sbhaskar wrote:Going tomorrow (finally!) for the first time. Any tips? What's the wine list price range look like?

The wine list is vast with a huge range of price points, I know they go as low as $70 (perhaps even a bit below this). Wine pairings are $150 for standard and $250 for reserve. They also have limited selection of wines by-the-glass. Last visit I gave the sommelier a price point of what I wanted to spend and asked if he could create a mini-pairing for that price; he was happy to oblige and did a great job. I found this to be a better experience than selecting a bottle. They have had significant turn over in the sommelier department, but hopefully the newer hires are flexible with doing this option if you do not want to spring for the full pairings.

Enjoy your dinner!

^he made it. And it was an incredible experience for all of us. Thanks for the tip on getting the wine pairings. It was fun and complemented the food well.

It had been a while since my last trip to Alinea but last Thursday, even on a night that I believe was new chef de cusine Mike Bagale's first service, things were humming along at their usual world-class level on every dimension . . .


Menu - 13.0530



Osetra Caviar | lobster, meyer lemon, cotton candy



Seafood Course: Array of Serviceware



Seafood Course: Cooking Stone




Seafood Course: Scallop | mirin, bonito



Seafood Course: Scallop | mirin, bonito



Seafood Course: Papa Papio | lemongrass, star anise



Seafood Course: Papa Papio | lemongrass, star anise



Seafood Course: Shrimp Head | togarashi, pincage



Seafood Course: Monchong | banana leaf, sugarcane



Seafood Course: Monchong | banana leaf, sugarcane



Seafood Course: Chilled Petal Bath for Uku



Seafood Course: Uku | white soy, ginger



Seafood Course: Blue Prawn | tamarind, mint



Seafood Course: Pineapple | slush, shot



Rabbit | cherry blossom, smoke, wasabi



Artichoke | octopus, eggplant, allium



Veal Cheeks | spring bounty



Additional Duck Course | breast and foie gras
This was a course that I'm pretty sure was sent out for us, in addition to the standard menu for the evening.



Hot Potato | cold potato, black truffle, butter



Duck | heart, neck, tongue, wing, breast, kidney, liver, mousse, leg



60 Garnishes
These were served with the duck course shown above. We were told that there was no expectation we try them all but with 4 of us at the table, we pretty much did. It was really fun to taste them all. Such a cool concept.



Additional Duck Course | breast, foie gras
Plated up.



Black Truffle | explosion, romaine, parmesan



Ginger | five other flavors



Balloon | helium, green apple



Strawberry | sorrel, sassafras, pine nut



Raspberry | infused with violet



Birthday Cake
Somehow -- I don't believe I ever mentioned it -- the house knew that it was the birthday of one of the people in our party.



Birthday Cake



Dark Chocolate | chestnut, rye, maple syrup



Dark Chocolate | chestnut, rye, maple syrup



Dark Chocolate | chestnut, rye, maple syrup



Dark Chocolate | chestnut, rye, maple syrup

At the end of our meal we were informed that the 2 reserve wine pairings the 4 of shared had been comped. Whoa! That was an incredibly sweet gesture on the part of the house. Needless to say, we tipped heavily in an attempt to reciprocate. This meal was among my very favorites I've ever had at Alinea. 8 years in and they still have a full head of steam. When you think that there's absolutely no one left from the opening other than chef Achatz, it really is a testament to his creative vision, culinary skill and ability to lead.

=R=

Great photos; looks like there are some interesting new courses since my last visit; the new version of the seafood looks particularly intriguing.

Gonzo70 wrote:Great photos; looks like there are some interesting new courses since my last visit; the new version of the seafood looks particularly intriguing.

I hadn't been in 15 months; my longest interval since they opened, and a lot had changed. I really liked what I had this time around because it was more savory than savory+sweet, which is more to my liking. Service was phenomenal and the pairings were truly inspired.

I know they dropped a few notches on the San Pellegrino list this year but this meal was as strong as any I've had there.

=R=

Thanks, Ron, for the de rigueur great shots. Saves me from having to work on mine since we were there about three weeks ago and had substantially the same meal (except, of course, the comped things).

We were quite happy with the meal as well and one of the nice things was that virtually everything was a great success. On previous visits, we've tended to have a couple favorites, a couple less-than-happy items, and a high overall level of happiness. This time, I can only recall one dish that didn't really work for us: the small portions of various duck anatomy (or preparations) and the 60 garnishes. While it was fun to discover wonderful pairings (you were purposely not told what was there, though a number of items were pretty obvious), it was less fun to discover less-successful pairings. And very hard to know which organs/preparations would pair best with which unknown garnish. We liked the concept more than the actual eating, I guess. (Stunning presentation though, huh?)

The seafood opener(s) were fabulous, in concept, presentation, and--best of all--in the mouth. Overwhelming in the best way. I'd also single out the veal cheeks course as exceptional.

We were also fortunate to have a long and interesting chat with Chef Achatz about the Pellegrino rankings and Next (among other things). He shared his thoughts at some length, most of which were later available in a posted video interview he did with Nick Kokonas. We wanted to share with him one experience we had in Vienna at Steirereck (review here) where the restaurant presents small cards listing all the components of a dish, a practice we found extremely helpful. We brought him a sample card and were pleased at how intrigued he was.

We've been lucky the last few times we've been to Alinea to have long chats with him at the table and what always impresses us, in addition to his thoughtfulness and clearly evident passion, is his approachability. He's shy, to be sure, and doesn't usually spend much time at a table, but each time we've managed to hit on something he enjoys talking about and hey, who's gonna tell him he can't stick around and chat? A lovely man.

Is it just me or is that menu a lot less substantial overall than in the past? Maybe all of those seafood courses just look smaller than they are in those pictures...

Either way, going for my fourth visit in as many years next month and I couldn't be more excited.

Ronnie - Meal looks great. Do you recall what the "birthday cake" was comprised of? Thanks.

claypoolfan wrote:Is it just me or is that menu a lot less substantial overall than in the past? Maybe all of those seafood courses just look smaller than they are in those pictures...

Actually, even without the additional duck course, I thought this meal was more substantial than my last meal at Alinea (February 2012). There were fewer courses this time but they were generally larger and more savory, which feels more substantial to me personally. That said, I've been to Alinea several times and I felt like this meal was somewhere in the middle as far as overall quantity goes. I've had larger meals there and smaller ones, too. I was satisfied and comfortably full when I left, but not overly stuffed. I know this an issue that is very hard to nail down, even after this many years of service. It's almost impossible to set the quantity of food in a tasting menu at a point that works universally.

rehorn wrote:Ronnie - Meal looks great. Do you recall what the "birthday cake" was comprised of? Thanks.

It wasn't served to me but I've had it before (and tasted it this time). It's essentially a moist and tender piece of cake inside a chocolate orb. Warm cream sauce is poured over the orb until it melts, exposing the tiny piece of cake inside it.

=R=

I would also say that the current menu is more substantial than the one I had in 2012.
I was lucky enough to make 2 recent trips only about 6 weeks apart and while I expected the menus to be identical was pleasantly surprised by at least one change. Totally blown away by the seafood course as well as what they have done with the entryway. The creativity never ceases to amaze me.

mxkupc wrote:Totally blown away by the seafood course as well as what they have done with the entryway. The creativity never ceases to amaze me.

Yes, you are so right! I'm really sorry I didn't get a shot of it. I honestly wasn't prepared for it on the way in. The grass on the floor, and all those vases hanging from the ceiling -- at or near eye level -- produced a sensational emotional effect. One person in our party had never been to Alinea, so we encouraged her to enter first but needless to say, we were all immediately transported when we walked through those doors.

=R=

Does anyone know what happened to the Alinea Mosaic website and if it will ever return?

A friend of mine dined at Alinea in mid-July and sent me an account of his (and his wife's) meal. The prose was too excellent not to share it with the board (with his agreement). No photos, just delicious words from a guest poster, excellent with both cuisine and prose, whom I will call DCM:

The entrance to the restaurant, extremely unobtrusive (with no sign), nested between Boka, a restaurant in a house, and some sort of ethnic food place on the other side, is one of the highlights of the experience. A plain blank door, high modernist rectangle, recessed a bit from the street, opens up (the valet guy holds it for you), you walk into a completely dark passageway that emits the truly heavenly smell of fresh grass and cut herbs and dried flowers (they lay down a carpet of fresh sod every day; this whole arrangement changes with the seasons), and then you realize there are multi-colored hanging lights, like the kind people put on strings outside on a summer night, that barely illuminate your passageway to a door, wherever that may be. You reach the end of the snug sexy tunnel, puzzled, but step inadvertently on a trigger that opens a sliding glass door at the entrance to which stand 2 or 3 smartly dressed staff, there to greet you, and take you to your table. You get a glimpse of the kitchen on your way to the stairs (we were on the 2nd floor). It’s the cleanest, lightest, roomiest, and busiest kitchen I’ve ever seen (been to Trotter’s kitchen twice, and to Tru kitchen), and they have 25 people (all men save for 2) working the counters and stoves.

Up the stairs, and around, past several more staff, all men, all tall, all slim, half of them bearded, and blessed with very nice smiles. We get seated, and a guy who has a sort of sheepdog haircut (the only one with an unkempt coiffure), evidently the sommelier, asks us about drink preferences, and Chris opts for a pinot noir (not game for a wine flight), I opt for whatever juice sequence they may have (it turns out to start with sparkling cider, then goes to a red raspberry potion with lime and black pepper [excellent] and then to something they call a cherry cordial, which, despite the name, was very dry). The juice flight here was nothing like Tru or Trotter, but went fine with the dishes.

There were fourteen courses (15 if you count the extra, for me, on my birthday, perfect chocolate and cream affair that was hot on the inside and cold on the outside). The surprising semi-theme was sweetness, a taste that Grant Achatz apparently resonates with (especially after his bout with tongue cancer). The amuse bouche, the first course, served on a single spoon, was incredibly bold. Not savory or piquant, it was osetra caviar intermingled with crème fraiche intermingled with a butter ball (they mill their own butter in the kitchen), taken all at once in one bite, and oh my god, what a blast of knee-buckling fat! Made to order for me.

Next came the rabbit dish, served with incredibly finely chopped summer vegetables (of all colors) in a piquant sauce and cherry blossoms, with wasabi, and smoke (Achatz is a genius with smoke, it has an agreeable strong smell and goes with the tastes). The course which followed was spectacular to see, a Thai clay pot (beautifully made) that had dry ice smoke pouring over a large scallop shell that you lift up, to inhale the citrus and lemongrass aromas, and experience inside the fourteen textures of shellfish and ceviche, piqued with savory gels and creamy dollops of something.

A Dungeness crab dish followed, with squash blossoms, and some sort of divine squash puree, and cardamom and saffron. Against the creamy piquant slightly sweet undertastes were killers. To offer something on the opposite end of the spectrum, the waiters (and you were served seriataum by about 6 different waiters, all friendly, all enthusiastic, all knowledgeable), making a dramatic entrance with a shale rock slab on which there was a Binchotan (or however the Japanese works here, a kindling fire that actually sparked embers, scaring Chris for a minute before they settled down), and on a slab of wood sat a perfect square of wagyu beef with a savory sauce on top, a perfect bluefin tuna chunk, a succulent piece of pork belly with the richest fat flavor imaginable, and, dramatically, to the side, a shrimp’s head, standing on its neck and pointing skyward with its little antennae and spindly legs pointing up. I think the shrimp’s head was fire-roasted or something, to make it crispy crackly, I ate it, and one of the antennae got stuck on the inside of my cheek, getting it out took a bit of labor. I wouldn’t say it was delicious, but it was interesting.

Then came one of my favorite dishes, the veal cheeks in a “spring bounty.” I can’t retrieve what was in the bounty, but it was amazing (creamy and piquant sauces over very finely chopped veggies, asparagus and other things, and sweetbreads). Eating it was like sinking into a near-coma of pleasure. Then came the great signature Grant Achatz dish, “hot potato/cold potato.” This is a little half cup of cold buttery potato soup, with a round ball of a potato on a pin, to keep it suspended over the cold soup, you release the potato from the pin and immediately imbibe the whole thing, discovering that the potato is hot, and wafts and woofs its way in the vichyssoise, thereby causing your tongue to throw a party for your mouth. This is spectacular.

But nothing can compare to the duck dish. I’ve never seen anything like it in any restaurant. You are presented with a large glass slab, on which there is a riotous array in harlequin colors of 60 different “garnishes” (made from 87 different components), all neat little dabs and daubs and cylinders. You stare at this, transfixed. It’s so so beautiful. Then comes the wide narrow plate, which, spread across it in horizontal spectrum, are five preparations of duck, from confit and cracklin to sliced duck breast to duck stomach to foie gras, and you experiment with the 60 garnishes, trying one with a little bite of this or that duck, and continue until your eyes and tongue bug out. You’re cautioned by the waiter not to try to eat all 60 garnishes. But we laid waste to more than half. The waiters don’t tell you what the garnishes are, encouraging you try them more or less blind. You can identify the easy ones with curry or citrus or crème fraiche or basil flavors and textures, etc., but there are so many. And so many mysteries.

Another signature Grant Achatz dish follows (this one from his heyday at Trio, up in Evanston, where he first made his name in Chicago, after apprenticing with Thomas Keller at French Laundry and Ferran Adria at El Bulli and god knows many other places, including Trotter’s here in Chicago, but at the time of Trio he wasn’t even 26, I believe; he’s 36 now). It is the raviolo with exploding black truffle, bursting not only with hot liquid truffle but with romaine and parmesan. It is one bite, but a completely memorable sensation. By this point you need a palate cleanser, and Achatz has come up with one that is a total success. It’s not sorbet. Instead, it is five long needle-type things, with a small chunk of ginger on the end of each. The five kinds of ginger range from sharp and peppery to smooth and yogurty. It kind of shocks your palate awake, and keeps it tingling for a good while. I can’t say enough about ginger (the Bruce Cost ginger ale, of which I am a huge fan who gets bulk purchases of it, is made with raw ginger and pure cane sugar; it turns out Cost is one of the best chefs on the West Coast, in Asian cooking, and has put out a ginger cookbook. The more chefs who pick up on ginger, the better.)

A whimsy follows this. The waiter enters with two inflated balloons, suspended on a string, with a pin at the bottom so you can hold it. The balloons are made out of green apple, and inflated with helium. You “kiss” the balloon, it starts to deflate, you eat it, you sound like Minnie Mouse if you say anything, and then you can eat the string. Very strong apple flavor. But awfully sticky (they serve hot towels with it).

Then a dish which Achatz somewhat playfully calls a salad. It is divine. A beautiful black half-bowl arrives with red red red all over, strawberries cut, some with liquid nitrogen freeze, mixed with sorrel, sassafras, pine nut, and granola, and it was sheer luxury to eat (I keep thinking of the word the 2000-year-old man makes up to describe a bed—a Faarrrelllmaaaahhh). This was Chris’s favorite dish.
Then more whimsy: an old-fashioned pop bottle, filled with pink liquid and bubbles, turns out to be raspberry infused with rose, and cranked up with something to make your sinuses clear out in a most pleasurable way (they supply beautiful modernist glass straws to drink it with).

The dessert course is simply de trop de trop de trop. The waiter clears the table (there are no tablecloths at Alinea, just an ebony square or rectangle, made of fine wood, and the utensils are perched on a little device, like a small bed, to keep them off the table, you use them, leave them on your plate, and they’re replaced for each course). Then he unrolls something that looks like a chamois cloth, and feels a bit like one, but made sort of like an oil cloth. It is sterile and suitable for eating off of. Achatz figures why not eat off the table? You don’t always have to have a plate. And so a chef in chef’s whites appears, in our case a very tall and very young blond guy with a pianist’s hands and equipped (the waiter supplies these ahead of time) with several bowls of liquids and powders and runny-thickened sauces. He proceeds to make large sweeping motions with his right arm, pouring beautiful patterns of stuff that looks like paint (some of it is violet, in two shades, and then he pours liquid chocolate in a form in the center of all this, a metal ring he removes when the painting is done, adding pate sucree, and hazelnut, and brown butter wafer, and caramel, in such interlaced decorative fashion that I asked him if he had seen the Namuth movie of Jackson Pollock doing his poured paintings, but this did not, I suspect, fully register with the intense young man), and adds crumbles of this and that. Then he retreats, and leaves us with our utensils and the freedom to eat it. Eat it right up. Eat it right off the damned table. And eat and eat. Hell, the calorie count, never mind the fat and sugar grams, must have exceeded 10,000. I type this rather less nimbly that I’m used to, under the crush of this fantastic dessert.

We had a very nice chamomile tea to go with this. We paid our bill for the wine, apple cider, and juice drinks (+ tea), which came to $50. I left a $10 tip. The food, plus tax and tip, was $702.50, which you pay in advance (like buying an e-ticket to a Bruce Springsteen concert).

The waiters walked us down the stairs and showed us out, each one thanking us, and wishing me a happy birthday, and letting us get a glimpse of the kitchen (truly, a sight that would rival the Manhattan project at its height, under Stagg Field), and then walking us back through that incredible entryway/hallway to the street, where our car was waiting for us.

Fantastic. Who needs pictures when you can write like that? Thanks, GAF, for passing this on.

=R=

Photos of a very similar meal I had a few days ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathryn/se ... 735902017/

Between the ginger palate cleanser, helium balloon, the raspberry soda, the strawberry dessert, and the tabletop milk chocolate tart, the current tasting menu seemed a little too "sweets" heavy to me.

My only comparison is when they still offered the "Tour" menu. When there were 26-27 courses, roughly 5 were dessert. Now that it's been pared down to 14-15 courses, ~5 of them are still dessert.

I had the same menu as Kathryn last week and I agree that the menu might have been a bit too sweet, but I admittedly don't have much of a sweet tooth. The final milk chocolate tabletop presentation was not only sweet but very rich—none of us could finish our portions.

Some of the courses were among the best things I've ever tasted—succession savory of bites on flaming Japanese charcoal, "traditional" caviar, and the new veal cheeks, chanterelle mushrooms, and blackberry. But compared to my last time there, I can't say it was one of my top 5 or even top 10 meals of my life. Given that the price reaches $300/person all in before alcohol, and that the menu used to be much longer, I'm not sure I could recommend Alinea as "the one meal worth a flight" or the "best" 3 star place etc.

Not that I disliked anything that much, just not quite enough "wows," and perhaps more focus on "fun." Alinea is still the best place in the midwest and one of the great restaurants of the world, but there are competitors coming up with just as many hits for half the price.

The current pricing is anywhere between $210pp (Wednesdays) and $265pp (Saturdays) before alcohol.

A Wednesday diner would pay $278.46 ($210 * 1.20 * 1.105, don't forget that the 20% service charge is taxable).

Whereas a Saturday diner would pay $351.39 ($265 * 1.20 * 1.105).

Man, ate here over the weekend and the attention to detail was just amazing. Top notch food mixed with great presentation. They're really getting away from crazy amount of courses though. I did not leave hungry, but our total course count was 13 for the evening. Maybe 8 have already been documented here and a few others were served similar. As others have noted, no chef in house which seems the norm at this point.

The pescatarian options were perfect and completely different yet kept in theme of the meal. Wine pairing were good. We went for the standard at $150pp. Split pairing were allowed but they said they wouldn't pour into a separate glass due to how small the pouring were. Kind of a bummer. Fancy wine pairings were $250pp, but had to be ordered by the whole table. No non alcoholic pairings or cocktails are offered anymore. They've pretty much streamlined the drinks at this point.

Not knocking the place because of those issues, I still had a wonderful time. It just seemed a bit like a soulless machine instead of a great adventure.

pepsican wrote:Man, ate here over the weekend and the attention to detail was just amazing. Top notch food mixed with great presentation. They're really getting away from crazy amount of courses though. I did not leave hungry, but our total course count was 13 for the evening. Maybe 8 have already been documented here and a few others were served similar. As others have noted, no chef in house which seems the norm at this point.

The pescatarian options were perfect and completely different yet kept in theme of the meal. Wine pairing were good. We went for the standard at $150pp. Split pairing were allowed but they said they wouldn't pour into a separate glass due to how small the pouring were. Kind of a bummer. Fancy wine pairings were $250pp, but had to be ordered by the whole table. No non alcoholic pairings or cocktails are offered anymore. They've pretty much streamlined the drinks at this point.

Not knocking the place because of those issues, I still had a wonderful time. It just seemed a bit like a soulless machine instead of a great adventure.

I dined at Alinea a few weeks ago and had a similar experience; phenomenal food but the overall experience paled in comparison to my prior visits. I think your observation that it felt like a "soulless machine" mirrored my impression. Had it been my first visit I would have been awed by everything, but having dined there on a few prior occasions there were too many misses aside from the food being interesting, well executed and mostly excellent (though a couple courses were lost on me). The number of courses has dwindled; prior visits were an approximately four hour long events whereas for my recent meal I was in and out in just over two hours. Chef Achatz was absent. Staff and our sommelier was not as personable or accommodating as on prior visits and some miscues were made that are not expected at a restaurant of this caliber (i.e. nobody inquired with my wife when she disliked an item, but they simply removed the scarcely consumed dish without comment and we were asked both upon arriving and leaving if we needed a cab; we said "no" both times - and yet as we were receiving our menus on the way out we were told that are cab was ready). Certainly not big deals, but just nothing like the flawless service during prior visits and not what I expect from a Michelin three star venue.

Even though it had been a couple weeks shy of a year since my last visit, nearly two thirds of the meal was either identical or the same concept tweaked (i.e. Lamb 86 became Duck 86). While I understand leaving famous items on the menu such as Hot Potato/Cold Potato and Truffle Explosion I do not know why the Ginger course has remained for all five of my visits (neither an interesting nor particularly tasty dish). Also the repeat courses are less noticeable during the lengthier tastier menu they used to serve, but are harder to accept when they account for a substantial percentage of the meal. I also missed the lack of an interactive center piece, the lack of a whimsical theme to the entrance way and not being served a seasonal item such as a delicious hot chocolate last year when arriving, before being escorted to my table.

While I still think Alinea is a world class restaurant and most people who dine here will be amazed, it is not a great restaurant or value for repeat diners compared to other top tier restaurants where the menu changes substantially with the seasons (such as Grace or Blue Hill at Stone Barns); even at Eleven Madison Park where the menu is somewhat slow to change they mixed things up a great deal for me when I dined there within a few months of a prior visit and swapped out some would be repeats for off the menu items. It seems as though during the past year Chef Achatz and Nick Kokonas have really been focused on expanding their empire and on boosting profits versus focusing on Alinea's continued evolution. While there definitely is a wonderful team under Chef Achatz, I think that Achatz' decreased involvement has become noticeable and Alinea currently just does not have the same level of energy as in the past. Until recently Alinea had been by far my favorite restaurant and I hope this is just a temporary step back rather than a sign that Alinea is past her prime; I do think it is quite possible that in a year or two Grace becomes widely regarded as Chicago's best restaurant.

That is too bad they would not split the wine pairings into two glasses; my wife and I often prefer to do shared pairings when having long tasting menus, but eschew this option if it entails sharing the same glass - just not something to me that signifies an elegant dining experience. Most of the other upscale restaurants in Chicago are willing to split the pairing into two glasses (I have done this at Tru, Moto, Grace and Sixteen). It just seems part of the unfortunate trend of Alinea not placing the customer first (of course the ticket system is the most glaring example of this). Regarding cocktails I do not recall Alinea offering cocktails (other than a champagne cocktail or when they set up a temporary bar for the EMP swap); I vaguely recall being informed during my first visit that Chef Achatz feels as though beer, cocktails and soda negatively impact the experience of tasting the food in the manner intended (though I may not be remembering this correctly).

Gonzo70 wrote: I also missed the lack of an interactive center piece, the lack of a whimsical theme to the entrance way and not being served a seasonal item such as a delicious hot chocolate last year when arriving, before being escorted to my table.

I completely agree. I can't believe any fine dining establishment would omit an interactive centerpiece, a whimsical theme to the entrance or delicious hot chocolate on the way to the table. This place's best days are clearly in the past. I won't return until I know these important elements of my meal have been reinstated.

13 courses? That's odd considering their website menu shows 18.

PopcornMegaphone wrote:13 courses? That's odd considering their website menu shows 18.

Occasionally "courses" are served on the same dish even though they're listed as separate items on the menu.

I dined at Alinea again last month and my experience was quite the opposite from the last few posts; in fact, I consider it the best dinner in my entire life. While I won't go into details, our dinner, which did not include the optional truffle course, took over four hours without any feelings of slow service; the pacing was perfect. And Chef Achatz was not only in the house, but was part of the tableside preparation of one of the dessert courses, at our own table and at others around us. The dinner we had was absolutely flawless, with an incredible "depth of soul", for those seeking it.

I've been to most of the other places mentioned here, including both Grace and Blue Hill at Stone Barns within the past year and Eleven Madison Park the year before that. All fine places, to be sure. But there's a difference between those places, serving excellent food with excellent service but without anything to really distinguish themselves, and the amazing presentation techniques that accompany the great food and service at Alinea. I will never forget my dinner at Alinea, and many of the specific courses and experiences. I can't say that about those other places (although there are a few others I can, but not many).

deesher wrote:

Gonzo70 wrote: I also missed the lack of an interactive center piece, the lack of a whimsical theme to the entrance way and not being served a seasonal item such as a delicious hot chocolate last year when arriving, before being escorted to my table.

I completely agree. I can't believe any fine dining establishment would omit an interactive centerpiece, a whimsical theme to the entrance or delicious hot chocolate on the way to the table. This place's best days are clearly in the past. I won't return until I know these important elements of my meal have been reinstated.

You cherry picked some of my comments out of context; this is just one small aspect in addition to declining service, a meal that lasts half as long, less courses, rising prices, methods such as tickets that are not customer friendly, well over half the menu identical or just tweaked to a year ago and Chef Achatz' declining presence in the restaurant. While you perhaps did not enjoy the touches you quoted from my comments, many did and for me it was part of what made Alinea stand out from other venues and turn it into a whimsical dining experience rather than just a great meal.

PopcornMegaphone wrote:13 courses? That's odd considering their website menu shows 18.

The menu has not been updated in nearly two years; the number of courses have declined plus the listing of courses is somewhat misleading as the 2nd through 5th listed items were one-two bites each, all served together on the same serving piece. It would be like calling a hamburger, fries, ketchup and a pickle four courses.

Gonzo70 wrote:

PopcornMegaphone wrote:13 courses? That's odd considering their website menu shows 18.

The menu has not been updated in nearly two years; the number of courses have declined plus the listing of courses is somewhat misleading as the 2nd through 5th listed items were one-two bites each, all served together on the same serving piece. It would be like calling a hamburger, fries, ketchup and a pickle four courses.

Thanks for your reply.

That's a bit disappointing. If I recall correctly, when I dined at Alinea none of the courses were combined.

http://i.imgur.com/w7csCzP.jpg

Yes, the current menus is only 13 courses. I say only kind of as a joke, but half the fun and original appeal of this place was the massive tasting menu. I was just hoping for something a bit more on that end. Perhaps they streamlined the menu a bit because they were only open for a few days that week. We arrived at 7:30 and left around 11:15. Pacing was fine and only a few missteps slowed us down a bit (balloon bursting en route, truffle fell off truffle explosion, 3rd course fire centerpiece catching nearby tables napkin on fire). The tables next to us seated at 9pm were on the final dessert as we left, so doing it in 2 hours is possible too. Our group has a small bladder collectively, so it usually takes us a bit longer.

I do agree with the lack of the entrance as well. After reading about that years ago I thought the grass and drink on the way in were awesome ideas. Again, it just seems like the overall experience has been toned down a bit, but still fits on a 3 star level, at least to me. All in all though, something just felt missing the whole night. It certainly wasn't the food itself. Definitely a top 10 meal for me on that end.

pepsican wrote:http://i.imgur.com/w7csCzP.jpg

Yes, the current menus is only 13 courses. I say only kind of as a joke, but half the fun and original appeal of this place was the massive tasting menu.

I agree; my best meal in Chicago of 2014 was Grace (which was a ten course dinner) and I had several fantastic five to seven course dinners at Boka and the Lobby that also rank among my favorite meals of the year. The lengthy meals I enjoyed at Alinea during my first few visits helped justify dropping $600 to $700 for dinner for two (was not just a mind blowing meal, but an entire evening of entertainment) and the repeat dishes did not bother me so much when there also were lots of new menu items to surprise and delight. Looking at the menu you posted, while the meal starts with some new items, seven of the final eight courses were either identical or a very similar concept that was tweaked from my meal in December of 2012. Hot Potato, Black Truffle, Ginger, and Balloon are completely unchanged; Duck, Pumpkin and Milk Chocolate are the same concept with some swapped ingredients (and the current Milk Chocolate dessert I found to be unpleasantly rich and was not able to consume more than a few bites; the older version was for me a far more satisfying finale). I will say the new Corn dessert and the Scallop savory were both among the best bites I had in 2013 (and I also greatly enjoyed the Veal and most of the Wagyu course), but it is just not acceptable for a restaurant of this caliber to have seven of the final eight courses be so similar for over a year now. I certainly do not require 18+ courses at Alinea to be content; just a larger ratio of novel courses to keep me surprised and entice me to return to see what amazing new creations Chef Achatz and company come up with next. I also long for the warmth and energy I felt during my first few visits that was absent in November.

To me, this brings about an interesting question:

If you go to there more than once, how often do *they* feel that Alinea should be experienced? I don't believe the answer is as many times as possible.

This would be an interesting question for Grant or Nick.

Royal Lichter wrote:To me, this brings about an interesting question:

If you go to there more than once, how often do *they* feel that Alinea should be experienced? I don't believe the answer is as many times as possible.

This would be an interesting question for Grant or Nick.

That is a very good question; I am rather curious as to how Grant or Nick would respond.