www.alinea-restaurant.com
www.alineamosaic.com
Visit date: March 9
An amazing night filled with 21 amazing courses and amazing wines! As with all his dishes, I can probably eat a few more had the meal not consisted of 21 courses.
When looking at the menu on Alinea's website, the bubbles are both small and large, light and dark. Small means small bites, and large means entrees. Light means lighter flavors while dark means bolder, darker flavors.
Unfortunately, Chef Achatz is out of town promoting his new memoir "Life, On the Line". We probably crossed paths in the air as he was making his way out to San Francisco for his March 17 book signing.
To make our reservation, I had to call about 30 times exactly 3 months ago. Each time, the phone was busy and I started to get worried. Finally got through with a 9:15 slot... whew! We're only in town for 4 dinners and would have been extremely sad not eat at Alinea.
So here are the pictures. No flash photography allowed. Check out
Alinea Mosaic for professional pictures.
Warning: I don't think this post will ever be up to par with the experience I had. Our meal was about 3 hours and I was giddy from beginning to end.
This is Alinea's take on a white table cloth as is customarily seen in fine dining. Jackets still required, but no actual table cloths. Diners are asked not to put used utensils back onto the white cushion.
Our first 3 dishes of the evening are Chef Achatz' take on cocktails due to the fact Alinea does not have a liquor license. This is definitely not an issue because these are some powerfully concentrated flavors to kick off the evening. (And after this picture, our waiter said I could take as many pictures as I wanted, but to please turn off the flash. Flash didn't help anyway.)
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LEMON – luxardo bitter, luxardo amaro, grapefruit |
Amaro means bitter in Italian. Luxardo is a medium amaro with about 32% alcohol by volume, supposedly balancing out bitter, sweet and citrus. It all tastes great but of course writing this post after the fact and being able to do research, I understand Chef's thought process, i.e. including grapefruit.
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APPLE – laird’s apple brandy, grenadine, thyme |
Probably my least favorite cocktail of the three simply because I'm not a big brandy drinker.
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SQUASH – cynar, carpano antica, flor de cana 7 year |
Carpano antica is an Italian sweet vermouth. Flor de cana means "flower of the sugarcane" and is a type of rum. The sweetness of the squash works so well with the liquers.
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STEELHEAD ROE – Dijon, rutabaga, grapefruit |
Paired drink: Cocktail of Pierre Peteres Brut with chrysanthemum liqueur and bitters
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YUBA – shrimp, miso, togarashi |
Togarashi is Japanese style seven flavor chili pepper. The presentation of this dish clearly mimics a pen and inkwell.
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YUBA – shrimp, miso, togarashi |
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FOIE GRAS – watercress, vanilla, mint |
Foie gras is hidden inside the gelee. I imagine a few molds were used for this.
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FOIE GRAS – watercress, vanilla, mint |
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BASS – black pepper, coffee, lemon |
The piece on the far right of this picture is the bass. There's also bass underneath the foam. The dust particles are coffee.
Paired wine: Querciabella ‘Batar’, Tuscany 2007
Our waiter brings these flags to our table, which will be used in a later dish...
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RABBIT – parfait, rillette, consommé |
This is the dish that just keeps giving. Keep in mind, we don't have the menu in front of us as we eat so it's a total surprise when our waiter removes one structure of the dish to reveal the next part of this 3-part course. Chef Achatz takes all the same ingredients and creates three different dishes with different textures and accompaniments. Rabbit starts in the form of a silky smooth parfait, moves to solid pieces in the shape of a rillette, and finally extracted to create a liquid consommé.
Paired wine: Niepoort ‘Redoma Branco’, Douro 2009
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RABBIT – parfait |
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RABBIT – rillette |
Top dome is removed to reveal the rillette.
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RABBIT – consommé |
The bowl is removed to reveal the consommé which has been kept warm all this time by a heated stone.
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HOT POTATO – cold potato, black truffle, butter |
Our waiter instructs us to pull out the pin from the right so all components fall onto the dish, then slurp. This dish is meant to be eaten quickly to bring out the full contrasting taste of both the cold potato on the pin and the hot potato on the dish.
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SHORT RIB – olive, red wine, blackberry |
Four courses later, the flags finally come into play. The exact description eludes me but it is made out of tomatoes and acts as a tortilla to make our own short rib burrito. But unlike a typical tortilla, the texture is silky smooth, reminiscent of a fruit roll-up. We can play around with the additives, but why mess with what Chef has done? Just put it all on and let the flavors meld!
Paired wine #1: Quinta do Noval, Douro, Portugal 2004
Paired wine #2: Quinta da Vicosa, Alentejo, Portugal 2005
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SHORT RIB – olive, red wine, blackberry |
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SHORT RIB – olive, red wine, blackberry |
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HAMACHI – west indies spices, banana, ginger |
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HAMACHI – west indies spices, banana, ginger |
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CANARD – a la Cussy |
How long do you think this dish took to make? It's way too pretty to eat... This dish is in the fashion of Escoffier from the early 1900's. Though not related, the dish makes me think of Chef Achatz' new venture, Next, which will feature, for the first 3 months of service, dishes evoking a 1906 Paris bistro using Escoffier's recipes. From what I read about Next, Chef is very adamant about creating the dishes using as much of the methods, techniques, temperatures, etc. of the period, which probably also translated into this dish.
(Speaking of Next, a limited number of tickets finally went on sale last week to a select group of people and Next's web server was already overwhelmed. Eventually, they released tickets one by one, each only lasted about 30 seconds. Then they capped each buyer to 2 tables. But, there are 20,000 of us on the regular email list who haven't been invited to purchase tickets... which leads to Craigslist advertising anywhere up to $3000 (each seat is only $85)! I guess I won't be tasting the 1906 Paris bistro menu anytime soon.)
Paired wine #1: Domaine de Beaurenard ‘Boisrenard’, Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2004
Paired wine #2: Raymond Usseglio ‘Cuvee Imperiale’, Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003
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CANARD – a la Cussy |
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CANARD – a la Cussy |
Even the silverware and glassware matches Escoffier's time.
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VENISON – cherry, cocoa nib, eucalyptus |
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VENISON – cherry, cocoa nib, eucalyptus |
I don't think the venison was marinated in eucalyptus, but the taste still comes through from the smell.
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VENISON – cherry, cocoa nib, eucalyptus |
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BLACKTRUFFLE – explosion, romaine, parmesan |
This is a one-bite dish. If not, the truffle explosion will spill everywhere and the experience won't be complete. I've recently begun to think truffles are overrated (all aroma and little flavor), but not when the flavor is concentrated into a liquid like this.
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SNOW – yuzu |
The presentation (surprisingly heavy) literally rolled off the server's tray at the table next to us. It happens... Luckily, it landed on the seat and not on my neighbor or me.
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SNOW – yuzu |
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SWEET POTATO – cedar, bourbon, pecan |
Paired wine: Nittnaus Riesling Beerenauslese, Burgenland, Austria 2002
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LEMONGRASS – dragonfruit, finger lime, cucumber |
The test tube is sealed with a gelee. We are told to suck out the gelee and drink it like a shot. Extremely refreshing!
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BACON – butterscotch, apple, thyme |
Apparently, Chef's bacon is one item that's been on the menu since Alinea opened.
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BACON – butterscotch, apple, thyme |
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NUTELLA – bread, banana, chocolate |
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LYCHEE – jasmine tea |
Presentation is a thin sheet looking like glass.
Paired wine: AE Dor ‘Pineau Francois 1er, Pineau des Charentes
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CHOCOLATE – blueberry, honey, peanut |
Last but not least, our waiter finally gives us a table cloth made of silicone. The sous chef creates our dessert on the table. The idea originated as a savory dish and because Chef Achatz wanted to bring the kitchen to his guests. What a treat! Dark chocolate fudge, hot chocolate, white chocolate, nougat, mint, creme brulee, just to name a few...
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CHOCOLATE – blueberry, honey, peanut |
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CHOCOLATE – blueberry, honey, peanut |
Only 2 of us, but this dessert finale can probably feed 6. There was a table of 4 across the room and I think they had the same portions as us.
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CHOCOLATE – blueberry, honey, peanut |
The lighter shade of brown is hot chocolate – one of the best, if not THE best, I've ever had. Another interesting tidbit: the hot chocolate squares on the table are laid out using a spoon. I have a video and after re-watching a few times just to be sure, the sous chef lays the squares on the table without any apparent special technique.
Chef Achatz' immaculate kitchen... doesn't even look like anything is being done...
