Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
Just booked some reservations at what is supposed to be the new Chi town hot spot. It is one of those new age multi small portion restaurants with a chemistry type infused cooking style ie. using liquid nitrogen and air infusion etc....
Alinea
Alinea - Menus
*exert from a recent review:
Bottom line. Alinea is working along the lines of the small-plate nibbles-and-bits concept. This is a restaurant that you can take with a grain of designer salt or not. My experience was one of awe mixed with admiration. However, unless you are really into food, this might not be the restaurant for you. How many flavors can you focus on and still appreciate the experience?
So is Alinea a treasure trove of culinary magic or madness? It's pure magic. This is comfort food for the cognoscenti. My wife and I each did the 12-course arrangement. And as it turned out, there was enough magic to last.
So let's get going. I will not attempt to wrap each course in a puff pastry of adjectives, or try to dissect each and every individual flavorLet me repeat what I said earlier: This is magic, and the joy of magic is in the revelation.
The 12 courses:
1. PB&J. This was a peeled grape dipped in a peanut puree, wrapped in brioche. The grape was perched on a wire frame. Pick it up, tilt your head back and drop it in your mouth. Interesting, and reasonably exciting.
2. Dungeness crab with raw parsnip, strings of young coconut, and cashews. The crab was so fresh I would not be surprised had it been minutes out of the water.
3. Heart of palm in five sections, hollowed-out and stuffed with different fillings, each on its own pedestal. No fork or knife needed. Pick up the porcelain "tray" and slide the morsels into your mouth. The final flavor was black truffles with pumpernickel.
4. Broccoli stem with grapefruit and steelhead roe. A stem of poached broccoli wrapped in a thin layer of brioche and arranged with three renditions of grapefruit with an inkspot of broccoli puree. Pearls of steelhead roe were scattered about.
5. Snapper with yuba, yuzu, toasted sesame and sichimi togarishi (a blend of spices, Japanese style). Yuba is the skin that rises to the top when you make tofu. That skin was sauteed and laid over the snapper. The yuzu (a citrus fruit) was transformed into a soft and silky puddle that looks like an egg yolk. Incredible piece of work.
6. Frog legs with spring lettuce and morels. "Frog legs in a garden" is how it was described, the "garden" being the tender spring lettuces and meaty morels.
7. Bison. Two preparations: eye of the round and corned. Sauces and purees abounded here: caramelized fennel, blueberry gastrique and freeze-dried blueberries. On the plate in a separate small bowl were cinnamon sticks set atop a hot rock. The purpose? An aromatic to enhance the experience.
8. A single strip of bacon got a glaze of butterscotch and green apple. The bacon dangled from a trapeze-like device. Pull the strip of bacon off the trapeze and pop it down in one bite. An amazing confluence of flavors.
9. Hazelnut puree and savory granola. An edible capsule was lined with hazelnut puree. Break the capsule into the bowl to get the full effect of texture and flavors.
10. Pineapple with Iranian pistachio. Dehydrated pineapple, pineapple foam and pineapple gel all came together with the pistachio and angelica.
11. Whimsical and impeccable presentation that led into a panoply of flavors and textures. Liquid chocolate ran out of a square of chocolate and made its way down and around hunks and pieces of milk ice cream, licorice powder and dried banana round. A dynamite dessert.
12. Sponge cake with vanilla bean, vanilla fragrance and tart cherry powder. A whole vanilla bean is used to stir up the sponge, and you fight for tastes as it slowly seems to disappear.
Finis!
Reviews:
Alinea - Lincoln Park - Chicago, IL
Alinea
Alinea - Menus
*exert from a recent review:
Bottom line. Alinea is working along the lines of the small-plate nibbles-and-bits concept. This is a restaurant that you can take with a grain of designer salt or not. My experience was one of awe mixed with admiration. However, unless you are really into food, this might not be the restaurant for you. How many flavors can you focus on and still appreciate the experience?
So is Alinea a treasure trove of culinary magic or madness? It's pure magic. This is comfort food for the cognoscenti. My wife and I each did the 12-course arrangement. And as it turned out, there was enough magic to last.
So let's get going. I will not attempt to wrap each course in a puff pastry of adjectives, or try to dissect each and every individual flavorLet me repeat what I said earlier: This is magic, and the joy of magic is in the revelation.
The 12 courses:
1. PB&J. This was a peeled grape dipped in a peanut puree, wrapped in brioche. The grape was perched on a wire frame. Pick it up, tilt your head back and drop it in your mouth. Interesting, and reasonably exciting.
2. Dungeness crab with raw parsnip, strings of young coconut, and cashews. The crab was so fresh I would not be surprised had it been minutes out of the water.
3. Heart of palm in five sections, hollowed-out and stuffed with different fillings, each on its own pedestal. No fork or knife needed. Pick up the porcelain "tray" and slide the morsels into your mouth. The final flavor was black truffles with pumpernickel.
4. Broccoli stem with grapefruit and steelhead roe. A stem of poached broccoli wrapped in a thin layer of brioche and arranged with three renditions of grapefruit with an inkspot of broccoli puree. Pearls of steelhead roe were scattered about.
5. Snapper with yuba, yuzu, toasted sesame and sichimi togarishi (a blend of spices, Japanese style). Yuba is the skin that rises to the top when you make tofu. That skin was sauteed and laid over the snapper. The yuzu (a citrus fruit) was transformed into a soft and silky puddle that looks like an egg yolk. Incredible piece of work.
6. Frog legs with spring lettuce and morels. "Frog legs in a garden" is how it was described, the "garden" being the tender spring lettuces and meaty morels.
7. Bison. Two preparations: eye of the round and corned. Sauces and purees abounded here: caramelized fennel, blueberry gastrique and freeze-dried blueberries. On the plate in a separate small bowl were cinnamon sticks set atop a hot rock. The purpose? An aromatic to enhance the experience.
8. A single strip of bacon got a glaze of butterscotch and green apple. The bacon dangled from a trapeze-like device. Pull the strip of bacon off the trapeze and pop it down in one bite. An amazing confluence of flavors.
9. Hazelnut puree and savory granola. An edible capsule was lined with hazelnut puree. Break the capsule into the bowl to get the full effect of texture and flavors.
10. Pineapple with Iranian pistachio. Dehydrated pineapple, pineapple foam and pineapple gel all came together with the pistachio and angelica.
11. Whimsical and impeccable presentation that led into a panoply of flavors and textures. Liquid chocolate ran out of a square of chocolate and made its way down and around hunks and pieces of milk ice cream, licorice powder and dried banana round. A dynamite dessert.
12. Sponge cake with vanilla bean, vanilla fragrance and tart cherry powder. A whole vanilla bean is used to stir up the sponge, and you fight for tastes as it slowly seems to disappear.
Finis!
Reviews:
Alinea - Lincoln Park - Chicago, IL
)
