Hi,

Bumped into Moto's home movies this evening:

Future Food Explosion

You may want to subscribe to hswizzle to be alerted to whatever they do next.

Regards,

Had the 10 course dinner at Moto last night with two friends. From the instant I walked into the restaurant I was struck with how seriously everyone took their irreverence. I got the feeling that whatever wicked commentary Chef Cantu is trying to make with his food is completely lost on his employees. They were all so serious. I found out last night that clever for clever sake is not all that interesting to me. In many ways I enjoyed my meal, but nothing about the experience makes me want to go back to Moto and do it again. Edible ink and paper was a cool way to present the menu, but did I really need to eat paper twice more during my meal? Do I really want to eat what is essentially a chimichanga (and not a great one) dressed up to look like a cannoli and what did the faux cuban cigar add to the taste of that courses ingredients (the impression was so underwhelming that I can't even remember what that course consisted of other then pork something).

Fair or not, I cannot help but compare my meal at Moto with a recent degastation at Schwa. I much prefered Schwa's punk rock brand of irreverence to Chef Cantu's follies. At the end of the meal, it is all about the food, and the tastes didn't blow me away like Schwa, or any number of other meals I have had recently. I would have a hard time recommending Moto in its current incarnation to anyone. Cantu claims to be blazing a new path in the era of post modern cuisine, to me his food just seems post-relevant.

iblock9 wrote:Edible ink and paper was a cool way to present the menu, but did I really need to eat paper twice more during my meal?

I find that the "edible paper" at Moto has a remarkable resemblance to what others might just call "paper."

A few friends and I (5 in our party) have reservations at Moto this Friday, a first time for all of us. How are the wine pairing? Is it worth the price or better just to get a couple of bottles? Is it like Alinea where you can kind of dictate how much wine you want to drink for the wine pairing and the price be adjusted accordingly?

I think a couple of us are doing the 10 course menu while others are thinking about doing the entire 20.

I ate at Moto in July. If I had my time again I would probably skip the wine pairing. The glasses of wine were very small - even the fin du monde beer was a small drop in the bottom of the glass. (In the interests of full disclosure I should point out I'm Irish - so a small glass for me might be more than enough for you!)

pacent wrote:A few friends and I (5 in our party) have reservations at Moto this Friday, a first time for all of us. How are the wine pairing? Is it worth the price or better just to get a couple of bottles? Is it like Alinea where you can kind of dictate how much wine you want to drink for the wine pairing and the price be adjusted accordingly?

I think a couple of us are doing the 10 course menu while others are thinking about doing the entire 20.

I recommend the non-alcoholic drink pairings (let them know you want them in advance) instead for something unique, perfectly matched, and highly creative. Then hope they'll send out some champagne as they often do (or, bring a bottle and pay corkage, again negotiating in advance).

Thanks for the input. I'll ask the rest of the members in my party if that is what they want to do. Although they are pretty much all alcoholics, the non-alcoholic pairing sounds really interesting.

I thought the non-alcoholic pairings at Moto were really hit or miss. Generally interesting and tasty in their own right, but without much relevance to the dish they were matched with.

Other than that, enjoy!

Moto cooks food with sound.

Found this today:

Greetings!

Celebrate moto's 8th anniversary with opening day prices! On Tuesday, February 7th, Wednesday, February 8th, andThursday, February 9th, experience our sixteen course tasting menu with beverage pairings for $150 (2012 value of $255). Seats are available but limited: Call (312) 491-0058 to reserve.


We look forward to beginning another 8 fantastic years with you!


Warm regards,


Homaro Cantu
Chef & Owner

Here's a link to a video showing their 16 course winter dinner: http://vimeo.com/35731705?utm_source=Moto+8th+Anniversary&utm_campaign=Moto+8th+Anniversary+Blast&utm_medium=socialshare

Has anyone been to Moto recently? I'm taking my boyfriend for his birthday in May, just made the reservations today and am pretty excited.

Any updated review would be great.

I had dinner at Moto tonight and figured I would do an updated review; this was my second time at Moto and I enjoyed tonight's meal more so than my first meal (which was in February of 2012). They have rolled out quite a few new courses recently and the Fall menu is shaping up nicely. Moto features a single fifteen-course tasting menu consisting of unique, cutting edge, extremely creative post molecular cuisine. Lots of the greens are grown in their indoor garden adjacent to the kitchen. Moto is dinner and a show rolled into one. There is an upstairs and downstairs and I highly recommend dining downstairs; the upstairs is a more traditional style dining room (though still funky and modern) whereas the downstairs looks like a chemistry lab and proffers views of one of the food prep areas. Moto has an option of beverage pairings (thirteen two-ounce pours) for $95 or has wines by the glass or bottle (the wines are someone pricey, but there are a handful under $100, some as low as $45 per bottle). Our service tonight was very attentive and polished, but there is somewhat of a laid back ambiance as well which is nice - the atmosphere is not at all pretentious or stuffy. Portion sizes were mostly small, but not comically small and since there are fifteen courses I ended up leaving full and satisfied. Out of the fifteen courses there were five home-runs, five others that were very good, three that were fair and two misses (in the photo review below I will award each course one to four stars based on these categories). Spoiler Alert: If you are planning on dining at Moto for the Fall menu you may want to not look at my pictures as the surprising, whimsical component of the meal really adds to the experience.

My wife standing outside the entrance. Moto occupies a strip with three outstanding restaurants just about next door to one another; Moto, iNG and Next. The Aviary is right around the corner and several other high end restaurants are within a couple of blocks. The West Loop has became Chicago's premiere neighborhood for top notch restaurants.


View from our table of a food prep area within the lower dining room.


Cool shelving near our table; the downstairs dining area looks just like a chic chemistry lab.


Course #1 - Tasting Menu: During my first trip to Moto course number one was an edible menu. Tonight they had another innovative creation for the first course; fourteen tiny bites each with something representative of one of the upcoming courses. Grade: Three Stars.


Course #2 - Blanc de Blanc: During my first dinner at Moto there was an all black course and during the current menu there is an all white course. This course had some really cool components such as faux risotto made from shaved coconut. The course featured different preparations of hearts of palm with the coolest being a brined chunk shaped like a scallop that tasted exactly like a scallop. In fact my wife and I both thought we had misheard our server when he informed us that it was a faux scallop as it tasted so much like an actual scallop; when our plates were cleared we asked if it was a real scallop, but sure enough it was a preparation of a heart of palm. Grade: Three Stars.


Course #3 - Nightshades: This course was like a fancy Caprese salad. The course and plate were dark in color, so the picture did not come out too well. Grade: Two Stars for the food, Zero stars for my poor picture.


Course #4 - River: This course had a really cool presentation. It is served in a long narrow dish wrapped in plastic. On the inside are a two different kinds of fish and a crayfish tail sitting on rocks in a scene mimicking a river. There is also smoke inside the dish that infuses with the food. The server releases the plastic wrap resulting in a delicious aroma filling the dining area and somehow the smoke moves primarily horizontally creating the illusion of a flowing river.


Course #4 Part B: On either side of the serving dish are two different kinds of caviar on ice.


Course #4 Part C: The River course is also served with a mini everything bagel with cream cheese (I put my salmon on the mini bagel) as well as a lemon flavored brioche that was really succulent). Overall grade for Course #4: Three Stars.


Course #5 - Sticks & Stones: This was the first home run of the night. The stones were made of apples that tasted like fruit leather and the sticks were amazing tasting root vegetables. There also was some incredible puree underneath as sauce. So, so good. Grade: Four Stars.


Course #6 -Crab Cone: Another phenomenal course. This was a savory take on an ice cream cone; the ice cream was comprised largely of king crab meat - some chunks as well as some that was the texture of ice cream. Both the cone and the faux ice cream were out of this world. I would have loved seconds on this course!


Course #6 Part B: My wife holding her king crab ice cream cone. Grade: Four Stars.


Course #7 - Fallen Log: This was the first of two "misses" on the night. The first menu had a similar concept of food on top of a log, but was a salad course and was one of my favorites from my first meal at Moto. Tonight's version was more of an unusual meat centric dish with a piece of squab, quail and some foie gras as well as edible dirt and some berries. The non meat components were not bad, but some of the sauce/puree on the course I found a bit unpleasant and I did not like the foie gras (though this may be more personal as I simply seem to have an aversion to foie) and the quail was not so good as well. Nice presentation, but poor taste. I would recommend keeping the concept of food on a log, but totally change up the edible components of this dish. Grade: One Star.


Course #8 - French Press: Another really cool concept; while this was definitely better tasting than the Fallen Log course, it again was a case of the food being more interesting and shocking than delicious. The dish was served on what looked like a coffee filter and consisted of what looked like coffee beans (but was a rye bread if I recall correctly) and mixed in were a few different kinds of mushrooms and a little bit of rabbit. The mushrooms were really good but the faux coffee grinds were a bit bland and there was far too much of them. While I love the idea of this course, I think there needs to be fewer "grounds" and some additional components to liven up the taste. Grade: Two Stars.


Course #9 - Bacon-4: An impressive looking platter is placed on your table that looks like a forest that has various aromatics such as large chunks of garlic.


Course #9 Part B: The server uses a blow torch to scorch various parts of the platter so that aromatics impact the taste of the cuisine. The smell was nice, but more subtle than with the River course.


Course #9 Part C: The food served with the aromatics is four different preparations of bacon - pork belly, pig face, traditional bacon and one other that is escaping my memory - I'll blame the booze! The pig face was the best of the preparations (and I was able to enjoy double portions as my wife is a little squeamish about eating atypical body parts), but again this course excelled more in presentation and concept than in taste. Grade: Two Stars.


Course #10 - Tostada: After a couple of somewhat disappointing courses, the Tostada course was one of my favorites. A mortal and pestle are brought table side with what looks like half an avocado - though the shell is actually chocolate, the pit edible and the green component is already guacamole. The patron gets to mash the faux avocado tableside to turn it into the consistency of guacamole.


Course #10 Part B: My wife mashing the faux avocado.


Course #10 Part C: The course is served with a chip topped with some Wagyu beef and some dehydrated sour cream. We pretty much licked up every morsel of this course. The chocolate and avocado seemed like it might be an odd combination, but wow, it was incredible! There was a thin layer of chocolate to provide just a little kick/hint of chocolate and it combined so well with the guacamole, anything more than a thin layer would have been too much - but on this course the ratio was perfect. Grade: Four Stars.


Course #11 - Greek Lamb: This was both my wife's and mine least favorite course of the night. Another cool presentation - the dish is served with a cleaver cutting into a femur bone representing the butchering of the meat. The meat consists of five small preparations of various portions of a lamb, such as the belly, shoulder, offal etc. Unfortunately out of the five different preparations a couple tasted fair and the other three just were unappealing to me and my wife only consumed about half of this course. Again not a bad concept, but this course needs a lot of tweaking. Grade: One Star.


Course #12 - Coffee Service: The start of the dessert courses and what a phenomenal start this was. Another molecular gastronomy focused course where nothing is it appears. The course is made to look like a cup of coffee, sugar cubes and foam/cream but is all made of different ingredients than you would think (i.e. the sugar cubes are made from coconut). This course was an amazing combination of flavors and textures and another where I was dying for seconds. There was a great cinnamon aftertaste, a creme brulee like consistency to one of the layers, some banana and all sorts of different tastes going on and it all worked perfectly. Grade: Four Stars.


Course #13 - Paradise: Served inside a coconut shell was a lime flavored gelatin mixed with coconut water. A nice tasting, light and refreshing course. Nothing mind blowing here, but very good. Grade: Three Stars.


Course #14 - Pumpkin Patch: Today was the first day of Fall and nothing says Fall like pumpkins. This course had a cute appearance consisting of a pumpkin shaped mousse sitting atop chocolate shavings. As with the Paradise course this was quite appetizing, but nothing overly exciting. Grade: Three Stars. Interesting side note: This course reminded me of a dessert I had a Tru last year and I later found out that Moto's new pastry chef, Claire Crenshaw, was Tru's head pastry chef at the time! She is extremely talented.


Course #15 - Baking 101: Our dinner ended with one of the best courses. This was an interactive course where you are presented with what looks like the basic ingredients for making a cookie, a mixing bowl and a jug of Oberweis milk. It comes with personalized instructions on how to mix everything up. The basic ingredients are not what they appear (i.e. there is what looks like a raw egg that is comprised of something completely different; butter that is not butter etc.). Extremely fun and whimsical concept and the end product tasted outstanding. It was like a blend between eating cookie dough and eating a cookie. Another course where we licked the bowl clean.


Course #15 Part B: My wife mixing up her batter.


Course #15 Part C: Pastry chef Claire Crenshaw is really an amazing talent and has completely upped the quality of Moto's desserts. Dessert was the weakest aspect of our first trip to Moto but was a huge strong point tonight. Grade: Four Stars.The finished product.


After dinner we enjoyed a kitchen tour. This was our second kitchen tour, so I did not shoot any new photos, but am attaching a picture here of there really cool looking spice rack from our prior visit.


View of the kitchen:


Overall my second visit to Moto was a lot better than my first (during my first visit Chef Cantu, Chef Farina and some other staff were out of the country and I think this contributed to us being there on an off night). During our first visit the savory courses were about as good as they were tonight, but the desserts were rather poor and service was really lacking. Tonight we really received spot on service and in addition to some really good savory courses the dessert enhanced the meal rather than seeming like an afterthought. As Moto is one of Chicago's most expensive restaurants I therefore have extremely high expectations and feel as though they should deliver as though they are one of the best venues in the city. At this price point I would like to see nearly every course falling in the three to four star category (as has been my experience at Alinea), so even though this was a memorable and outstanding dining experience I do feel that Moto has a bit more work cut out if they want to be one of the top few restaurants in what is probably the best city for food in the US outside of New York and California. Owner Homaro Cantu and executive chef Richie Farina are so uber talented, driven and some of the most innovative chefs around that I am confident they will continue to improve. I will definitely be back and look forward to seeing what Moto comes up with for 2013.

I wound up returning to Moto last night to celebrate my birthday; about a third of the menu had changed around from my last visit and some of the other courses had undergone some significant tweaks; they are about to introduce several more new dishes for their winter menu. This was now my third visit to Moto and they have showed steady improvement and now I feel they truly have ascended to one of the top restaurants in Chicago. Executive Chef/Partner Richie Farina and Pastry Chef Claire Crenshaw are so motivated and talented and really are delivering at a high level. While Moto used to be known for being on the cutting edge of molecular gastronomy and wildly creative dishes, the knock was that sometimes dishes seemed gimmicky and that taste suffered at the expense of presentation. Moto has really evolved to the point where now the cuisine itself is the star - but plating is still creative, whimsical and entertaining. They have advanced to the post molecular realm where the scientific techniques they use now adds to the taste of the food rather than is merely to make the food different or interesting looking.

The biggest challenge of my wife and I partaking in tasting menus is that my wife is somewhat of a picky eater, so unless a restaurant is able to be flexible with substitutions (and not sacrifice quality when doing so) the experience can suffer. I had noted my wife's aversions in our reservation on Open Table and was extremely impressed when our captain first approached us that she spontaneously mentioned my wife's aversions - and had them memorized! Not only did they flawlessly deliver dishes that were comfortable to her, they looked just as beautiful as the regular dish and tasted amazing to boot. This expert accommodation of my wife's special requests was greatly appreciated and is something that will ensure we are regulars at Moto! Be sure to speak up when they call to confirm your reservation if you have any food aversions as they really aim to please and want to ensure you have a wonderful experience.

In addition to finding the food much improved from our first visit and moderately improved from our second visit, service also has shown remarkable improvement. Part of it likely was attributable to us being frequent patrons at nearby sister venue iNG (we did receive some perks such as a couple of bonus courses and Richie came tableside for one of our courses), but the front of the house staff has undergone some changes and definitely for the better. Matt is a wonderful general manager; extremely friendly and very involved in interacting with patrons (when we mentioned we liked a particular wine he even researched to see if there was anywhere nearby where it could be purchased). Service at Moto is extremely polished and attentive; very worthy of a special occasion but at the same time the staff is so relaxed and personable, there is not an iota of pretentiousness and you can even joke around with the staff. They are very patient in answering questions and genuinely seemed to appreciate when you express interest in and ask about the interesting cuisine and nice wines. We again requested to sit in the downstairs area which is referred to as "the lab" and has such a fun ambiance (as well is a more quiet, intimate space than the upstairs).

Miranda (the Sommelier) has really elevated the wine pairings at Moto; when we dined there for our first time in February we were underwhelmed by the pairings and opted to order a bottle in lieu of pairings during our second visit. This time we decided to give the pairings another try and are very glad we did; really interesting small batch wines from all over the world that both tasted well on their own before the food arrived and also paired superbly with the cuisine. There were several white wines, several reds, two sparklings, a sake (my favorite of the bunch) and a sour ale. The pairings cost $95 for two ounce pours, but a nice option is that for the same price a couple can share the pairings and they will bring each person a one ounce pour. Wonderful way to opt for the pairings without breaking the bank or if you do not want to indulge in too much alcohol. The wine menu itself has transformed for the better; the wines by the glass are very reasonably priced (most running $8 to $16 per glass with a couple up to $25) and the bottles have several options from $45 to $70 and then run all the way up to four figures. The wines by the bottle are organized in a helpful manner; a list of wines that pair with the first third of the menu, another list for the middle third, another list of desserts and a list of wines that will pair in general with the entire menu.

Be prepared for a lengthy meal; dinner can easily be expected to last three hours and depending on whether the restaurant is full, the size of your party and the pace with which you eat it may even take closer to four hours. While some are turned off by such a lengthy meal, I loved the leisurely pace. Dining at Moto is truly a special event and with such wonderful staff, delicious food and wines, and nice ambiance we were having such a blast we did not want the evening to end. Since there are approximately fifteen courses expect portions to be on the smallish side, but none are bite sized or comically small (and some are fairly robust); despite having a hearty appetite (and arriving quite hungry) I left quite satisfied. The meal is expensive ($175 per person for the cuisine with 20% gratuity automatically added), but this is a one-of-kind experience and I feel it is well worth the price tag.

Our meal last night was so excellent I really do not have much criticism to offer. The meat courses (my biggest criticism last visit) have definitely improved, but still have a little ways to go before they are as good as the seafood courses, vegetable courses and desserts. One other nice touch would be some type of take home treat like some of my other favorite restaurants provide (i.e. Tru and Sixteen both hand you a pastry to take home as you leave; it is always so fun to eat it the next day and remember your wonderful meal). With Richie and Claire being so young and passionate they are almost a lock to continue improving with time. Owner Homaro Cantu also is completely dedicated to making Moto not just one of the best restaurants in Chicago, but in the world. After my first meal at Moto I would have never thought this possible, after my second I could see it being a remote possibility but after last night's dinner this goal now seems completely realistic. If you have not dined at Moto within the past several months it truly has transformed into a much different venue than the Moto of years past; while it retains the whimsical, wildly creative aspect of Moto past, it now in addition offers top notch cuisine and service. If you have never dined at Moto before I highly recommend coming here and if you have not been to Moto in a while it is well worth returning; even if your prior experience at Moto was subpar there have been so many improvements that chances are you will be glad you gave Moto another chance.

Richie and Claire both recently were named finalists for Jean Banchet awards and I am pulling for them! My wife and I have already made reservations to return in February for Valentines day.

Photos from last nights meal:

Tasting Menu - The first course continues to be a sequences of bites, each bite representing an aspect of a future course (in order); really fun way to kickoff the meal and wake up your taste buds:


Blanc de Blancs - All white foods. During our last visit this was a vegetarian course that tasted like scallops but now that scallops are in season it has actual scallops. There is also sunchoke chips, a faux risotto and lots of fun, tasty components to this dish; excellent flavors and textures:


Breakfast Radish - New dish; beautiful and delicious.:


The River - Three different fish served inside a container laid with rocks and infused with smoke; the plumes of smoke mimic the flow of a river and infuse the fish. It is served with caviar, a miniature everything bagel and other delicious bites. This remains one of the best courses and I would not be surprised to see it become a signature dish. Some of the fish and bites had changed from our last visit:




Bonus Course - A White Gazpacho with dehydrated grapes, carbonated grapes (amazing flavor and texture), nuts and olive oil snow (first picture is before soup is poured over):



Sticks and Stones - This dish was on the menu last time, but has changed quite a bit. It was among my favorites last visit and the new version is different, but just as good. The little apples taste like apple pie and the root vegetable "sticks" are magical tasting - I wanted to lick the plate clean, but my wife would not have approved:


Farmhouse - A new dish. The top features a preparation of rabbit as well as various foods that a rabbit might eat (i.e. a baby carrot). The inside has an egg with the top cut off and has an egg custard with braised rabbit. Fun dish and good, but not up there with my favorites:




View from "the lab" - The downstairs dining area has a chemistry lab feel with periodical tables and shelves stocked with beakers and chemistry equipment; there is a food prep area inside the dining room where they prepare/plate some of the dishes as well as use the liquid nitrogen for some courses; I loved watching the chefs work during the pauses between courses:


Second Bonus Course - This dish is still being tweaked but likely will soon become part of the menu. Beautiful presentation of a large glass house lifted tableside to reveal boar sausage atop of juniper berries and pine aromatics. This is then served with several preparations of carrots; the carrots were so fresh and bursting with flavor; although carrots are far from my favorite vegetable I absolutely loved this dish; the carrot caramel component was the best part:




Fallen Log - This course was improved from my last visit; I did not care for it so much in September, but really enjoyed it last night (and had enough wine in me that I picked up the log at the end and licked the wonderful squash puree off it despite my wife's protests). The log features the squash puree, game meat, blueberries and more - a lot going on with this dish. My second favorite of the meat courses:


Bacon4 - Four different preparations of bacon. Another course that has been tweaked since my last visit and is more approachable now; while I found it a bit better than last time this is still just not my favorite dish. Two of the preparations of bacon were quite good, the other two just OK (I liked the face and the traditional bacon cuts best). One of the most fun parts of the course is the large platter of rosemary, garlic and onion they torch tableside for aromatics:




Osso Buco - New course and this was outstanding. Veal and housemade pasta with shaved black truffle. Chef Farina came tableside and was very generous with the truffle shavings; the truffle itself was massive. This was the best of the meat courses:



Reindeer Lichen - Yet another new course. Mushrooms, edible fried lichen (tasted kind of like kale) and boar prosciutto. Beautiful course and was quite good taste wise as well:


Study of Venison - Another new course with beautiful plating and presentation; was like a work of art. Like the Bacon4 some preparations were delicious (I loved the jerkey) and some just OK; there is also lots of different purees and sauces to dip the meat into. A nice change from September was during that visit I found some of the meat courses to be subpar in taste and too many of them to be challenging cuts of meat that some people find unappealing; while the meat courses are still not as good as the other courses, not a single cut was poor and in general the meats were more approachable without making the plates boring. I would like to see on the next menu a meat dish that features beef (perhaps Wagyu) as this menu had no beef and the last menu only one tiny piece:


Paradise - The desserts had minimal changes from last visit; I actually was happy about this as I absolutely loved the desserts last time and last night they were just as amazing. Pastry chef Claire Crenshaw did say she is rolling out some new desserts very soon, so I look forward to seeing what magic she comes up with next visit. Paradise is served inside a coconut shell and is a coconut and lime custard with passionate fruit fruit leather. So good and great palate cleanser as you transition from savories to sweets:


Pumpkin Patch - Chocolate mouse pumpkin with chocolate tuie and an edible dessert menu. Of the four desserts my least favorite but still beautiful, fun and delicious:


Coffee Service - Looks just like coffee (even sugar cubes) but looks are deceiving; the sugar cubes are coconut and there is no actual coffee. I absolutely love this dish; whimsical and extremely tasty - lots of different layers of flavor and texture:


Baking 101 - One of my favorite desserts I have ever had and hopefully this course remains on the menu as a signature course for some time to come. Cookie dough ingredients are delivered tableside with instructions for mixing (baking) your own chocolate chip cookies tableside. Again things are not as they appear (i.e. the egg looks just like a miniature egg but is made from something totally different). Fun, whimsical final course and the taste is mind blowingly good!




Balloon - At the end of our meal Matt (the general manager) dropped an balloon on our table (it was my birthday); the balloon was filled with liquid nitrogen and inflated itself after being left at the table. Really nice touch at the end of the meal:


After paying the bill we were presented with a souvenir menu and received a kitchen tour; as it was towards the end of service Chefs Richie and Claire both spent time with us and we greatly enjoyed chatting with them; in addition to being so talented they are so friendly, down to Earth and truly good people:


As someone who dines out very frequently it takes a lot for a meal to be memorable and my dinner last night at Moto definitely falls in this category. It was one of the top several meals I have ever consumed. I love how much Moto has improved just across my three visits and am so excited about some plans they have for 2013; in a city filled with so many big time restaurants Moto has become one of my very favorites and I am eagerly anticipating my return visit in February.

Moto is having an anniversary special between 1/2/13 and 1/19/13 that they are offering the full menu plus pairing for their opening price of $160. The weekends are already booked (they limited it to 4 tables each Friday/Saturday) but there is no limit on the weeknights. Also you must call to make the reservation, no opentable.

Just a quick Moto update; my wife and I returned last night to take advantage of their ninth year anniversary pricing. There were already quite a few new dishes from our meal just a few weeks back. There were a couple of small cutbacks from when they are charging full price (the ones we noticed were no caviar served with the River course and no champagne served at the start of the meal) but for the most part is was the real deal for greatly reduced pricing ($160 for the food and wine pairings; normally the food runs $175 and the optional wine pairings $95).

We once again had an amazing dinner with awesome food and first class service (the attention to detail is amazing; the meal begins with a miniature "tasting menu" - 14 bites, each representing one of the upcoming courses in order; Moto does a wonderful job substituting for dietary restrictions and aversions and even the "tasting menu" course was modified to represent the changes to some of the courses they made for my wife to accommodate her dietary aversions).

It is so nice to see Moto firing on all cylinders and Chefs Richie Farina and Claire Crenshaw shining. Moto is striving to earn multiple Michelin stars in 2013 based on my last two dinners there I think this goal is well within reach.

Here are some shots of the newer dishes:

Duck a l'Orange - Three small but delicious pieces of duck sitting atop some sauce; you pour a different sauce on top out of a hollowed out orange:



My wife having fun with the aromatics for Dueling Shoulders Course (suckling pig shoulder & boar shoulder):



Our favorite savory of the night; Beef and Cauliflower - this was amazing!


Beet of the Night - a course featuring beets and foie gras:


New dessert - Gingerbread Man in a Jacuzzi:


And Baking 101 now has converted to a peppermint brownie from a chocolate chip cookie; really fun and tasty end to the meal:





My wife chatting with Chef Farina:


Moto has become one of our top two or three favorite venues in Chicago; while the meal is pricey, it is not just a dinner but a fun, whimsical, memorable dining experience where you are completely pampered and enjoy fifteen courses of delicious and interesting food; the wine pairings are spot on as well. As they churn out new dishes so frequently we have already made reservations to return in March and are eagerly anticipating our next dinner at Moto.

I am really excited for Moto's collaboration with Chef Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz (currently the fourth best restaurant in the world in the San Pellegrino rankings). Chef Aduriz will be serving five courses from Mugaritz and Moto will be serving five of their own courses during the dinner. Moto's growth of late has been impressive and they have been doing some amazing things, but I am thrilled to have the opportunity to experience some of Mugaritz' cuisine without having to leave Chicago. The pricing is extremely fair as well for an event of this magnitude - a bit less expensive than a regular meal at Moto. I am not sure if space is still available, but there is more information on Moto's website about the event (Monday March 17th):

http://motorestaurant.com/

Man, I love Moto, but there are two unforgivable errors even in the first 60 seconds of this recently posted video by Homiracle:



- time elapsed between consistent controlled use of fire by early humans and the Industrial Revolution was about 200,000 years, not millions
- Mao Zedong did not study under Escoffier and then go on to transform China. That was Ho Chi Minh, and it's likely a myth.

/anthropologist problems

Santander wrote:Man, I love Moto, but there are two unforgivable errors even in the first 60 seconds of this recently posted video by Homiracle:

- time elapsed between consistent controlled use of fire by early humans and the Industrial Revolution was about 200,000 years, not millions
- Mao Zedong did not study under Escoffier and then go on to transform China. That was Ho Chi Minh, and it's likely a myth.

/anthropologist problems

I guess you can't expect Cantu to wade through all the arguments in anthropology about the controlled use of fire, particularly when pop anthropology books try to hammer people into believing an earlier date (Wrangham's Catching Fire, for example).

Otherwise, it kind of irks me how Cantu seems so eager to embrace every single technofix. I often muse on the fact they don't work out that well even in the restaurants serves as a hilarious allegory to the futility of some of these technofixes. I loved my meal at Moto, but they tried to tell me their greenhouse microgreens had more flavor than regular side because they were just picked. They were almost flavorless. The miracle berry stuff at Ing is usually not good at all.

But almost 99% of the meal I had at Moto was fantastic and I'm going to the Mugaritz dinner.

Santander wrote:- Mao Zedong did not study under Escoffier and then go on to transform China. That was Ho Chi Minh, and it's likely a myth.

/anthropologist problems

Ho Chi Minh transformed China?!

David Hammond wrote:

Santander wrote:- Mao Zedong did not study under Escoffier and then go on to transform China. That was Ho Chi Minh, and it's likely a myth.

/anthropologist problems

Ho Chi Minh transformed China?!

Rather, the purported story was about Ho Chi Minh - he picked the wrong comrade. Have some Miracle Berries and it'll make sense.

Anthony Todd just tweeted that Moto has been sold to the Alinea group; last day of service will be Valentine's Day.

Edited to add: here's the Crain's story.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... -over-moto

watson wrote:Anthony Todd just tweeted that Moto has been sold to the Alinea group; last day of service will be Valentine's Day.

Edited to add: here's the Crain's story.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... -over-moto

Well, that seems appropriate -- both in the visionary/experimental category.

This is absolutely bittersweet. My wife and I got engaged at Moto in the kitchen- Homaru was there as were some key members of that staff. I'm glad this chapter is coming to a close in this way rather than them just closing their doors.

I just learned that Moto was being sold as well. I would like to believe (and perhaps it was partly true) that LTH (and the early, glorious 7-hour LTH dinner in the basement room) gave impetus to Moto's fame. Perhaps it was due to Cathy2 who brought a container of raccoon meat to the dinner (I believe her plan was to share it with Hammond), but which Homero used to compose his "roadkill" dish, a dish that was memorialized in Time magazine. This was from the golden age of molecular cuisine, and the golden age (or one of the golden ages?) of LTH. Selling Moto reminds us that this culinary age has come to an end (although the restaurant had already changed greatly under Chef Anderson). Moto's closure is another reason for an LTH Hall of Fame.

For those interested in the original LTH Moto meal, it can be found at:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2704&p=22458&hilit=Moto#p22458