Alinea

Last evening, I finally broke down and went to Alinea in Chicago.  For those of you that don’t know me well, I am a foodie.  I have loved to cook for a long time.  My family calls my grocery runs “hunting and gathering” because I tend to visit a lot of stores.  Chicago has some great ethnic groceries and specialty stores and they are fun to rummage through.

A friend of mine, Don Phillips (DCP), used to trade with me.  We’d chat about cooking.  He became a full-fledged chef which is something I could never do.  He’s damn good at it and watching him work shows you the level of skill and professionalism that chefs have over home cooks.

Obviously, I have known about Alinea for a long time but never have taken the plunge to dine there.  Many of my friends have eaten there but for me it just never worked out. One of their co-owners, Nick Kokonas is an acquaintance and is a great entrepreneur.  He traded on the floor.  He took a risk on a chef when no one else would and now they have what some call the greatest restaurant in the world.  Nick also has a side business, Tock, which is a pretty magical way to make reservations at restaurants.  The entire operation is entrepreneurial, takes risks and pushes the envelope in whatever they do.  People talk about Alinea, but Next, The Aviary and Roister all are worth a trip.

Over the years, my wife and I have dined at many of the Chicago temples of food.  They are all memorable in their own way.  They are all great in their own way.  Charlie Trotter’s, Everest, Spiaggia, Arun’s, Arcadia, Topolobampo, Elizabeth and Le Francais to name a few.  We always get the tasting menu with the wine pairing.  Alinea is not like the others and takes food in a totally different direction.    It’s a thing we started in our first year of marriage.  I was in the pit wondering where to go for our first anniversary and Linda Leventhal (LGL) told me where to go.  It was the first time I had dined in a fine dining restaurant like that.

In my opinion, New Orleans is probably the best restaurant town from top to bottom in America.  However, Chicago is second.  There is no place like Alinea in New Orleans.

On this occasion, I embraced randomness.  A friend of mine who lived in California tagged me on Facebook.  I opened up my computer yesterday morning, had a sip of coffee and read her post.  She knew a person that was dining at Alinea, had booked a table and had a couple of extra spots for some reason. I told my wife we were going and we went.

It was a spectacular evening. The company was wonderful.

Here is the Chef’s Table video on Alinea if you haven’t seen it. Our dinner was creative. It tickled the senses in every way, along with your aural senses. I could tell you one of the dishes we had, but it wouldn’t do it justice.  Each course was creative in its own way. Justin Massa was there and Instagrammed the whole thing. I Instagrammed a few things but I was torn because I just wanted the whole experience to wash over me.

We sat at the kitchen table.  What amazed me about the kitchen was the cleanliness.  It was also very quiet in there.  Chefs were concentrating.  Like ballet, it was choreographed.  People moved seamlessly.  The service at our table was impeccable.  At the front end of the restaurant when you walk in the staff treat you like you are checking in to the highest class hotel in the world.  We were there for four hours and it felt like the time flew by.  Yes, I was full at the end.

There are just very few places like it.  Maybe not any.