So, what did you do last night?

By Kevin Grzyb in Food on May 5, 2005 6:37PM

Last night, Chicagoist was one of the lucky few able to partake in the culinary experience that is Alinea and without getting into the whole disection of the evening and every detail of the restaurant (which we will), we want to first focus on the reason that we were there: the food. There are three menu choices: eight courses, twelve courses and the tour, a twenty-eight-course menu that reads almost as a dare to the diner. Chicagoist and our partners in epicurean debauchery are not shy about our love of food and so we went for the tour, with the wine pairing.

1. PB+J (grape, peanut, bread)
2. SOUR CREAM (smoked salmon, sorrel, star anise)
3. DUNGENESS CRAB (raw parsnip, young coconut, cashews)
4. HEART OF PALM (in five sections)
5. ASPARAGUS (caramelized dairy, egg, bonito)
6. TURBOT (shellfish, waterchestnuts, hyacinth vapor)
7. EGGPLANT (cobia, crystaline florettes, radish pods)
8. FRIED BREAD (chocolate, adjukura, oregano)
9. FROG LEGS (spring lettuces, paprika, morels)
10. BEEF (flavors of A-1)
11. HAZELNUT PUREE (capsule of savory granola, curry)
12. PROSCIUTTO (passionfruit, zuta levana)
13. FINGER LIMES (olive oil, dissolving eucalyptus)
14. MELON (gelled rose water, horseradish)
15. ENGLISH PEAS (frozen lemon, yogurt, shiso)
16. FOIE GRAS (rhubarb, sweet onion, walnut)
17. BURNT ORANGE (avocado, picholine olives)
18. BROCCOLI STEM (grapefruit, wild steelhead roe)
19. SNAPPER (yuba, heavily toasted sesame, cucumber)
20. LAMB NECK (sunflower seeds, kola nu, porcinis)
21. ARTICHOKE (fonds d'artichauts cussy # 3970)
22. BISON (beets, blueberries, smoking cinnamon)
23. BACON (butterscotch, apple, thyme)
24. PINEAPPLE (angelica branch, iranian pistachios)
25. SASSAFRAS CREAM (encapsulated in mandarin ice)
26. STRAWBERRIES (argan, lemon verbenna)
27. LIQUID CHOCOLATE (milk, black licorice, banana)
28. SPONGE CAKE (tonka bean, vanilla fragrance)

The Dungeness Crab (3), Frogs Legs (9) and Finger Limes (13) were at the top of our list of favorite courses, but the top honors goes to dish number twenty-three: Bacon. Bacon and butterscotch. A combination of sweet and savory with salty goodness and a fresh, clean herb finish that works so well it’s scary. It is a mind-blowing dish served on a ‘bow’, which is a stainless steel semicircle construction with a wire that runs horizontal to the table supporting the bacon strip and its clinging accompaniments as they dangle before being devoured.

This restaurant is about the flavors and the experience, about trying new things (hence, alinea, the start of a new thought)and shaking up some of the established ideas of how we eat. This is going to be interesting to some and an abomination to others. Those are arguuements for another day. Opinions will start flying around soon enough, so we're going to take a moment and digest it all.

Chicagoist will post more on the Alinea experience

Photos courtesy of Anthony Marty.