Alinea was founded in Chicago in 2005 by Chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas. Their menus typically range from 18-22 courses, can you even imagine?!?! All of their food is inventive, new, and creative! They are known for how unconventional their meals are, and trust me their cost reflects their prestige. Their prices range from $285-$345 PER PERSON!!!! On top of that, if you can swing the cost reservations take months to get in! This is the prestige of prestige restaurants.
Now I mentioned before that Alinea has 3 Michelin starts, what is that? Let me tell you all about it! The Michelin Guide first came out right about 1900 by a French industrialist Edouard Michelin, shocker I know. However, the first guide was about automotive because they wanted to create the demand for the tires that the Michelin company manufactured. It included information about the tires they manufactured; the bicycle was much more popular than the car at this point, with only about 300 cars in France. The guide included maps and information on tires, as well as lists of restaurants, gas stations, mechanics, lodging accommodations, and more. The first guide was even given out for free! The guided evolved with the world, and in 1926 the star rating began. However, it wasn't until 1931 that the Michelin start rating became the scale of today:
1 star- a very good restaurant in it's category
2 stars- excellent cooking, worth a detour
3 stars- exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey
Over time it has built its prestige, similar to an actor winning an Oscar today. This isn't just a restaurant this is an experience, which might sound kinda cheesy but it is accurate.
My parents, as well as my brother and I, were really ecstatic to get home and try this, and my sister was excited for the KFC she ordered (yeah....I know). My mom and I unloaded the food, got some of the food in the fridge to chill, and started to look at the mies en place (prep work) we needed to do. The first course was a Blis Char Roe. It was a melon bavarois, which was somewhere between a melon flavored mousse and melon jello. Next to the bavarois was the champagne gelee, essentially, as my mother put it, a champagne jello shot. On top of the bavarois was the was the char roe, which is a type of caviar. Garnished with herbs and an edible flower (which yes, we all ate). This dish was so different from anything I had ever eaten before. It was sweet but also very tart; it had a light and luscious texture, but also had a salty bite from the fish. With such a strong start we thought it would be hard to beat...boy were we wrong.
The second course was absolutely mind blowing. It was a Chilled Carrot Soup, it reminded me of a gazpacho, but so different! Let me start this introduction by saying that the picture doesn't do it justice. You see, my mom and I aren't as precise at plating as the directions explain. In a bowl (you were supposed to be able to see the toppings but, again, Mom and I can't plate as well as Chef Achatz), we placed the cardamom cubes bathed in a coconut and honey cayenne jelly, carrot and pineapple chutney, and a mix of herbs and an edible flower in the bowl. Then we slowly poured in the carrot soup, but we assume our bowls were too deep so they didn't look so pretty. However, the soup tasted delicious!!! It was soft and delicate, but with such strong flavors. It was silky smooth, but also had a bite from the chutney. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, but after I tasted it, oh my gosh I changed my mind really quick.
The third course, might have been my favorite, Poached Atlantic Scallops. These were pre-cooked in a sauce with peas, ham, and fennel. What was super interesting about these was that in the oven, warming, they were warmed with a fragrant combination of salt and herbs. The fragrance was on the shelf below the scallops, they were able to absorb the flavor of the floral aroma mix. These were silky smooth and cooked like no scallop I had before. The sauce was sweet and the peas definitely added to the sweetness. I know that fennel isn't everyone's cup of tea but the fennel was very tender and paired so nicely with the seafood.
The next course was a prime beef short rib. It was cooked in a gravy with roasted apple, celery root, and celery branch. The horseradish sauce was placed over top of the beef with herbs to garnish. I didn't eat these because, well I'm a pescatarian. However my family told me the short rib was tender and had great depth of flavor. My brother was particularly impressed with the gravy. He said it took hours for them to develop that depth of flavor.
The midway point was a Sweet Garlic - Corn Orzo. By this point we are all getting full, and this is the heaviest dish of the meal. All we had to do for this was empty the prepared orzo into a pot and warm it up. This was so thick and delicious. I was so full at this point, but I was determined to get through all 7 courses. The corn was super sweet, as well as the sauce, but it had grape tomatoes that have a nice savory flavor to them. This was a fantastic dish, with amazing flavor.
The next to last course was roasted mushrooms and zucchini. This was served at room temperature. It was zucchini and mushrooms in an olive-oil, herb, pistachio sauce. It was super interesting! It was sweet from the fresh spring zucchini, but also very savory from the vinaigrette.
Finally, the big kahuna, DESSERT! I included a picture of what this was supposed to look like, but remember when I told you Mom and I couldn't plate, you're about to really believe me. The first thing you do is place food-grade acetate on your table, and then you gather your different components. You are supposed to delicately spoon sauces onto the acetate, but Mom and I pretty much had a small-grade food fight. Then you place the dark chocolate mousse cakes, sprinkled with chocolate shavings and crispies. Next to that you place what we think was a banana nut cake, a whipped cream concoction, and a bit of peanut butter fudge thing that we can't quite figure out. Around the sauces we so delicately flung, was some granola and mango pieces. This was FREAKING DELICIOUS! There were so many textures that all paired so nicely. Soft, smooth, crunchy, creamy, airy, dense. All of this in one bite, and on top of all that, it was FUN to prepare. We had to do minimal work, but it was a blast to do!
Overall, this was a bucket list meal that we got to have for a fraction of the price. I miss going to restaurants but I am so glad that I got to have this experience. All of the courses were amazing, and everything was so different! I have decided to give it 3 Sophie Stars, not as prestigious but it'll get there ;). Let me know what course you think you would've enjoyed the most and do you like these posts? This is very different from anything I've ever done!
