We leave for NYC in a couple of days, and my mind is filled with midtown Michelin starred restaurants, downtown small farm to table hole in the walls, lower east side's seedy bars you enter through a secret door inside a hot dog shop, uptown rooftop wine bars with twinkling lights overlooking the city, dumbo taverns where you drink beer before noon, ever present pain de quotidiens and all the momofukus in between. After all, the city's symbol is an apple, you're supposed to take a bite out of the big apple, but the dilemma is when you only have a few days, actually I operate in meals (we only have 8 meals!), you have to pick the choice bites. I've written and re-written our food itinerary a few dozen times in the past weeks.
So to take my mind off this trip, I've decided to share with you our trip to Chicago last fall. Yes, it was to re-visit a fabulous "big" city where people are still "small" town, where glass skyscrapers meet the waterway and run into the vast Lake Michigan, where beautiful people stroll in and out of envious shops on Michigan Avenue, and where deep dish pizza reins supreme. But those were disguises for the real reason I wanted to go to Chicago... why I had to go to Chicago; Grant Achatz's molecular gastronomy restaurant, Alinea.
Chef Achatz's food has been exalted, criticized but ultimately voted one of the best in the world. Alinea took the #6 spot on the coveted San Pellegrino's "The World Best 50 Restaurants" 2011 list - that's #6 in the World, that's a lot of restaurants to beat out. To fully appreciate it, it is best to leave your preconceived notions at their automated sliding doors and let him take you on a journey between art and modern cuisine. He manipulates seasonal ingredients through flavors, textures, temperatures, aroma, even your memories and then serves the courses with custom made service pieces as props in his magnificently orchestrated performance to provide you with a culinary experience that you get to keep as a souvenir in your treasure box of food memories well after the show has ended.
Sept 25, 2011 Menu
 |
| 1723 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60614 (the grey building) |
 |
| If it weren't for this sign, we would have walked right past the restaurant |
 |
| Served with Cocktail of Gimonnet Brut with Nittnaus Beerenaslese and Linie Aquavit |
 |
| Steel Head Roe - watermelon, kaffir lime, oxalis |
 |
| Hamachi - west indies spices, pineapple, ginger |
 |
The next couple of bites were composed on a bed of driftwood and seaweed,
smelling of the fresh ocean, you can almost hear the waves crash |
 |
| Oyster Leaf - mignonette |
 |
| Taylor Bay Scallop - hitachino white ales, old bay |
 |
| Razor Clam - carrot, soy, daikon |
 |
Mussel - saffron, chorizo, orange
Served with Josef Leitz 'Rudesheimer Berg Scholossberg-Alte Reben' Riesling, Rheingau 2009 |
 |
Yuba - shrimp, miso, togarashi
Served with Doamine des Baurnard 'Trie Speciale', Savennieres 2007 |
 |
| Mackerel - mango, radish flower, juniper |
 |
| We were instructed to take it in one bite, with our arms at our sides |
 |
Wild Mushrooms - pine, sumac, ramps
Served with Lignier-Michelot Morey-Saint-Denis 'Vielles Vignes' 2006 |
 |
| Hot Potato - cold potato, black truffle, butter |
 |
Agneau - sauce choron, pomme de terre noisette
Served with Cedar Knowll Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2007 |
 |
Short Rib - olive, fermented garlic, blackberry
Served with Costers del Siurana 'Clos de l'Obac' Priorat 2005 |
 |
| Pasta sheets |
 |
| Build your own (with instructions) short rib roll up |
 |
| Black Truffle - explosion, romaine, parmesan |
 |
Octopus - eggplant, coriander, red wine
Served with The Rare Wine Co. 'Charleston Sercial Reserve' Madeira
|
 |
| Snow - yuzu |
 |
Peach - jasmine, basil, balsamic
Served with Disznoko 5 Puttonyos, Tokaji Aszu 2005 |
 |
| Lemongrass - dragon fruit, thai basil, finger lime |
 |
Chocolate - red pepper, bitter orange, banana
Served with Santa Lucia 'Gazza Rubina' Aleatico, Puglia 2008 |
 |
| Behind the scenes |
 |
| So diligently creating and placing each component |
 |
Amazing show that included an equally amazing meal
at Chef Atchaz's Alinea
|
Watch dessert being "created" on our table
