Alinea *Image Heavy*

Sometime in January, I met up with a friend and we got to talking about how it was pathetic that we grew up right by Chicago but took it for granted.  One of these things is Alinea, the world renowned Michelin 3-star-rated culinary mecca of all foodies.  We were extremely lucky to reserve a tasting ... for three months later!  Fast-forward to Saturday, April 14, 2012, when I ate the most expensive meal of my life.  It took us three tries to find Alinea on Halsted since it looked pretty low key on the outside, with very little signage and a darkened entryway.  The restaurant was partitioned into individual, intimate dining rooms with 4 tables at most.  No music, white walls, dimmed lighting - all to let the food speak for itself.  So, without ado:  THE PHOTOS.  Very image heavy, and this is only a portion of the 18 course meal we had:

The centerpiece - two dark red pillars, suspended on a block of ice, which was resting on a bed of rocks.

Silverware - spoon, fork, and a glass straw?!

Steelhead roe, carrot, coconut with a curry sauce

Oyster leaf mignonette, King Crab with passionfruit, heart of palm, allspice, Mussel with saffron, chorizo oregano, Razor Clam with shiso, soy, and daikon, served on driftwood and seaweed

Broth of miso, radish, seaweed, garlic, onion, and citrus elements simmer in an apparatus originally intended for coffee

The broth is then poured into a bowl with scallop, served to look and taste like agedashi tofu

The centerpiece was revealed to be a palette cleanser: by the time we got to this course, the top of the ice block melted, revealing the dark red pillars to be vials of beet juice sweetened with hibiscus and licorice.  So thaaat's what the glass straw utensil was for!

Burn morel mushrooms, ramp, fiddlehead fern, and miner's lettuce served on hot stones and a plank of smoked cedar-wood.

Hot potato soup in a WAX shooter bowl, which has been skewered with a steel pin of cold cold potato, black truffle, and cubes of butter.  We had to quickly pull the steel pin down, which dropped the ingredients into the bowl and shoot the soup into our mouths in one shot before the wax bowl melted!

The empty bowl

60 different garnishes

3 different cuts of lamb.  Each bite with a different garnish, as if you're tasting 60 different dishes of lamb

Another time-sensitive dish - black truffle explosion in a tortellini-style pasta with romaine and parmesan

Time sensitive because the black truffle threatened to burst out from under the bottomless serving cup if I didn't eat it fast enough!

Squab and various garnishes set to eat in random order for spontaneity

Anjou pear, onion, and melted brie encapsulated in crisp tempura batter, eaten off a smoking stick of cinnamon

5 different flavors of ginger

Blueberry, buttermilk, sorrel, macadamia served on an ice cold platter/bowl with a citrus tea-dry ice suspension, which you drink with the dessert

Sweet lemon cream, edible flower petals, freeze-dried strawberry powder, english pea powder

A bowl of white chocolate rests on a silicone sheet.  English peas, and chocolate are sprinkled around the bowl

Strawberry powder and lemon cream are playfully added to the mix

More english pea powder

The shocking part - the chef gingerly lifts the chocolate bowl (at this point, I thought he was just adjusting for the final presentation), but instead, he roughly jerks the bowl upside down, throws it onto the table, and wordlessly walks away, leaving us in stunned silence.

We shrug and scoop up the delicious remains of his masterpiece right off the table.  'twas delicious and heavenly

Ended the night with smooth, french-pressed coffee, a full stomach, and an equally empty wallet