One of my favorite anecdotes about Yen was the time Melissa, Thomas, and I went to a particularly pricey restaurant in New York last year and Yen was all, "I don't understand how you guys could spend so much on food- I can't see how it's worth that much money for, what, 2 hours?" She said this as she and Phong threw down a ridiculously large amount to see a baseball game in New York that someone would have to pay me vast sums of money to attend rather than run exploring around New York. I mean, paying that money for something you could see on tv for free. So though in my mind it's a waste to spend money on a baseball game, I could understand perfectly well why people do- it's for the experience. You go to a Yankees game for the history in the stadium, for the crowd. Likewise, you go to a fancy restaurant for the experience of something that you can't get anywhere else. That's why, when I go to another city, I will generally try to spare no expense on dining.
Food is the common ground between any person. To really understand a city, you have to understand its food. Just like a city can be defined by its sports team, I think food- whether it be from a hot dog cart or an upscale restaurant- gives a city its identity. And food, oftentimes, is not the main attraction- many times it is merely the substrate to bond with the people you're with. While it's nice to go see a movie with friends and whatnot, nothing beats a fine meal with good conversation.
Tu and Tramanh ready to go out.
The cab ride there
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Alinea's entrance is pretty low key- hidden almost. The hallway leading up into the restaurant features pretty neat sliding doors and nice lighting.
We were seated shortly upon arrival in an area with no more than 5 other parties. The place operates on a prix fixe menu, with an additional charge for the wine pairings. There was additional seating upstairs, but the place was fairly quiet, though not uncomfortably so. The waiters were softspoken and ours, in particular, had a bit of a refined accent which I joked was all a show. Either that or when he gets home, he sits around in a wifebeater drinking beers, which is what I like to imagine Robin Leach does when the cameras stop rolling. The bathroom there was impeccably clean- each time I went to it, it looked as though I were the first person to ever enter it. Each time you finish, someone came in after you returned to your table to refold the toilet paper roll and clean out any dirty towels.
Tu looking like a refined diner.
And maybe not so much.
Tu and I decided to get the wine pairing with the meal. These are one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of meals for people like me that I figure if you've already gone that far, a wine pairing is not that much more.
The first course was one of my faves- (I am going to steal Tramanh's descriptions for all the courses because the menu they provided doesn't sound as good as her description) "Steelhead Roe - with traditional garnishes, including creme fraiche and "bread and butter" in the form of foam." The menu they provided to take home indicates that it is simply "Osetra- Traditional garnishes." SO GOOD.
So we sat down and they laid out this centerpiece at the beginning of the meal. During the course of the meal, it slowly began frosting over from the bottom, which of course meant there was some sort of dry ice concoction inside.
Sheep's milk butter; cow's milk butter with lava salt.
The butters and the breads that preceded the meal were all pretty delicious.
Another one of the higher points in the meal- Pork Belly- iceberg, cucumber, and a Thai distillation (Tramanh's version: with compressed iceberg lettuce, cucumber, micro cilantro, coriander seeds). The shot glass you see is the "Thai distillation", which you drank and tasted something of sriracha.
But, man, PORK BELLY. Oh yes, look at that plating. Impressive.
Lilac- Scallop, shellfish, and honeydew (Tramanh's version: scallop, mussels, razor clams, celery leaves, and honeydew foam). Probably one of the most interesting dishes of the night- the textures were completely unexpected- it had a strange jelly consistency that was nothing like each component's original texture. You'd taste the scallop, you'd taste the shellfish, but the mouth feel/texture was alien. The clear gelatin cube in the middle tasted of wasabi. This dish was one of the best examples of what molecular gastronomy has to offer.
Crab- Carrot, Five Spice, Duck. This was by far the most complex dish of the night. The mixture of textures and flavors was so complex, to fully understand it you had to solve for its derivative (NYAAAAHHH CALCULUS).
Prior to serving the next course, they began by pouring water into the table centerpiece. It began fogging over the entire table impressively and the scented mist served to complement the coming course.
Wagyu Beef- Powdered A-1, potato, chips. (Tramanh's version: with powdered A-1, fried potato custard covered with crushed salt & pepper chips and micro chives). Hands down fantastic. The chef had deconstructed A-1 steak sauce into a fine powder consisting of anchovy, tamarind, raisin, and clove. The wagyu beef was marvelously marbled and tender to the point of cutting it with just your fork. I dabbed a bit of the powder onto the steak and it was much better than I thought it would be. I just wish they had a bigger slab of the beef.
Nice and marbly. And so rare.
The next course also had a functional centerpiece- a plate of fragrant herbs.
Molecule gastronomy is like going to an art exhibit. You may have no clue what the artist is trying to convey and you'll either get it or you don't. Out of all the courses for this meal, I just didn't get the tomato exhibit. The idea was pretty neat- Tomato- fig, nicoise, olive, and pine nuts, all in various forms. The white clump on top of the tomato, which I thought would be a cheese of some sort, was actually frozen olive oil.
Sorry, the brown is not chocolate- it's a fig spread. Least tasty, but probably most colorful dish of the night.
This next dish is a bit blurry because I didn't have much time to focus on this nearly half-dollar-sized bite. Hot potato- cold potato, black truffle, butter. You basically pull out the skewer and the cold potato, etc, falls into the hot soup concoction below for a nice mix of temperatures and textures. Overall a tasty bite-sized course which of course you'd like more of but can't have.
The meal was 12-course meal that sounds like quite a lot to eat, even spread over the course of 3 hours. The "courses", however, are all fairly bit-sized like these next three dishes all served together.
Watermelon- lime, nasturtium. A hollow, light sphere filled with watermelon, about the size of a gumball. A nice palate cleanser.
Bubble gum- long pepper, hibiscus, creme fraiche. This was basically a bubble gum tapioca concoction that you suck through the large straw in one fell swoop. Tastes just like it says.
Bacon- butterscotch, apple, thyme. I am a big fan of bacon, and this lived up to expectations. Super crisp, without the fatty aftertaste that coats your throat with traditional bacon.
Rhubarb- goat milk, onion, lavender air. (Tramanh's version- Rhubarb - with goats milk cheesecake, vidalia onion and rhubarb cotton candy). This course was pretty neat- it was served on a large pillow filled with lavender scented air that seeped out as you ate the meal. Not sure I was a fan of onion in a dessert dish though.
Chocolate- blueberry, tobacco, maple. Those balls on the plate you pierce with a fork, and blueberry or maple syrup seeped out. The dessert portion on the upper left was akin to astronaut ice cream, but I believe it was something that was frozen in liquid nitrogen.
Sugar for coffee.
Just a standard coffee.
Passionfruit and mustard sorbet- it was like something out of Charlie and Chocolate Factory- as it melted in your mouth, the flavors changed.
Sweet potato- bourbon, brown sugar, smoldering cinnamon. This was like a sweet potato pie, with a smoking cinnamon stick. In my zeal to get all the sweet potato, I accidentally inhaled some of the cinnamon, causing a coughing fit that lasted days.
Satisfied customers.
We met up Vinh and Karine by Wrigley Field for a few drinks and ended up at Ian's after for some late night fare.
The pizzas there are pretty good, and a bit eccentric as pizzas go. I think this one was hamburgers and french fries. So delicious.
Mac and cheese pizza.
Chicken penne pasta.
Nacho salad.
We were pretty tired from the long day and headed back for sleepytime at the hotel.
This is where I slept the entire trip- in the pit. The passion pit. Sleepyhead.
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