Cuisine:

• Diner
• Fine Dining
• Contemporary
• American
• New American
• Others

Alinea Description:
The name says it all. In the course of history, an "alinea" would mark the arrival of a new idea or philosophy. If the concept flies, it could mark the beginning of a different way of thinking or a new practice. The restaurant Alinea situates itself in that sphere and in a forthcoming age that succeeds all the inns, restaurants, taverns and bistros as we've known them. So be prepared: Alinea is a restaurant like no other in America, period. The experience begins at the doorstep when one enters into a post post-modern, bare set-up evocative of a museum of modern art. Tables are over-size, widely separated and sans tablecloths. All of this is to focus our attention on the food and nothing else. Waiters dressed like bank executives with three-button grey suits slide smoothly on the wooden floor, delivering solemnly to the tables miniscule cups, small glasses, mini plates, and mysterious decorative objects symbolic of an esoteric food that needs to be deciphered before eaten. The dinner, composed of at least twenty dishes for the Tour menu, is concocted with dozens of components and in an order and a fashion revealing the art of Grant Achatz. This all may have a disconcerting effect if one is not prepared. So the maître d' pops up to explain and guide one's approach to the offerings coming in odd presentations, such as at the tip of a metallic skewer or on a steel string swing. Achatz constantly invents new preparations, changing combinations that he dubs with a single word, such as "Yuba" for shrimp, miso, mint consommé or "Bison" for a meat plate with red cabbage and eggplant scented with rosemary. In this whirlwind of creativity, the dessert simply named "Chocolate" must be a mainstay given its uniqueness. Achatz unrolls a plastic-coated cloth on your table and pours the ingredients of his chocolate dessert over the cloth, then gathers and kneads coconut, menthol and hyssop with the hot cocoa. It is the most sophisticated and paradoxically simple "pastry" you can think of; the most spectacular as well. While treated for a rare tongue cancer, Achatz lost his sense of taste and could not sample his own preparations, but in his impressive kitchens he kept creating new dishes, reminding us of Beethoven composing a music he could not hear. The wine list is as splendid as it is classic and the wine pairing is a total success especially considering the peculiarity of the food. If you can (the tasting menu is $150 and the Tour menu is $225), do not forgo the experience of dining at Alinea. You may like it or you may not, but do come to witness what could be a milestone and a landmark in gastronomy.


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