is made to look like tofu, but thank God it's a Scallop! It was soft, like custard. And the little clumps around it all made it taste a little different. The broth was the most memorable though, I have to say.
Ice! Finally we get to find out what that big block of ice is for! We were given big glass straws and told to slurp up the liquid from the holes in the block of ice. Here's another one where we were asked to interact differently with our food. And slurping from straws is not typical behavior at a four star restaurant. So two of us got up and sucked down the beet, hibiscus and licorice liquid together. It was fun, interactive and tasty.
After this, we each get a beautiful new wine glass and a new wine, even though we still have wine in our other glasses. Hmm...what could be next?
Then a platter of two whole Scup fish on a puddle of mint sauce, served family style with a side of caponata and panella (fried chick pea dough). The presentation was completely different from the other courses and the waiter said that Chef Achatz is thinking of making a Sicilian theme at Next and that this may show up as one of the courses for that. Our waiter also advised us not to eat the whole thing, because we were only halfway through the meal. We all had the same reaction--you are telling us to waste food?! A whole fish? It just went against our principles and it bugged us. We tried to eat as much as we could while still leaving room for the rest of the menu, but we sent a lot of it back. The fish was crispy on the outside and moist inside. The caponata was not prepared in a traditional manner. It was lighter, with a fresher texture. I have never had panella before, so dont know how they are supposed to taste like. These were very light, crispy with a dusting of parmesan on top.
Hot potato/cold potato (with black truffle and butter) I loved the hot/cold dichotomy and creamy truffle taste and texture. Oh, and you could really taste the potato! This dish is presented in a little dish with a metal pin going through it. When you pull the pin, the potatoes drop into the truffle creamy goodness. You hold the little dish to your lips and drink it in.
Wild mushrooms-juniper, sumac and shallot-this is supposed to take you into the forest. It took me to a dessert I had at Coi (cant find anything on that particular dessert) that made me think I was eating a bar of Irish spring. All I remember is the scent and it wasnt until I saw the course on that guy's blog that I recalled the food that went with it.
Venison, red cabbage, mustard and paprika. This had multiple steps to it and was verging on gimicky, but it tasted really good. So this course started with these mysterious 'flags' set on the table maybe before the wild mushroom course. They were red cabbage leaves but looked like thin slices of raw meat. Kinda gross/weird. Then this and this came out when it was time for this course. The waiter then built a cabbage wrap by putting all the ingredients in the cabbage like this. It was very tasty. The venison was moist and tender. We ate it with our hands, so again, a different take on 'formal dining'.
Black truffle explosion--need I really say any more than that? Notice that the dish does not have a bottom. Its just sitting on the spoon. The description says it was with romain and parmesan.
Squab inspired by Miró. Basically 10 spoons laid out in an abstract pattern in front of you, each with a different taste. The squab itself was really good, super tender and flavorful (imagine cooked sous vide) but the rest just didnt work. Just conceptually--were the flavors supposed to be appreciated separately? And then there was a weird one that was like a paste. I dont know, just didnt work.
Anjou pear deep fried with caramelized onion and brie on a smoking cinnamon stick. Perfect lead-in to dessert! The smoking cinnamon did not smell like cinnamon. It just smelled like burning bark-which was a bit much, but the food stood up to the smell. I think the idea was to put you in autumn, with burning leaves. He describes a similar dish on the fresh air interview.
Ginger five flavors. This was way cool! Check out how tiny the cubes of ginger are! They were supposedly 5 different kinds of ginger, with the last one being the most common to us. I have to tell you that the last one was the worst! They were each so different and complex. I still dont get it and dont believe it was only ginger.
Winter in New Hampshire - Candied fruits, gelee, peppermint snow. Served on river stones frozen by liquid nitrogen like a little diorama. A cup of clear distilled hot chocolate is served on the side. The hot chocolate is CLEAR! and was one of the best Ive ever had! Crazy! The other things were good, interesting and the peppermint snow wasnt overpowering. This also reminded me of the diorama dishes at Atelier Crenn. (in case you missed the link the first time ; ) )
Balloon--helium and green apple. Another fun, interactive one. Tasted pretty good too! Everyone got one stuck to their place at the table. Hard to eat without getting it all over your face and hands.
For the last course, Dark Chocolate, a chef comes out (some nights its Grant Achatz himself-he was at Next the night we were there) and puts a latex table cover on the table and proceeds to 'paint' with butternut squash, stout beer and lingonberry sauces, which magically form squares when poured on the cloth. Then a dark chocolate balloon goes on the table and liquid nitrogen gets poured inside. The chef than drops the chocolate and since its frozen, it shatters on the table letting out all these goodies--and then leaves silently. Chef guy did not speak much, even when asked questions. The typical back of the house guy. Having now read that Achatz is the guy who does this where he is there, I wonder if this was the chef du cuisine-the second in command, and basically the guy making the food. . .
Anyway, there was nutmeg 'snow', little nuggets of toffee, some fruit roll-up things that I forget what they were-but they were oh so much better than fruit roll-ups! Oh, and there was pumpkin pie 'snow', which was the best. All of it was really good and really fun. We did not have utensils and were instructed to use the shards of chocolate to scoop up all the goodies. We finger painted and played with the food a bit and ate a lot of it.
So that was it! We were then led into the kitchen, which was being cleaned since we may have been the last table in there.
Ill remember this meal for a long time. I am grateful that I had a chance to splurge on such a cool experience with friends.
