Alinea

For our anniversary this year my husband Alex decided to take me on a once in a lifetime culinary adventure. We went to Alinea. It is rated as the #6 best restaurant in the world for 2011 and the best restaurant in North America. I love food. I love food adventures. When my husband said he'd made reservations I was giddy!

Alineas are sometimes used to mark new thoughts or ideas.

We left at 4:20pm to get there by 5:30pm. We figured we'd get there a little early and have time for a drink. Instead we were stuck in the most horrific traffic that we've met in ages. We were a mile from the circle in nearly stopped traffic. The lighted sign that indicates how long it would take to get to the circle kept going up. Fifteen minutes. Sixteen minutes. At this point we only had about twenty minutes to get to the restaurant on time so my husband somehow manages to ninja zip off the expressway. Then in a harrowing scene that should be in a movie, or at least the next release of Grand Theft Auto,  proceeds to pull up to valet parking at exactly 5:30pm.

Our pillow for clean silvereware.

Alinea itself is beautiful. Simply decorated, fancy but comfortable. Everything is designed with the "ideal dining experience" in mind. There were only 5 tables in the room with us. Close enough to chat with the table next to you, quiet enough to retain privacy. It was the perfect setting. They even asked if we'd rather sit facing each other or side by side. We chose to sit side by side, facing the room.

I wish I'd brought our nice camera. The table next to us was taking pictures of dinner. I suppose it's socially acceptable to do that. I only had my cell phone camera and although I took pictures I don't think I did the place justice. I'll share them anyway because even from my crummy camera the food was super cool.

Steelhead roe. Dijon, rutabaga, grapefruit. Served with a cocktail
of Pierre Gimonnet Brut with crysanthemum liquer
and bitters.

It also had licorice. The dijon mustard was turned into dumplings. Alex doesn't care for rutabaga. I don't care for licorice. It was delicious. We both loved it.

I love that the staff used words that are simple and familiar when describing food. I began to get a sense that they were reinventing a lot of familiar things. It was delicious. We loved it.


It was time for a wine change. There were lots of wine changes. We had ten different kinds. One of the bottles were really pretty so I took a photo.

I didn't care for this dry riesling, until I tasted the food. It went really well with the next few dishes. I drank a lot of it.

I was going to try to narrate every single picture in detail but I realized that would probably get boring and that I was running out of synonyms for delicious and beautiful. So instead, here are some pictures with little captions.

This course has a photo, but shouldn't. This picture just didn't turn out. The stick standing up is the miso. Yuba: Shrimp, miso, togarashi Every bite of this meal was amazing.

From back to front: Oyster leaf (mignonette), Scallop (hitachino weizen, old bay), Razor Clam (carrot, soy, daikon) Although daikon radishes have a very special place in my heart the razor clam was my least favorite morsel of the entire evening. Perhaps because it was followed by the scallop which was one of my favorite bites of the evening. It was served with an Emmerich Knoll 'Kellerberg' Reisling Smaragd, Wachau, Austria 2004

Urchin: green garlic, vanilla, mint, with foam broth beneath.

Rabbit: Parfait with squask chip, spaghetti squash and pumpkin seeds. Layer 1

Rillette: Rabbit blood sausage with sauteed mushrooms and sage..Layer 2

Rabbit Consommé: Also called Stone Soup because there's a stone keeping it warm. Layer 3

Venison: Cherry, cocoa nib, and eucalyptus for aroma.

Wild Mushrooms: pine, sumac ramp. It was supposed to mimic early spring. It was served with a wine change to Domaine des Kambrays "clos de Lambrays" Morey-St.-Denis 2006

Hot Potato: cold potato, black truffle, butter. The dish was made of wax. The idea was to pull the pin through the wax and then take the entire contents of the bowl into your mouth like a food shot. Scrumptious!

An unusual center piece that was added to our table part way through the meal. Later we would use these to make our own raviolis. 

Short Rib: with olive, red wine, blackberry, pickled white asparagus 

Hitmachi: West Indies spices, banana, ginger

Agneau: Sauce choron, pomme de terre noisette served with Fisher Vineyards "Coach Insignia" Napa Valley 2005, (The meat is lamb and the vegetable on top is Asparagus. That Alex and I gladly ate asparagus tells you something.

Black Truffle: explosion, romaine, parmesan (To be taken in your mouth in one bite so it didn't explode on the table.)

Snow: Yuzu (You can't really see it, but they've made snow with the help of a little liquid nitrogen and some yuzu juice. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit with a clean complex flavor. It was a palate cleanser.)

Sweet Potato: Cedar, bouron, pecan served with Nittnaus 'Premium' Beerenauslese, Burgeland, Austria NV

Lemongrass: Dragonfruit, finger lime, cucumber  (You were supposed to pick up the tube and suck out the whole thing in one bite so it didn't get all over the table. It was clean, refreshing and excellent!)

This picture could be called bacon even makes Alinea better.  From left to right:
Bacon: butterscotch, apple, thyme
Nutella: bread, banana, chocolate
Lychee: jasmine tea
Served with: AE Dor 'Pineau Francois I, Pineau des Charentes

Here's a close up of the lychee. It was seriously delicious.

Best dessert ever also known as Chocolate: blueberry, honey, peanut/ It was chocolate mousse frozen with liquid nitrogen, organic cream, milk chocolate, honey and peanut nougat, and finally creme broulee made by Grant Achatz himself at your table with a blow torch. It was served with a Toro Albala 'Don PX' Gran Reserva, Montilla-Moriles, Spain 1982.

By the time we had dessert it was after 9pm. We'd had small tastings of many different wines but we still needed to digest a little before driving home. We asked for coffee and our excellent waiters asked us how we liked our coffee. Alex said cream and sugar. I said cream only. Because Alex wanted cream an sugar they brought him a small silver french press filled with an Ethiopian coffee. I had a Peruvian blend. It was the perfect way to end the best meal I've ever eaten in my entire life.