The symbol at symbols.com is a little weird:

An alinea, also called a "pilcrow," usually looks like this:

Or, more frequently, because it's most often handwritten as a proofreader's mark, like this:

Hello.
I'm a brand new member on the LTHForum and I figured this would be a good place to make my introduction. The proper pronunciation of the restaurant is "ah-lin-ee-ya". The typographical symbol which means "The beginning of a new train of thought."

Trevor Williams.
-Kendall College-

KendallCollege wrote:The proper pronunciation of the restaurant is "ah-lin-ee-ya". The typographical symbol which means "The beginning of a new train of thought."

Welcome to LTH Forum.

Grant Achatz latched onto "The beginning of a new train of thought," which is Symbols.com's definition, yes. However, that's an uncommon, rather highfalutin usage (like its odd version of the symbol).

Mainly, an alinea just indicates the start of a new paragraph; the same symbol is often just called a "paragraph mark."

PrintProcess Glossary wrote:Alinea
"alinea" (from the Latin "a linea" - of the line) is traditionally used in typography to designate the first line of a new paragraph. On a more general level, it also covers elements used for identifying a new section of text, e.g. ornamental characters.

In case you were wondering what Achatz's kids were eating:

From today's NYTimes, an article on kids' palates (registration probably required):

2. Make them eat what you do, even if you have to purée it. "If we ate butternut squash and carrots, so did they," Matheson said, "and sometimes with fish. I just really thinned it with cooking water." Grant Achatz, the chef and owner of Alinea in Chicago, treated his 4-year-old to a 10-course dinner. "He didn't finish everything, but he tried every course, which included white truffles, crab, bison," he said. Do not feel compelled to top this.

Zeeshan,
Thanks for posting that article. It was an interesting read and I plan to forward it to several family member and friends who are in 'kid food' mindset. I've had countless conversations(read debates) regarding 'kid food' with people who think an interesting and well balanced meal for their children includes frozen cheese pizza, chicken fingers, fish sticks or pizza rolls along with an honorary vegetable. What kills me is when my niece and nephew are with me, they'll try anything. They may not like, but at least they'll try it.

It's sad that parents aren't aware of the disservice they do to their children when they plop plates of fat and chemicals in front of them. I wonder what would happen to childhood obesity and diabetes if 'kid food' was banned.

Veloute

LAZ wrote:

That is the symbol that is on the napkins.

We went Sunday, 2 April for my birthday and a bit of a late Anniversary dinner. It was a lovely meal, interesting, though not transcendant. 3.5 hours long or so. I would do it again, but not soon - it's a bit intense. But I definitely enjoyed it.