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(My latest restaurant reviews can be found at my new site Gastronomic SLC)

So here goes nothing, an attempt at reviewing Alinea. Quite easily the most surreal, confusing and mind altering meal I have ever eaten. If your only wanting a quick read of the blog come back to this post when you have some time on your hands. I anticipate it’s going to be a long post. A very very long post.

Our reservation was on my first night in Chicago, a Sunday. As it was for 9.15PM and we had a vague idea the meal would take many hours we chanced arriving early. We arrived (by cab) at an anonymous building at roughly 8.30PM and were greeted initially by a friendly valet outside. He quickly ushered us into the building. Little did we know that the endless misdirection and confusion was about to start.

On entering Alinea you quickly find yourself at the end of a long, narrowing corridor. No host, no tables, not much anything aside from the willy wonka-esque shortening corridor. With slight trepidation we walked down the corridor until about half way. At which point an automated door to the left whooshes open exposing the restaurant itself.

A host immediately welcomed us and on taking our details led us up to the second floor. We were quickly seated and in moments the first of many servers checked if we wanted the tasting or chefs menu. (roughly 12 or 24 courses) In for a penny, in for a pound was the mentality of the evening. We opted for the full 24 course menu with wine pairings throughout. It was also speedily explained that it wasn’t necessarily a wine per course. In most cases certain wines would pair with several courses and glasses would be refilled as necessary for the set price.

The dining room we were sat in featured five tables and always seemed to have as many servers as diners. The room itself was pretty understated, a blank canvas. The main art being the food, so the less distraction the better.

Up first was the first of many moments that seemed to mix abject confusion with comedy. After being served our first glass of wine, two miniature (key?) limes appeared held in what seemed to be plastic tubes melted around them. Now follows the first of many many photographs.

Note: In a few cases you will need to excuse the relatively poor quality. Alinea isn’t the kind of place we felt comfortable using flash photography in. That coupled with the dim lighting meant some of the pictures aren’t as great as they could be. Anyway, on with the show.

At this point, Daniel stared at me. I stared back. We both started to giggle. No explanation was offered for the limes trapped in plastic. The server came, left them on the table and departed. Fearing we may have made some terrible mistake we took to investigating the tubes, just in case we were meant to deduce the items for ourselves and maybe eat something somehow. After a few minutes of perplexion we decided anything we were meant to eat would be explained. The tubes were returned to the table (more on those tubes in course 19, I kid not). It was with a fair amount of relief that the first course proper arrived, with a long list of ingredient details.

Course 1: Artichoke: parmesan, red pepper, basil

Arriving on a little pedestal, it looked almost too cute to eat. The artichoke had been pureed, chilled to almost freezing temperature and then put between the two parmesan biscuit layers. In between those was a sweetish almost jam like relish and basil leaves. A few bitefuls in size. At this point I should point out I really can’t go into much detail about every last flavour and taste of the courses. Id be writing for weeks and you would fall asleep long before reading this post. Ill stick to what was good and what wasn’t so good.

This was pretty good :) The parmesan taste crept up on me slowly, but the almost frozen artichoke kept things from getting too cheesy for me.

Course 2: Surf Clam: nasturtium, cucumber, shallot

As I had braved cheese on course 1, Dan agreed to brave the various fish courses as well. This course was was presented straight into your hands, with strict instructions not to put the bowl on the table. Not until you had eaten the bite of clam and nasturtium petal and then knocked back the chilled cucumber soup in the bowl. At this point you could place the bowl down. Another enjoyable course, and luckily we followed their instructions. The bowls actually had rounded bases meaning
placing on the table eariler would have resulted in somewhat of a mess.

Next up, we started on dishes that needed silverware. They pointed out that as they had no tableclothes they would need to do something a bit different, so our utensils came on small plates wrapped in a padded tablecloth.

Course 3: Ayu: Watermelon, kombu, coriander

Ayu is a Japanese fish. One I had never tried before. It was presented three ways, I cannot recall each way but do remember one being like pork crackling. This was exceedinglt tasty. A japanese sauce kombu was reduced into a thick sauce and also into solid black sheets; not unlike liquorice. There were some sauces and other bits and bobs but frankly the sheer input of information from servers and plates alike had me at sensory overload by now.

Course 4: Sardine: black olive, tomato, arugula

A cruncy shell exterior hides a mix of sardine, tomato and olives. I really liked this dish. I could eat these every day for lunch. It wasn’t as overtly fishy as you would think and even Dan managed to get through it.

Course 5: Maitake: cherry, ham, toasted garlic

What you can’t see about this dish is that it initially comes in a tall tube on the plate. The server describes the contents of the tube and you expect to dig down through the layers. He then proceeds to pull the tube up and the innards fall down onto the plate.

As I remember this was a hot puree of maitake mushroom accompanied by some other flavours such as cherry. The warm mushroom puree mixed with some of the other cold flavours and was surprising to say the least. Just one of a few dishes where I tasted it while Dan took the picture. I made a funny face before saying “go ahead try it” whereupon Dan would make the same funny face. Some of the courses really have to be tried to understand this.

Course 6: Apple: horseradish, celery

As you can see I am a mite baffled after the waiters description.

The shot glass holds a “self encapsulation” of apple. A kind of soft ball that you pop in your mouth and bite on. The idea is to shoot the apple ball (followed by some celery juice in the bottom of the shot glass). In practice the size of the apple ball means you have to opening your mouth quite a way. It felt quite exaggerated to me and I imagined I looked quite silly. This being the point though I think.
The waiter recommends heavily that you keep your mouth firmly closed on shooting the ball. A wise warning. On biting down on the ball it explodes in a burst of hot apple juice. Very entertaining and tasty to match.

Course 7: Duck: mango, yoghurt, pillow of lavender air

Yes, pillow of lavendar air. Before the main plate of food arrives the waiter lays down a quite large pillow on the table. The pillow is infused with lavendar scent. The plate is then sat down on top of the pillow. The pillow is quite firm but due to the tiny wholes throughout defaltes slowly as you dine. As you eat the subtle lavendar aroma fills the air accentuating the duck.

The duck itself is prepared three ways. In fact I recall it was three seperate cuts of duck. Memory fails regarding the precise details of the course, but it was by far and away the best duck I have ever tasted. Tender, juicy, flavoursome. I could have eaten it all night. But hey, course eight awaits…

Course 8: Black truffle: explosion, romaine, parmesan

You probably notice the word explosion again, there were a few of them during this meal. This is actually a kind of ravioli topped with black truffle and parmesan shaving. I carefully removed that before digging in. Probably one of my least favourite courses as the warm liquid centre of the ravioli was a little too creamy for my tastes. You can probably see in the picture as well that the serving bowl has no base…so your instructed to eat the whole thing in one go.

Course 9: Short rib: Guinness, peanut, fried broccoli

Another exciting course. When described by the waiter I started to laugh out loud. The brownish square you see in the picture above is a sheet of reduced guinness. It coats all the other ingredients in a thin sticky film. This dish had a lot of “micro” veggies. This was another of my favourite courses although I recall the heavy use of cilantro was a mite overpowering.

Courses 7,8 and 9 also all came with a side of bread if memory serves. Each course had a seperate bread served to accompany it. There was also a selection of fancy butters. I remember each bread was excellent but as we were so transfixed on our plates we kept forgetting to eat the bread. Given the stomach fullness already kicking in, I could have stood to have skipped some bread, but that would have meant being restrained…

Course 10: Honeydew: blis sherry vinegar, mint.

Taking the little metal tab off the glass block you pop this gelee into your mouth. Sharp and refreshing, although a little forgetful. Which is why I don’t remember much about this one ;) A palate cleanser I’d say.

Course 11: Rhubarb: goat milk, beet, long pepper

The far left features another self encapsulation (warm) floating in a cool liquid (to shoot back). The rest of the plate features some raw rhubarb (maybe marinated), mousse, sorbet, goats milk and a foam. All incorporating rhubarb. This plate was really quite diverse, and as you can see has many different implements to eat. Indeed fourth from the left - the mousse is actually on a leaf that you use to scoop into your mouth. A hit and miss plate we felt.

Course 12: Strawberry: frozen and chewy, with wasabi

Using the little metal pin, you pick this frozen block up and pop it into your mouth. Your told to let it dissolve slowly, and boy it packs a punch. After the initial layers of strawberry melt away the wasabi begins to kick in and caused both myself and Dan to put on a similarly surprised and jolted expression. Quite a fun course.

Course 13: Tuna: candied and dried

Almost like a tuna jerky stick. The stick of tuna was coated with spices and peppers and some pretty strong fresh ginger. I actually really liked this course, it was interestingly sweet and very moreish.

Course 14: Pineapple: bacon powder, black pepper

A small little packet containing a bacon/pineapple flavour. Interesting but a little flawed. The exterior casing quickly lodges in your teeth, just like wine gums used to. I would imagine this is premade and gives the kitchen a little breather to prepare the next course.

Course 15: Lamb: peas, consomme, morels

Another really great dish. Lamb several ways then coated in a long stripe of pea. Nothing exceptionally out of this world but very good nonetheless./p> Course 16: Hot potato: cold potato, black truffle, butter

The only course I had to skip on. The idea here is to pick the bowl up and then pull the pin downwards. This releases the blocks of cheese, hot potato and truffle. They then fall into the creamy/buttery cold potato below. I took one whiff of this and had to pass. All this mention of cheese, butter and cream, way past my tolerance level.Course 17: Bison: encased in savoury granola

An intersting idea but a touch on the sweet side. Bison was mixed in with granola into a kind of fat disc. I believe it was then rested on an oatmeal foam. Imagine a granola breakfast bar…with bison in. Your not far off the taste :) Closer to the camera in the picture above is a sauce held in a celery mash I think.

Course 18: Foie gras: spicy cinnamon, apple pate de fruit

These look like little bon bons. They have a soft almost fluffy exterior but when you pop them in your mouth and bite in they erupt. The innards contained a warm very rich sauce with foie gras in. I really enjoyed these.

Course 19: Guava: avocado, brie, key lime juice

And here 19 courses later and god knows how many hours later…we finally found out what the hell those limes in plastic were for. The bowl arrives at the table and the waiter proceeds to pull a nut cracker like device from his pocket. He then proceeds to use this to crack into the plastic tube, puncturing the key lime. The juice then rolls down the tube and over the meal. We both laughed when we realised what was going on. All that confusion for two limes.

This dish was really quite nice. I think it had a guava foam/mousse, guava sorbet and then the waiter also poured guava juice over the plate table side. You can also see a cherry encapsulation with brown sugar at the top of the picture. I side stepped the brie for obvious reasons. Probably my favourite dessert style dish. The flavours integrated really well and it wasn’t too sweet all said.

Course 20: Coconut: saffron, kiwi, cornmeal

Another of my least favourite courses. I cannot really remember much about this. You may be laughing as you read this, but I swear to god, your brain is full of information after the third course. By this point in proceedings the belt is being unbuckled and your mind has given up any hope of recalling anything other than “oh the dish with the coconut?”.
There were various elements all topped with a ribbon of coconut as you can see in the picture. I just didn’t think the flavours worked all that well, at least not for me. As for the saffron mentioned, I don’t personally recall that flavour.

Course 21: Liquorice cake: muscovado sugar, orange, anise

As you can see, quite a startling presentation, especially when your looking down on it.

You are meant to lean forward (not using your hands) and bite the cake from the pole.

The liquorice cake is surprisingly brittle and spiny. Indeed, when I first bit the cake off the spear I thought I had bobbed too far down the spear and impaled myself. That would have been nasty. But no, I was safe. I think this is done on purpose, as it is yet another dish that causes strange facial reactions on tasting.

Course 22: Chocolate: passionfruit, lemongrass, soy

I was amazed I could eat this. The brain, stomach and waist line quit some time ago in the meal. I do recall comments such as “I’m full” around course 7 or 8. Way out here at course 21, give up all hope. Anyway two intertwined threads, one passionfruit, one 70% cocoa chocalate. I seem to remember the waiter saying it was special columbian or peruvian cocoa, but yes I can’t remember at this time. There were some other bits and bobs on the plate, but the chocolate was ths star here. Very rich.

Course 23: Caramel: meyer lemon, cinnamon perfume

At first this small bronze looking disc is placed in front of you. The waiter then leaves for a moment or two leaving you slightly bemused.

This is the then topped with the following odd looking construction.

The idea is to pull the cinnamon stick out of the holder. The metal spines then retract in a cool almost sci-fi manner. This of course led me and Dan to play with the spines before tasting the food. Pushing the ball in and out and watching the spines.

Using the cinnamon stick you pop the ball in your mouth and are treated to an explosion of hot caramel and lemon. This was really quite excellent. However I had long since lost any stomach capacity. I am sure this course ended up in my liver or spleen.

Finally after four hours of eating and drinking wines we were finished. The sense of relief was quite palpable. I won’t even start to detail the wines in depth to save space. We had the lot, from sparking to white to red and even some sake with the Ayu. 10 pairings in total, refilled as soon as the glass was finished if the food was still being eaten. Every wine was detailed just as carefully as each of the plates of food. If I had the stamina I could easily make this post three times the length with other details. Just writing all this makes me feel full.
We finished our last sips of wine and a little water then headed downstairs to pay the bill. Cleverly you pay right next to the open kitchen so you get to see a glimpse of the kitchen at work. The picture below was taken around half past midnight on a Sunday and the restaurant was half empty. I can only imagine how busy it becomes on a Friday at 7PM.

The bill? With tip, tax and wine it was $400 each. A new record in our dining exploits. Although for the sheer amount of ingredients, the exemplary levels of service and the near constant flow of food and top notch wines - I would hazard to say this was actually exceptional value for money. I believe Marco Pierre White said something similar on a recent visit here. The whole experience goes beyond merely dining and becomes a little theatre, comedy and intrigue.
The level of detail paid to every element is quite staggering. From the custom made plates and serving equipment to the specifically tailored suits each of the servers wears. Every aspect of the dining experience is meticulously planned, and it tells. Service was flawless and the staff knew the menu inside out and back to front. Although initially I felt the place was stuffy - the hushed tones and whispers quickly became drowned out by laughter from many tables as the various diners grappled with the playful dishes.
Would I go again? Most definitely, although I would need to wait some time. Alinea for me is something you simply could not do every week or indeed every month. Even if money were no objection the sheer amount of mental energy required to get through a meal of this richness and complexity is considerable.

The whole reason we went to Alinea was due to its reputation as one of the most cutting edge restauarants in the world. It is mentioned in the same breath as El Bulli. I am sure we will be back to Alinea on our next visit to Chicago. Although the city does have one or two other highly rated restaurants. For the time being my stomach, brain and wallet will thank me to take it easy for a few months.

If you read this far, pat yourself on the back. If you thought this post was a slog, try eating 24 courses at Alinea :)

(My latest restaurant reviews can be found at my new site Gastronomic SLC)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 4:49 am and is filed under Gastronomy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.