Alinea - Chicago, IL

[koreanwutard]

If you work in the restaurant business.. you would drop a paycheck to go eat.... as for me 1/2 of my paycheck goes to food.

[ajt698765]

I make 30k a year and id go there at the drop of a hat and spend a months paycheck. I agree with hoodedrobin you either get it or you don't. And the 500 probably came from the fact your not eating this meal with a glass of water.

[SethHesio]

The fact that he has to defend the restaurant, and say it's not pretentious.... to me that says that a lot of people have said the restaurant is pretentious. To be honest, I'm not sold by this video, the restaurant looks stuffy and it seems soul less. The kind of place Patrick Bateman goes to.

[muhammad152]

WTF there is nothing on those plates.....most of it is my single bite

[lisaking22]

okay... but how does the scent of burning leaves affect the experience of the person dining at the adjacent table? What if it clashes with the taste of what they're eating? It's a good thought, but I think setting is also important to consider in that situation.

I'll still try it next time i'm in Chicago...really interesting!

[avzeolla]

somebody making $500 k+ a year maybe wouldn't think twice about paying $500 for a friday night's entertainment, such as at alinea.

just like a guy making $30 k would pay 30 bucks for a red lobster dinner.

it's all relative.

i personally can't pay $500 for a meal, but if i could i would go to alinea!

[grantisbwfc]

rather get a takeaway with the misses tbh

[stickshaka]

I notice all these "molecular gastronomy" restaurants like the down play the science angle which is kind of backhanded considering it was literally science that allowed them to create these new dishes.

Point being, art is the dream science makes a reality.

On another note I don't know where this $500 for 2 came from their website says $195 a head & that's in line with the 5 restaurants ranked ahead of it.

[Musicnfood1]

@stickshaka tax and tip

[TheDirkaNinja]

$500 is so worth it, I ate here once and believe me when I say it was some of the most delicious food I have ever tasted. They put so much effort and time into the food, I would pay double if I could go there again.

[carsanookdotcom]

look c'est kool!

[henrysinaga]

@sandrodream1 You just hate anything un-italy, don't you?

[magirikitexni]

i am like wow ! i am new in this i have only 3 yeras in this job and i am still like wow ! what is it ?how can i made it !? thanks you to give me the opotrunity to watch your job!

[FlipSnipeZ]

Grant defiantly sounds different, this must be before cancer

[hankvessel]

I ate at Alinea last night, my first 3 star experience. It was beyond words, more than I could have asked for for my birthday. Thank you Chef Achatz, it was truly inspiring.

By the way, I am 19 and just began working as a Garde Manger. I overheard a server last night say, Achatz worked as an executive chef in the same kitchen i work in now. I heard that and couldn't help but to smile. Then, I indulged in complimentary white truffle risotto (ha).

Thank You

[garrettface]

@hankvessel You work at Trio?

[hankvessel]

@garrettface Trio closed. It's now Quince.

[tldmatrix]

I will do anything to go to Alinea

teenchefteddy.blogspot

[tnichols1990]

@Ikraabel all successful restaurants have an average of 30 to 35 percent food cost, and another 30 percent for labor if they're lucky...

[hoodedrobin]

I would rather eat organic farm to table style food than sit through 27 courses that leave me hungry when i leave. Plus 500 dollars for 2 people not counting wine, and youre going to sit there for 4.5 hours. Yes its a Michelin rated restaurant, but seriously its pretentious.

[xa1a]

@hoodedrobin Then dont go. Problem solved. You either get it, or you dont. You obviously dont. I for one cant wait to experience this.

[Twinkler200]

Good lucky with Michelin! YOUR WORTH IT!

[tinghaling]

Pretentious sh1t, and if you buy into it, than you're a fool

[kevinrocksyo]

im olny 15 and im making my career choices right now i think cooking will be one of my choices then some other career like computer sciences or some shit

[Twinkler200]

@kevinrocksyo check out Le Cordon Bleu programes in your area. I go to Chicago. REMEMBER YOU CAN DO AND BE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE!

[careymichael]

@ Sandrodream

Actually you have 1.

theworlds50best(dot)com

[madisonelectronic]

Food Faggots. White Castle rules!

[jimamily]

Culinary schools are schools teach the art of creating delicious dishes. The people who aspire to take up a career in the culinary arts mainly attend them.

Culinary School Chicago

culinaryschoolinchicago(dot)co­m

[Twinkler200]

@jimamily Enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu Chicago! So happy with my choice!

[mc4102]

he is HOT!

sorry to hear about the diagnosis of cancer; great to hear that he is now better....

[Agarthalien]

a experience to live...

[cowboy0212]

This is too much.. 

[ChefChrisDay]

@andromanche1337 good luck to you trying to get in at alinea ;) @savorycities yes, they are oak leaves.

[FlipSnipeZ]

The Alinea Mosaic is pretty awesome

[Petsublak]

Excellent ! These are once in a lifetime experiences.

[danielmartinex]

i need rich friends...

[kives1985]

I'd rather eat "scientific" food honestly. Science is the reason I don't have polio.

[Massyraptor]

It's art! not cooking!

[Icannottolerateit]

Not pretentious? Maybe, but it is hateful. If you do not feel guilt over spending 250$ on a single meal then any lecture on practical ethics is beyond your grasp.

The love of many has grown cold....

[jeremyemilio]

@Icannottolerateit

Counterintuitive as it seems, it's better for everyone else when the wealthy 'waste' their money on trifles, rather than purchasing goods and services of true intrinsic value. Once you let go of the mistaken idea that wealth = money you don't want the filthy rich to be buying up property and production, leaving nothing for the rest of us. Much better they pay $50 for a grape on a stick, thereby voluntarily turning over that buying power to those who need it.

[martybxc]

favorite restaurant , I like it

[lorisward]

I applaud Alinea. The first clue that it will be an amazing experience was the interior design from the color palettes, lighting, hallways and auto door. The pristine glass and stainless steel kitchen which can be seen when initially arriving is definitely the "magic" behind the curtain as in The Wizard of Oz.

I think that Alinea is ambiguous and desiring everyone's experience to be unique and open to each person's experience and interpretation

The service and food is absolutely SPECTACULAR.

[Glocku1000]

I can't believe how many people actually watch and comment about a restaurant?

[boarding00n]

restaurants like this pay very little hourly and a lot of times pay nothing, cause the guys in the kitchen WANT to be there, either to learn or do their internship. its the same thing with "the french laundry" with Keller, you go there dont get paid and have to be there a min of 3 months. its the nature of the business when your good and people want to work for you!!

[sheena987654]

Im going here in 7 days! I cant wait!

[Jude74]

I'm going in 18 days. totally excited.

[DakicaAshe]

he's actually kind of cute.

[aprilcalldispatch]

Harcix - I got a friday night rez at Dorsia (not Barcadia) lets hit it up.

[ambegwibowo]

it's a good restaurants, nice looking food.

[pazrotenberg]

I honestly have a problem with the structure of the restaurant...the food looks too complex for the main stream foodies....i don't mean the avarage joe type, i mean it's got to be very expensive, just by looking at the amount of ingridiants, preperations for service and the amount of chefs in the kitchen in service / shift...the labour cost must be freakin gigantic....got to be expensive food or else the restaurant will not make money

[koreanwutard]

labor is cheap... it's called free labor....

[ingisigurdsson]

trust me the labour cost is not "gigantic" lol

[Harcix]

wow

is this as good as "Dorsia"?

[VictrolaJazz]

I'm going to put my lunch in the microwave--Hungry-Man 16 oz. boneless pork with mashed potatos and corn and a brownie desert--"It's good to be full".

[iioouuaa]

380 dollars and one of the shittiest experiences in my life... the worst service I've encountered in a fine dining establishment

[SethHesio]

I've heard this about the French Laundry aswell... Not relaxing at all.

[oneoriginalthought]

@iioouuaa - agreed, although our group, unfortunately spent more than 380.00. Pretentious beyond belief, all the ooh's and aah's over what? Heaven forbid someone belches or farts in that place.......

[dukedija]

Did u go there? 380 dollars for how many courses??? what happened?

[jointedbus]

... most things in this video is from The Big Fat Duck (UK) El Bulli (SP) Noma (DK) .. cant see what's new about this? .. EU is the movement of chefs right now

[twagstaffe]

The Big Fat Duck? It's the 'Fat Duck'. Hahaha what a gimp!

[jointedbus]

Who's is a gimp? .. it was called "the big fat duck" when there where titled the 3 stars back then, and the restaurant is allways called "Fat Duck" iknow.. But why do you think he called his book for "The Big Fat Duck" allso.. dump ass

[jointedbus]

CAUSE IT'S BIG TO RECEIVE 3 STARS!

[twagstaffe]

Ok I don't know what a 'dump ass' is, and you didn't make a relevant point with what you said anyway. The video is about the restaurateur's ethos and general point to his restaurants existence. Not about it doing anything 'new'.

[armadaguru]

Chef Achatz is really using his experience at French Laundry and El Bulli. He's also using Fat Duck's full sensory dining experience. I guess this style isn't new but he's one of the few... pushing cuisine to the next level and making it available to more people.

[molayknight]

I think the world has underestimated American fining dining

[TAEVANS03]

why not just play football, why get so skillful??? answer your question

[guitarbumx]

because some people appreciate being astonished by food.

you, obviously, don't lol.

[shayne911COD4]

Lol

[TheChicagoComedian]

Food is some of the best iv'e ever tasted, I just wish the prtions were a little bit bigger.

[Skurgefaust]

burned leaves? thats disgusting  haha thats one of the worst smells you could put in front of me lol

[crixymiky]

yep, the guys up there are paid 10 more times your salary by "burning" leaves, and trust me, they smell better than pot,

[Skurgefaust]

burned leaves smell nothing like burning pot not even burning pot leaves smell as good as burning pot

[LordFuzzybottom]

despite how he's trying to avoid the pretentiousness of high class cuisine, the overly structured food looks....ugly....the taste is somthing else but i cant tell how to eat it, how i should enojy it to its fullest....

the idea with the smoke is fantastic though, well done there!

[jkwon85]

Its rated no.10 best restaurant in the WORLD!

[xa1a]

@Andromanche1337 Yeah you and me both! Im really starting to play with texture and flavour and its becoming a complete obsession... Its a little scary! :P

[TheManOfDecency]

Save your money...spending $500 on a meal, albeit fantastic, is the same as spending $500 on a high-class hooker. It might be cleaner and more exotic than your run of the mill, but in the end, you still feel fucked.

The Alinea coffeetable cookbook has a nice cover, though.

[tulmen]

Wow is cool

[ELGQZ]

Great Chef

[atter1cob]

$500 for a meal for two is not "a waste"... consider this: when you spend that $500 is pays the salary for the 4 people and 2 servers that prepared your food and served it. They then go and buy things to live and the money spreads through the economy. It's no diff than if you had spent the money at RedLobster or BurgerKing. The only diff is to you personally because you got something different for your money.  I'd rather cook at home and have Alinea once than to eat at Red Lobster 10 times.

[tonktonk1909]

good point

i agree

Heston Blumintial thinks that you can do food like this which is creative and talent on a plate if it taste good. if you do something that looks good like for example his snail porrige and it tastes good aswell then you can do what ever you want with food

check out

The Fat Duck if you wanna see this kinda food as a success but you proberly might of heard of it already

[artistsandbox]

@atter1cob i disagree with everything you said except the last sentence

[arl3080]

@atter1cob ----You can't compare Red Lobster or not too many restaurants to Alinea..You can however compare Alinea to Per Se in NY or WD-50 in NY.

Btw,I wouldn't eat at Red Lobster ONCE much less 10 times.

I have eaten at Per Se and WD-50 a couple of times

[brettrick98]

@atter1cob

4 people? more than that. Think about the prep work, more than 4 are needed

[lkraabel]

@atter1cob i highly doubt that the $500 goes into any of the the laboring employee's pockets before it goes into the owners bank. After that happens, then 10-15% goes into the actual employee salaries.

[d1ngjunkjunkjunk]

@atter1cob But you have to consider that spending $500 on this meal is a change in the total allocation of resources. If nobody was willing to pay for this food, then the resources for it would go toward something else. So even though your money does change hands several times, you can't explain away the luxury entirely.

ECON!

[MrPlanx]

@atter1cob - but undoubtedly that is because you CAN cook at home, and you have taste. Most Americans today can't cook. They think places like Red Lobster and Burger King are actually good food, because they have NO culinary awareness. Pearls before swine.

[rodriguez2624]

exotic

[krentistthedentist]

Cool. Better be filling and awesome

[ahmadand1]

WTF IS THIS SHIT!! is it food?

PIZZA FTW!!!

[rigitomen]

I LOVE MC DONALD'S

[zat115]

Which is really nice and thoughtful but I must say as the world has seen there has always been rich and there has always been poor. I hear you never get out of life alive, so live it up.

[andrewjusticefan]

Alinea is a great restaurant but I gave away the money to dine here to poor people and charities this year. Well rich people will go here anyway but people no where to turn to will need money I thought. I will go here when the economy gets better.

[zohar5150]

well the harsh critics only critism is the price ,which is understandable,,not taking away from the evolution of the new cuisine of spain,,,i mean down tjk 2006 have anything against french cuisine of course not cuss they got different levels of bistos with price ranges

[elapostata]

Joer ---------la ostia

SALUT¡¡¡¡

[georges240]

Hah, whatever, food is worth that much money, Million Dollar Listing showed a kid buying a pair of 680 dollar shoes...I MEAN SHOES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD !!! That will pay for a couples dinner at Alinea, or Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV !!!!

[tjks2006]

Best restaurant in the USA? Our country is going down because of wasteful spending and greedy money lenders who dine here. Come on do we have to waste our energy, time, and money on pretentious food. A person who eats oatmeal in the morning with a cup of fruit juice will be much healthier and productive. No wonder those executives who dine here lose ability to make a good decision in their businee. You are what you eat.

[Thewhiteknight81]

How is going to a restaurant to eat the latest in fine dining any different than going to cirque de soleil show, a performance by Bon Jovi, hitting up a nightclub with friends, or going on a tropical cruise? They're all forms of entertainment, and if you have the money why can't you have the option to enjoy it? Eating at Alinea is like attending a performance as mentioned in the video. Do you complain the about the other forms of entertainment that I'm sure you have engaged in??? Quit whining!

[Thewhiteknight81]

If you're gonna complain about entertainment in the dining business, then you better not be attending rock concerts, going on any kind of vacation getaways, or just going out in general period. Anyone can listen to an album by their favorite band on their iPod instead of going out and paying money to enjoy the band perform live -- it's b/c of the experience and the memories it leaves us. To some people, eating this style of cuisine is their form of entertainment. So don't hate -- participate!

[zohar5150]

whos SKINNIER HIM OR ANDONI LUIS ADURIZ

[dancharles20]

It is sad that people are going down the hill with food. I believe healthy and balanced diet are important. Yes he got trained by other great chef but he made his own name by creating new menu so give him so credit.

[lapptom12]

Well I do not think he copied from other restaurants but he did not start the trend of course. I do not like restaurant business..too much work and I believe food should be simple and healthy. I value creativity and art in food but come on half of the world is starving do we really want to do this?

[oneindapink]

fucking little prick and hypocrit completely copying Feran Adria.

[zeromine123]

it's Ferran not Feran. Grant Achatz is an artist & a chef, you have to give him credit, what he does here in the states is cutting edge, artistic & fantastic. Alinea was just voted best restaurant in America in '07 so the critics must know something that you don't. Is it really copying? Or is it homage? What ever happened to inspiration? Is that not allowed anymore? Copying sounds so elementary.

[dusting03]

copying...id say inspired by

btw the exec chef of el bulli's name is Ferran Adria with two "r"

[frostnet]

what a beautiful dining room and wonderful food,

[anonymoosegoose]

what? this is what food looks like when it decides to be gay, achatz has cancer, god hates fags.

[Trashoblanco]

It's sad when rednecks try to learn about culture. Their tiny peesashit brains can't handle it.

[daalsij]

smart guy

[aaeron222]

some of the food looks beautiful but there is a danger with some of those dishes that its boardering on pretentious

[elways77]

I can appreciate this ,but who started it? be the first then brag! dont pass shit off as your own...this is more like lab rats fucking with el bulli

[jdiemarch]

stop coping!!!!

[aartyo]

respect

[Ferbocuse]

Este wey es mas cabron que adriá

[TexasSounds]

I wish we had restaurants like those in San Francisco

[leeknows1]

Check out Gary Danko's restaurant, and Boulevard. I don't know if SF has anything as progressive as Alinea, but there are plenty of places that are as luxurious. It's pretty awesome that the Alinea's floor staff is uniformed in Zegna, though.

[JibbyKills]

You will.

[aurayon]

I want to go!!!

[FellmanBaines]

i ate here about two years ago, with my friend Alex, who is grossly overweight, and suffers from chronic fatigue disorder and bi-polar depression. We were half way through the 24 marathon course, and he actually had an "episode", and suggested we leave..which shocked the couple (who was about the same place in the pre-fix) next to us. We stayed thank God, because the food was impressive. Next time, i should bring a chick.

[dubbedcrazy]

yup i too had a friend with bi polar......small little guy barely 5ft.....i know about those episodes....and to bring a chick lol

hope alex is healthy !!

[Toadrick]

I was fortunate enough to eat her not once but twice. I was able to get a reservation within 2 days. A reservation cancelled and I was only able to do the tasting. Then again 2 days later for the Tour. Expect to spend about 5 hours for the Tour. Price with the wine pairing, depending on how much you drink, will cost about $900 for a party of 2 plus a $200 tip. Definetly worth it. Eating there again in June.

[greg979]

i am soooooooo desperate to dine at this restaurant. it looks fantastic. maybe next time i go to Chicago.

[RAFONExThEOnE]

yeah good..but...i think ..is very..chic?..xDD

RAFONex

[happyhead7]

The head chef has tongue cancer and is fighting for his ability to taste as well as fighting for his life, but he is doing it in such a graceful amazingly honorable manner.

[Toadrick]

He is totally cancer free now. Still has taste and is doing great.

[savorycities]

I believe they were oak leaves...

[lovelyp99]

Good!

[callmeHOTDOG777]

what type of leaves does he burn there?

[Jazzukmanc]

that looks incredible

[sushino2]

good!