What I Didn’t Know About Alinea

With all the countless digital photos, food board testimony, blog screeds, and traditional media swoon, I entered Alinea thinking I may have already seen it all, worried that all that was left to do was taste, affirm, and move on to the virtual food movement or whatever Homaro Cantu, Alton Brown, and Bill Nye huddle up and come out with next.

I knew that I would be eating powders, drinking from test tubes, sniffing scented air from pillows, testing the rules of no silverware.

I knew that the chef would be serving unlikely combinations using unlikely kitchen tools like the anti-hot plate and paint stripping heat guns.

I knew that the entryway of Alinea was an illusion, that the doorway popped up at your side and opened via sensor. I thought I knew it all.

Then once the sensor clicked, the doorway slid open, revealing the surgical theatre that is the Alinea kitchen at my right, and the two story floating staircase above, I walked away from everything I didn’t know.

The kitchen was was pristine, white tiles and stainless gleaming like a freshly built roman bathhouse. With no vertical dividers, or obstructions, you could see clearly across the kitchen. This was the perfectly cultivated culinary garden. There were no weeds in this kitchen, just measured balletic platings, sautéings, and considerations. A pensive Chef Achatz, hand on hip, leaned over, considered his fellow chefs and the plate before him.

My wife and I were able to consider the kitchen, because the staff was busy, the host station did not pick up on our entrance and allowed us to awkwardly peer around the lobby maybe a beat too long. Another surprise, as one would expect the staff to be as precise as the kitchen.

No matter. As we slunk down in the comfy chairs, we ordered a couple of glasses of Henry Billiot Rose Champagne from Ambonnay, France. A feast of strawberries and yeast, and maybe the last time we would not be surprised. After all fruit, yeast, and bubbles is what you expect from rose champagne.

As we ordered the 12 course menu, I could go on for weeks about every single wine pairing or course (I have included an index of courses and brief descriptions below for those who care), I will only write of the highlights in the food and wine. While there were some familiar already famous dishes in our menu, such as the hearts of palm, we had arrived as the kitchen was transitioning to the new fall menu. Our evening was dotted with some of the old, and some completely new dishes, things I had not yet read about on the food board.

The first of these was Trout Roe with Pineapple foam square, coriander cream, and cucumber gel.

Pineapple foam was understated, almost non existent, but the highlight was the salty buttery trout roe. The individual grains popped like salty butter bubbles. In this dish I recognized that while Grant was truly an original, he is paying homage to the lessons of the past. The combo of sweet, savory, creamy, salty conjures very closely Thomas Keller’s Oysters and Pearls, a dish Grant had no doubt created many times in his Yountville sous-chef days. The real treat here was instead of a salt cured aged Osetra or Sevruga roe, the trout roe was five days removed from the fish. 5 days of salty briny goodness. The importance of pure flavor and finesse was also articulated in a single coriander seed, said to have been from Achatz personal garden. One bite of this micro seed was so spicy and floral. A chef of less confidence would have peppered the dish with these seeds.

The next course of delight: Lobster with chanterelles, carrot juice essence ravioli with filling of coconut powder.

Lobster lemongrass consomme was poured over the dish. The plate was garnished with a lobster cheeto, as well as asian and traditional basils. The lobster cheeto was closer in taste to a lobster pork rind. This dish reminded me of thai cuisine deconstructed and reconstructed at the highest level. Basically Grant exercising his inner Arun.

The course was accompanied by one of our strongest wine pairings of the nice…Muller Catoir Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese Trocken, Pfalz 2003. There were orange notes in the wine that seemed to pair well with carrot ravioli.

It shouldn’t be surprising that in order to achieve the sublime, one must risk failure as well. After 4 solid courses, I expected no mis-steps this evening, and yet, the fifth course seemed to miss the mark a bit.

Dover sole pieces were served with cauliflower cooked in what seemed like brown butter and maybe a bit of citrus. Banana spears, and caper, parsley, lemon, and banana powders filled out the plate. There was just too much powder, not a great mouth feel. This was like savory fun dip candy. I almost felt like I needed to lick a piece of sole like it was one of those hard sugar coated sticks, and dredge it in the powder. This was the only real misstep of the night. Also this is the only picture of the dishes as my digital camera was not working. Thanks to etherknitter for the picture.




This course was accompanied by a highlight wine though: "Veliko Bianco", Goriska Brda. Spicy and from Slovenia! A surprise, as I had never had a Slovenian wine.

The last savory course of note was Bison with truffle, pistachio, and sweet spices

This dish was a culinary architecture of North Dakota bison with deep fried potatoes in a Dr. Seussian tree like configuration of shoestring potato branches clutching black truffle pieces. There was a side of braised iranian pistachios and small purple potatoes and a gelee of sweet spices.

Sweet wise there, were many great dishes, but one of note: Matsutake with pine nuts, mastic, and rosemary.

We were served a steamed cake of matsutake mushrooms, toasted pine nuts, and mastic infused cream. I worked for an industrial supply company for many years, and mastic is used as an adhesive for rubbers and tiles and what not. I was definitely scratching my head here, but the mastic cream really lent a nice mouth feel to the whole dish, recalling almost like a matsutake tres leches cake.

Regarding the food in general, all of the new dishes showed that Chef Achatz is just getting started. I thought about how upon leaving Charlie Trotters a few years ago, I figured I probably wouldn’t be back for a while. I thought there are so many other places worth trying first. I also thought that maybe only a few of the dishes were really surprising in combination.

In contrast, given an unlimited supply of money, I wanted to come back to Alinea the next night, so I wouldn’t miss a move. It feels like everyday is truly about pushing to the next development. Each night could be the night they realize the strawberry should be atomized, or the grapefruit should be deep fried and paired with frozen foie gras. You feel like you would be willing to give up the other restaurants, because at Alinea, they are in the moment every day. The potential exists for innovation in every bite.

In contrast though, the service still needs work. At the beginning of the meal, we had asked to split the wine pairing. When we received the bill, they had charged us for two wine pairings. They acknowledged the mistake and apologized. Frankly the pours were so generous, we really benefited from this mistake, but this was the second time that the service was out of step. One feels cheap and awkward asking for the bill to be corrected. We hadn’t split the pours out of parsimony, rather, so that my wife doesn’t get as tipsy as she did at the French Laundry last year.

One highlight of the service, is that the folks who took care of us really sensed our interest, and consistently engaged us on matters of food and wine. They were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, taking opportunities to educate and deliberate on a particular wine or course throughout the night.

In addition, for a restaurant so focused on finesse and innovation and detail, there was no extension of this philosophy to the valet service. One almost wonders if this is the intention, to remind you that you have left the innovative cradle of Alinea. Our valets that night forgot if we had paid them, took a decent while to get the car, and didn’t open the door for my wife.

These missteps coupled with not being greeted when we entered the restaurant mean that Trotter and the French Laundry and others are definitely operating at a higher level. It may be that service doesn’t offer the same opportunity for innovation as the cooking. At its core, service is about repeating each movement as if it were the first time you have ever done so, even though it may be the most repetitive mundane thing you do each night. The service was by no means bad, in fact it was downright impressive, but it can improve.

Appendix of courses and quick notes….

Course 1

Frozen Olive Oil Dollop with Shaved Parmesan and Black Pepper

All of the flavors were sharp and well matched, like a simple dressed Italian pasta dish. The surprise was of course the olive oil…by freezing, the taste is delayed until the olive oil melts from the warmth of your tongue. So one after another, you get hit with the black pepper spice, the rich creamy saltiness of the parm, and then finally the sweetness and fruit of the olive. This dish is a study in taste for tastes sake with a twist on texture in the frozen dollop.

Course 2

Hearts of Palm in 5 sections

1) Vanilla lime center, with thai chili slice
2) Fava Bean Puree with preserved lemon
3) Toasted bulgar wheat with garlic mayo
4) Plum with Nicoise olive
5) Black truffle with pumpernickel crumb

This dish was all about finesse, literally specs of herbs, lemon, chilis all with strong identifiable flavors. Sweet to savory. Last was a big truffle explosion.

Course 3

Trout Roe with Pineapple foam square, coriander cream, and cucumber gel.

Pineapple foam was understated, almost non existent, but the highlight was the salty buttery trout roe. The individual grains popped like salty butter bubbles. The combo of sweet, savory, creamy, salty harkens in some way to Thomas Keller’s Oysters and Pearls influence. Fresh dot of coriander from achatz personal garden. 5 day old roe!

Course 4

Lobster with chanterelles, carrot juice essence ravioli with filling of coconut powder. Lobster lemongrass consomme was poured over the dish. The plate was garnished with what the waitress referred to as a lobster cheeto as well as asian and traditional basils. The lobster cheeto was closer in taste to a lobster pork rind if that is possible. This reminded me of thai cuisine deconstructed and reconstructed at the highest level. Basically Grant exercising his inner Arun Sampathivat.

Also one of our strongest wine pairings of the nice…Muller Catoir Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese Trocken, Pfalz 2003. There were orange notes in the wine that seemed to pair well with carrot ravioli.

At this point we were offered bread (Red Hen, not house made). Pumpernickel, and fennel with various fruits along with 2 types of butter. Nice timing as it was used to sop up broth in the next course. Cow butter from Wisconsin, goat butter from Quebec.

Course 5

Dover sole served with cauliflower cooked in what seemed like brown butter and maybe a bit of citrus, nice crunchy counterpoint to the sole, with banana spears, and powders: caper, parsley, lemon, banana. This was the only dish that could be remotely described as a miss. Too much powder, not a great mouth feel. Like savory lik-a-maid powders.

This was accompanied by a highlight wine "Veliko Bianco", Goriska Brda (Slovenia) Spicy and from Slovenia!

Course 6

Pork belly tempura, with orange and Dijon flavors and California bay lead laurel branch.

The warm, crispy, citrusy sweetness matched the saltiness of the pork belly. Clever reworking of seemingly classic flavors with crispy tempura offsetting soft pork belly.

Course 7
Lamb with fig, pernod, pillow of anise air

The lamb cheeks were braised, and coated with panko and coffee topped with a pernod foam. The fig was also poached with fennel.

Course 8
Bison with truffle, pistachio, sweet spices

North Dakota bison with deep fried potatoes and black truffle pieces, like a seussian tree of flavor. Braised iranian pistachios and small purple potatoes and a gelee of sweet spices. Favorite dish.

Course 9
Matsutake with pine nuts, mastic, rosemary

Steamed cake of matsutake mushrooms, toasted pine nuts, and Mastic infused cream. I worked for an industrial supply company and mastic is used as an adhesive….hmmm...No real taste of mushroom, more of a spice cake

Wine: 1978 Sercial Madeira, Vinhos Barbeito

Course 10
Corn with honey, tonka bean, vanilla. This was a dish with freeze-dried corn served with wildflower honey, vanilla granite', almond/coffee/vanilla essences, and tonka bean cream anglaise. Like a molten lava cake, but custard with a honey center. The freeze dried corn, were like the best corn nuts you ever had without all the nasty center parts that get stuck in your teeth.

Course 11
Chocolate with avocado, lime, mint. Flexible chocolate cream looked like a chocolate licorice strip, with lime ice cream, avocado puree, mint-infused chocolate sauce, and cocoa crumbs. The sweet avocado puree was an interesting lesson in how savory can be sweet.

Wine: Moscato rosa, Alto Aldige, with creme de cassis So sweet, great combo

Course 12
Dry Caramel and salt. Basically essence of milky way. Like dipping dots ice cream, but in a good way. The carmel looks solid, like crunchy nuts texturally, but then the heat of the mouth transforms it in to good old stick to the roof of your mouth caramel.

Final Drink: Kimel A French press coffee from New Guinea

Thanks for the details! Great work.

Excellent post. Of all that's been written about this place up to now, your recap was one of the more interesting ones that I've read.

Regarding the dover sole course (your photo): That dish really sounds (and looks) terrible to me. Fish, bananas, cauliflower, and powder. I'm not sure what it would take to make me enjoy that combo.

Was the chef going for a "worms in the garden" look, or is it just my interpretation of the photo?

Best,
Michael

I actually really liked the dover sole course, as did my dining companion. I thought it was delicious, and the textures were wonderful together. My only problem was I ate it too fast, even with taking time to scrape up as much of the "fun dip" (hee! to that picture, btw) powder as I could...

It didn't look like it would be tasty but it was a winner for me.

Fish, bananas, cauliflower, and powder.

Perhaps the inspiration was this:

Presiding General Who compiled this map?
Fawcett Cole Porter, sir.
Presiding General (incredulously) Cole Porter ... who wrote `Kiss Me Kate'?
Fawcett No, alas not, sir ... this was Cole Porter who wrote `Anything Goes'. Sir, I shall seek to prove that the man before this court ...
Presiding General That's the same one! (he sings) `In olden days a glimpse of stocking ...'
Fawcett I beg your pardon, sir?
Presiding General (singing) `In olden days a glimpse of stocking, was looked on as something shocking, now heaven knows, anything goes ...'
Fawcett No, this one's different, sir.
Presiding General How does it go?
Fawcett What, sir?
Presiding General How does your `Anything Goes' go?
Walters Can I go home now?
Presiding General Shut up! (to Fawcett) Come on!
Fawcett Sir, really, this is rather ...
Presiding General Come on, how does your `Anything Goes' go?
Fawcett (clearing his throat and going into an extraordinary tuneless and very loud song)
Anything goes in.
Anything goes out!
Fish, bananas, old pyjamas,
Mutton! Beef! and Trout!

MJN wrote:With all the countless digital photos, food board testimony, blog screeds, and traditional media swoon, I entered Alinea thinking I may have already seen it all,

MJN,

And just when I thought I had read it all, you post from a slightly different, and very interesting angle.

MJN wrote:Our valets that night forgot if we had paid them, took a decent while to get the car, and didn’t open the door for my wife.

Speaking of valet, I've posted how the simple act of handing a valet $10 pops me out of my warm, cozy suspension of disbelief cocoon that one should really pay this much money for a meal. Everest, to my knowledge, is the only top-tier restaurant that includes parking.

Not including valet service is, to my mind ever-so-slightly tacky. Not as tacky as, say, having to walk across a hotel lobby, fight your way though another restaurants bar just to use the bathroom, such as at Ambria. In addition, Ambria's parking valet service charges as you leave as well.

Enjoy,
Gary

Last time I was at Trotters, they didn't charge. In fact I kind of still hold it up as the pinnacle of valet. When we left the restaurant, it was snowing, and they already had our car out front, the heater on full blast, and get this, they had scraped the windshield.

MJN -- thank you for the considerate post. We have noted your concerns about the greeting and valet and will indeed strive to improve.

The valet service at Alinea is sub-contracted to a company that leases the requisite parking lots to park the cars. In addition, insurance considerations make it nearly impossible to service just 1 small restaurant cost effectively. We are continually trying to improve valet service through education, training, and supplemental service by our own staff. I apologize that it fell short and we will work hard to improve the service...

Including the heater!

Best,

nick kokonas