Alinea
Champagne
COMMUNAL – SALSIFY, FIG, SMOKED MUSHROOM
SOCARRAT – RABBIT, BOMBA, SOFRITO SAFFRON
APPLE CIDER – MANZANILLA SHERRY, ORANGE
OSETRA – OLIVE, BLACK PEPPER, BLIS ELIXER
CHARRED ARCTIC CHAR – BLIS MAPLE SYRUP, CHAR ROE, CARROT, SMOKE
2023 Romain Reverdy ‘Florilege’ Sancerre
HUMITA – MASA, SWEET CORN, PRAWN
ROASTED BONE – MARROW, POTATO, PROVOLETA
FOSSILIZED – RED PRAWN, CHIMICHURRIS, EMPANADA
HOT POTATO COLD POTATO – BLACK TRUFFLE, PARMESAN
EXPLOSION – BLACK TRUFFLE, ROMAINE, PARMESAN
WAGYU – JAPANESE EGGPLANT, PINE NUT, OKINAWAN SWEET POTATO, TURNIP, PERSIMMON
SQUASHED – BUTTERNUT, JAMON IBÉRICO, DATE, ROBIOLA, BLACK TRUFFLE
ITALIAN ICE – DISTILLED, POIRE PRISONNIERE
PAINT – SESAME, APPLE, LEMON
BALLOON – HELIUM, CARAMEL APPLE, TAFFY
BIRTHDAY – CHAMPAGNE
Currently taking a well-deserved victory lap from coast-to-coast Alinea’s 20th Anniversary is also being celebrated back home, the ever-changing Next transporting diners back to Lincoln Park circa 2005 while 1723 North Halsted Street continues to explore “a new train of thought.”
Now under the direction of Chef Douglas Alley, another young talent blossoming under the daily guidance of Grant Achatz, guests who’ve not visited Alinea since the renovation will find service still amongst the best in the world while theatrics have been amplified.
Still Chicago’s toughest reservation, both The Gallery and Salon fully booked within minutes of Tock opening, guests downstairs begin at a communal table complete with fire, suspended items and a four-part plate spanning the palate paired to Champagne.
Next offered a tour of the kitchen, a new Sommelier directing guests attention to an all-Soccarat Paella matched to Sherry-Apple Cider, guests return to a fully transformed dining room where two and four-tops sit beneath suspended items to be revealed later.
Forever innovating with service pieces from Crucial Detail, a bowl textured like Caviar delivering Osetra prior to a flip-cup of crispy Skin Arctic Char and Roe in smoked Gel beneath, course five sees diners “excavate” a Shrimp alongside a Bone with Marrow, Tamale and Empanada baked into the plate.
A festive affair not afraid to look back while pushing forward, both “Hot Potato” and “Black Truffle Explosion” as delicious as they were twenty years prior, Wagyu receives tableside garnish from aromatic starch before the line overhead is cut revealing Squash preserved in Pork Fat utilized in the Cheese course.
Not about to slow down, sweets starting with a Pear grown in glass made into Italian Ice, “Paint” has evolved into a parade of lights, smoke and music with aromas and theatrics eventually yielding one of Fine Dining’s most iconic Desserts.
Last visited in 2011, Mike Bagale’s edible Balloon not arriving until a year later, celebrations at Alinea see guests toast with a liquid “Birthday Cake” topped off by Rose Champagne for an experience that still deserves every single one of its numerous accolades.
www.alinearestaurant.com