Went to Alinea while in Chicago after eating at Oriole a few days before. The food was great and the presentations were definitely fun, a long with a little bit of trickery to reveal a couple of the dishes which I really enjoyed. Can certainly say I've never eaten a balloon before. However I think the focus on presentation might cost them a half step on the actual food quality. It was an experience I'm glad I had but if I'm back in Chicago I'm going Oriole over Alinea
1. OSETRA- SMOKED SALMON, HORSERADISH, LEMON
2. EXPLOSION- BLACK TRUFFLE, ROMAINE, PARMESAN
3. CHARRED- ARCTIC CHAR, BLIS MAPLE SYRUP CHAR ROE, CARROT, SMOKE
4. PINE- MATSUTAKE, PROSCUITTO, YUZU
5. WAGYU- TRUMPET MUSHROOM, PINE NUT, OKINAWAN SWEET POTATO TURNIP, PERSIMMON
6. BLANCMANGE- POULET, ALMOND, FERNET, FIORI DI SICILIA
7. GOLD- TONKA, SAFFRON
8. PAINT- SESAME, APPLE, CRANBERRY
9. BALLOON- HELIUM, CARAMEL APPLE, TAFFY
10. The Kitchen
by clistmockingbird
6 Comments
This place is definitely on my list. Thanks for sharing.
Alinea these days is very much a one-and-done kind of place — go once to check it off your list, then move on. Not to take away from how innovative they were over a decade ago, but these days it’s showy for the sake of being showy, as you mention. There is much better food in this city and I tell people who are interested that if they are looking for culinary excellence, they should look elsewhere.
Interesting direction they’ve gone. Used to be an absurdly long tasting, now 6 savory 3 sweet. Trout was on menu a few years ago, must be hard to top that one!
Been twice, first time was incredible, was post covid lock downs, and was Grant and like 2 or 3 guys in kitchen.
There were several of these where my visceral, immediate first reaction was “absolutely not.” I would still try them, of course, but I’m not sure that’s what a restaurant like this is going for 😟.
Thanks for sharing!!!
I’ve been twice. Second time was a let down as well. It was also post Grant’s time in the kitchen there. First time I was a little shocked to see him calmly working in the kitchen for one of the courses when we were brought back there for a cocktail (corpse reviver #2 if I recall correctly), and another one or two small bites.
Second time was with current executive chef Douglas Alley and I did not enjoy it as much. The final entree was a fine dining riff on diner chipped beef that had an absurd amount of truffle on it. Some might say that’s indulgent, but to me it was just too much and not balanced at all. It’s good to see they brought some things back, like the taffy baloon.
Next time I’m in Chicago I would absolutely go back to Moody Tongue. Fantastic experience there with both the beer/beverage and food.
half of these look pretty lacklustre