Chicago: Three Michelin Star Restaurant Alinea, Friends, and Food

After our experience at Benu Caiqian and I had an itching to go to another three star Michelin Restaurant. After some research Caiqian and I set our sights on Alinea (pronounced uh-lin-aye-uh, not ow-lyn-ee-uh), the poster child of Molecular Gastronomy. After months of trying and failing to get a reservation Caiqian and I snagged a couple of 9:30pm seats at Alinea's coveted Gallery, which only seats 16 people at a time (there are other seats which bring Alinea's total seating to 64, but we wanted the prime Gallery experience).

BEFORE CONTINUING, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS SO IF YOU HAVE ANY INTENTION TO GO TO ALINEA PLEASE DO NOT READ AHEAD, A LOT OF THE RESTAURANT'S MAGIC IS IN THE SURPRISES IN ADDITION TO THE FOOD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The night began with us showing up 15 minutes early and waiting in the front hallway. We were told to not peek in the dining room, which was behind a large and heavy looking swinging door. At the time I wondered why we weren't allowed to look.

In the entrance hall (no peeking in the dining room allowed)

Walking into the gallery the first thing we notice is a giant table that sat all 16 folks participating in the Gallery that night. As we walked up to the table we heard crunching underneath our feet. Image our surprise when we looked down and found the floor completely covered in a deep layer of autumn leaves! This was the beginning of a night that was going to be full of sensory surprises.

A giant communal table with the ground covered in crunchy leaves!

As in any restaurant, we received our menu. To our surprise though, our menu was more of a game than a preview of what's to come. There were 21 courses, each with their own title, and therefore 21 words. Can you find any of them?

Tonight's Menu

Our first course was "Communal" (hint, look at the "C" in the top left of the menu and look down) which was a visual spectacle as the waitstaff brought out all the plates and lifted the glass domes, releasing the smoke trapped inside. I really liked the Osetra caviar which wasn't overly salty.

Communal | Parsnip,  Osetra,  Lemon, White Pepper, Smoke

After our first course we were invited to visit the kitchen. Imagine us, walking around a 3 Michelin star kitchen!

Deep in the Alinea Kitchen :)

The kitchen was clean, with well labeled containers and previews of meals to come.

Purple Spaghetti??? NOPE!

In the kitchen a chef introduced an old-timey cocktail shaker and treated us to a pomegranate cocktail and cake of some sort which reminded me of the inside of an airy french baguette, except sweet like a cake.

Shaker |  Pomegranate
Cake | Black Walnut, Mace

After the kitchen tour the diners returned with Caiqian and I in the back of the line. When we got back to our room, the giant communal table was gone, replaced with individual tables. Perhaps most shocking was that all the leaves on the floor had disappeared. Caiqian froze in place and put her hands to her face when she saw the transformation.

Caiqian in SHOCK from the magically changed room

At our new private two person table, we were served our next course which consisted of a dehydrated sheet that they rehydrated with broth.

Paper | Langoustine, Bouillabaisse, Olive Oil 

To accompany the broth and giant noodle we had small rolls that gave a satisfying crunch when bitten into, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Crunch | Rouille, Nori

Next up was probably my favorite dish of the night, which was also the only one not in the crossword menu (so I made up a name). It was amazingly tender squid, poached in butter and surrounded by a savory, rich butter sauce of some sort. Accompanying it was a pitch black smooth paste of black garlic and squid ink which was fun to eat.

Squid |  Black Garlic, Squid Ink, Allium Flowers

Along with the squid the waitstaff gave us a plate of black rocks. We were then given the task of finding the two edible black rocks amongst the plate of literal (inedible) rocks. I'll leave it to you to guess which were food.

Ink |  Olive, Artichoke

Next was our "salad" dish, which consisted of delicious heirloom tomatoes and a side of microgastronomy frozen lemon spheres.

Garden | Orange, Sherry, Tomato

Next was a fun play on cheese sandwiches. These were inverse sandwiches, with crispy cheese "bread" holding a "baguette cream" which was smooth and was packed with the essence of a delicious french baguette .

Bocadillo | Manchego, Jamon

Almost as an intermission of sorts, we had an olfactory delight as our waitstaff poured a mysterious liquid over our giant bowl of oranges, releasing a explosion of amazing citrus scents (which Caiqian inhaled deeply).

Wonderful Citrus Liquid Nitrogen

Next up we had a mysterious bowl placed on our table which was very hot and full of salt. Soon we learned it's purpose once it was set alight. I guess it wasn't just salt.

Tableside fire before turning off the lights

After the fire was lit the lights were turned off and we ate a delicious fish-buried-in-fish-foam dish by fireside. The experience brought my mind back to over a decade ago when I ate by campfire in the boy scouts. It was a fond memory that I hadn't thought about in years. Dad, if you're reading this, we need to go camping together!

Brook | Michigan Brook Trout, Roe, Apple, Watercress

Next the waitstaff brought a bowl of ice which must have been illuminated underneath by a bright white-blue light, which felt like it came straight out of Lord of the Rings. It was visually stunning being in the dark with a red hot flame on one side of our table and this cold blue ice bowl on the other side. In the ice bowl were two spheres of citrus liquid barely contained in a thin, hard shell with the flavor and texture of frozen yogurt .

A Meal of Ice and Fire

Soon the lights were turned on and our fire was extinguished, the fire bowl was covered with rosemary stalks, two of which featured speared cubes of Hamachi. Ah, now we know what the fire blow was really for! The smell of smoking rosemary stalks was really wonderful and perfectly accompanied the fish.

Steam | Hamachi, Rosemary, Kombu

Next was a blueberry dish, which was nice. The most intriguing part were the other ingredients, mushrooms and tea, which you think wouldn't go with mushrooms but all the ingredients combined to give a single, cohesive flavor.

Fungi | Blueberry, Lapsang Souchong, Maitake

Right when we thought the waitstaff were going to take away the extinguished fire bowl, we were shocked to learn that it wasn't only for smoking rosemary. That's right, in addition to providing ambiance and smoking fish, there was a potato underneath the whole time!

Surprise potato and  tableside prep by (unknown to us) head chef  Grant Achatz (pronounced A-kitz, as in “Packets")

At the time we didn't know who was preparing our dish, but it turns out it was the head Chef, Grant Achatz! He sometimes isn't even at this restaurant since he owns several, but tonight he was here, and directly serving us. The worst part is, we had no idea, but when we asked him about the truffles being used in our fancy potato salad, he said with confidence that the truffles were particularly nice at this time.

Next time we go to a restaurant of this caliber Caiqian said she will do her research beforehand so this doesn't happen again. I'd like to think Grant enjoyed the anonymity, and I might be superstitious but I feel like this kind of situation would only happen when it's a total surprise.

The potato salad with dairy and truffles were to die for. So good!

Spud | Truffle, Midwest Dairy

For our last savory dish Caiqian and I enjoyed veal cheek with pineapple, hearts of palm, and black garlic pairings. It was accompanied by a dressed romaine leaf served on a lime.

Cheek | Veal Cheek,  Pineapple, Hearts of Palm

By this point we were looking over our shoulder trying to anticipate what the next surprise would be. That's when the waitstaff gave each table a bottle of Alinea vanilla beans, which we had noticed in the kitchen earlier.

Vanilla?

These jars, as it turned out, did not have vanilla. But it did LOOK and SMELL like vanilla. However, they really contained tender beef jerky. Magic.

Bean | Tenderloin, Spices

Dessert came over several courses. First was a bowl (in a bowl, in another bowl) of rocks, which were actually all edible delectables of various flavors.

Rock | Sweet Potato, Chocolate, Miso

We were then treated to the smallest slice of transparent pumpkin pie. Hooray for halloween.

Invisible | Pate Brisee,  Pumpkin

Along with the pumpkin pie came another throwback to boyscouts, a marshmallow, with chocolate inside, on a stick.

Campfire | Dark Chocolate, Birch, Marshmallow

Next up was a real treat, an icon of the Alinea restaurant from before it got its Michelin stars. The famous  helium balloon, completely edible from the balloon to the string. It was surreal having our waiters hand us our respective grape-flavored balloons (remember the purple spaghetti from before, that was the string!)

Balloon |  Helium, Grape

We were advised to bring the balloon down to face level and inhale the helium. If you want to see Caiqian inhale the helium and say some words, click the video below :)

For our last dessert of the night, I was asked to sit next to Caiqian. By this point we felt like Alinea veterans and were ready for some kind of surprise. However, even with our experience of continual surprises we didn't anticipate the waitstaff pulling out ladders and taking the PAINTINGS THAT HAD BEEN DECORATING THE CEILING THE WHOLE NIGHT down. Turns out the local artist paintings doubled as gigantic plates for Alinea's finale.

As the lights dimmed down and the music cranked up we knew the chefs were about to put on a real show...

Paint | White Chocolate, Grapefruit, Coffee

Above are the before and after shots of the making of our dessert. If you would like to see how a series of chefs created the final product in front of our eyes feel free to click the video below.

And with that, our experience was concluded. As an afterward Caiqian and I drank coffee and tea respectively along with some edible golden nuggets as a parting finger food.

Nugget | Sesame, Brown Butter, Gold

Lastly we were handed the solution sheet to accompany the menu.

Our menu, solved

What an experience!

In addition to Alinea, we saw our friend Matt and his friend Rachel. We went to a Nutella Cafe, Lego Store, WildBerry Pancakes and Cafe, Eataly, and Molly's Cupcakes. I learned it's better to make good, plain pancakes and then put on good toppings instead of cooking ingredients in the pancake. We also learned cupcakes are better when the core is removed and replaced with delicious stuff like creme brulee creme.

Whelp, that was Chicago. Who know's what the next post will be about??