RESTAURANT EXPERIENCES

Join me as I explore restaurants both in the city where I live and also the places I visit around the world. Food is always an adventure. Some adventures are better than others but all are worth remembering.

These are my opinions.

alinea

May 6, 2017

After a year of planning, and many more following the life of Chef Grant Achatz, me, Daniel & our dear friends Terra & Marcus open the door to our three Michelin star experience at Alinea.

16 courses later and an experience beyond what I could have imagined, I now understand what all the fuss was about. Alinea is a playful journey through food to guide you through the mind of Chef Achatz. Using the best of seasonal ingredients, a wee bit of chemistry and a whole lot of whimsy, each course attacks the senses and leaves you wondering if you can request seconds, and then wonder what could be coming next.

The menu:

We are escorted into a small dining room and are seated at a long communal table (only 16 people in the dining room for the night). Hanging above the table are large flower baskets and on the table are billowing folds of white sheer fabric lit from beneath.

Small dishes for the first course are placed in front of us as they pour our Krug Brut Rose and we know at that moment, we are in for something special. The team of servers enter the room and start 'watering' the flower baskets. Fog billows out from the containers immersing us in 'spring air' scented with rose and we are literally transported into a fresh spring morning. Sensational!

From this burst of flavour, we are asked to join the chef's in the kitchen. We line up along one of the main work stations in the spotless and 'tricked' out room and get a glimpse of our second course. A simple romaine spear filled with avocado puree and topped with small garlic flowers sits in a wedge of lime. It will be tasted with a feature rhubarb cocktail that is made in front of us. The ingredients are added to shaker jars and in turn the shakers are placed in an antiquated contraption that will mix your drink, 4 shakers at a time, by turning a manual crank. There are apparently only 30 of these machines ever made and certainly hits all the fun factors of our dinner experience.

A complete transformation has occurred in the dining room in our absence and we are now seated at a table for the four of us. Our next course arrives and is a small bowl with a transparent, dehydrated 'fruit roll-up' type of appearance. The servers inform us that this is a bouillabaisse with langoustine. They pour a small broth into each bowl and advise us to melt the 'roll-up' into the broth - it is our langoustine - and slurp it all down. This is served with a puree of rouille (traditional with a bouillabaisse), rolled in small crispy nori bites.

For the next course, we have a small piece of grilled to perfection squid and a small nugget of artichoke puree with squid ink that give it the appearance of a black rock on the plate. Delicious.

Following this delight, we are presented with a small glass bowl with a powder of yellow with a bit of a green hue around the edges. What on earth could this be? We are told that this is a ham and pea soup. What? The servers then place a small amount of thick creamy liquid on the bottom of the plate and we dive in. It is fresh pea, with a taste of ham and parmesan bursting with a hint of lemon. Every bite feels like soup but in the most unusual way possible. It is brilliant. As an accompaniment, they present a small 'apple roll up' that for me, looked like a rubber thimble. Inside is a bite of lemon balm and yuzu that bursts with brightness in your mouth.

Our next course whisks us away to Thailand with one bite. A bowl filled with a soup of coconut, curry and shellfish broth highlights black bass pieces and a crispy cilantro leaf. To pair, they present small skewers with a boneless chicken wing with Thai vinaigrette. We all agree this could be our favourite but then flashback to our previous courses and then can't decide again!

We can't stop smiling. We can't imagine what could come next as we have already tasted brilliance.

Then the server arrives with a bowl with flaming coals.

Another server emerges with a glutenous looking tortilla shaped plate that we are to hold in the palm of our hand. As we begin tasting this dish of pork belly with curry and mango puree, the fire burns out we are left with smoking embers. Spears of rosemary hold small beautiful morsels of hamachi are then placed over the heat, cooking the fish on the spot. To accompany this dish, they place a beautiful plate with 'glass' panels of blueberry with lapsang souchong tea. Hidden beneath this 'stained glass' art are sensuous earthy Maitake mushrooms. A beautiful wooden plate is set down with a flowering branch hiding petite potato gems filled with fava bean puree and spring garlic. Serious umami action highlighted by the brightness of the blueberry glass bring this course to a new level.

For the next course, we are presented with a bowl containing a smoked beef short rib that has been braised in a bitter cocoa and cassis. This dish is 'lick the bowl' good. A jar sits alongside this rich silky and tender delicacy filled with, on initial impression, vanilla beans. But after close inspection we realize that the treat inside the jar are actually small pieces of beef tenderloin jerky. Pairing for this course was a Chateau Palmer, "Alter Ego" from Margaux, Bordeaux France 2008. So incredibly tasty.

Then one of my favourite bites of the night, we have a piece of toast. A small perfectly toasted piece of pumpernickel with ever so smooth gruyere cheese and topped with a lovely piece of black truffle. Small but perfect. (See above)

From here we head into the dessert courses for the evening. To begin we have a 'rock' made of sweet potato, chocolate and miso. The plate is beautiful and all the elements look like they have been foraged from the forest. Still feels like spring in this room. While we are digging into this dish, we are presented with a glass bowl with a Butterfinger and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup wrapper laying across them. What? But when we touch it, there is a jelly that is covering the wrapper. We lick our fingers and realize that the jelly is flavoured with the taste of the chocolate bar wrapper! What could possibly be next?

The moment I had been hoping for. Balloons!

The servers start to enter the room with helium balloons suspended from tongs and they hand one to each of us. And guide us to eat them. They are indeed filled with helium and taste of sugar. Even the 'string' is candy, a grape flavoured sugar liquorice for us to enjoy. By this point, the entire room is laughing and smiling and talking with their helium voices to the smiles of their table mates. I ended up with balloon sticking to my eyelashes and I felt like I was a child eating candy for the first time. Brilliance!

With this spectacular moment in time, we are certain that our night has come to a close. As we are conversing about what we have just experienced, one of our servers walks out with a step ladder and we figure that something must need to be repaired. How silly are we?

The server starts to dismantle the ceiling, panel by panel and place them onto the tables around the room. And over the course of the next few minutes, all the chefs descend upon us and add taste elements to the art piece in front of us. Live, interactive and absolutely beautiful, we feel like we are a part of a Jackson Pollock creation. We start tasting the morsels chocolate and lemon and blueberry and exploded meringue and find our joy once again. The meringue has been frozen with liquid nitrogen so when we talk, frost trickles from our breath. We are having far too much fun.

Coffee and one final touch - a hazelnut and brown butter nugget of gold are set on the table. What appears to be a foil wrapped candy, is actually gold leafed goodness. The perfect final bite.

Alinea was perfect in every way. The room is beautiful. The entire team from the hostess to the servers and sommelier to the chefs team were warm, friendly, amazing. Joe, Sian, (no fun) Kevin and Zenil who were primarily taking care of our table became our friends by the end of the evening and we wanted to be a part of their experience as well. It would not have been as incredible without them. The food, which is expected from a three Michelin star restaurant, was simple amazing. But for me, the reason this is such a special place is because it transcends any restaurant with its whimsy and joy. We had fun and that is what was expected of us. Giddy is not a normal term used for restaurant goers, but it should be. Thank you Chef Achatz. We can't wait to return.

https://www.alinearestaurant.com

RESTAURANT EXPERIENCES

alinea

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