We Ate At Alinea

Yep, that’s right. THE Alinea. The Three Michelin Star Alinea. The 7th best restaurant in the world in 2012. It was December 2012 and it was amazing. Trey got reservations for us after I read Grant Achatz’s book, “Life, On the Line”, that told the story of his life and fight with cancer. Mouth cancer of all things. This meal was an unforgettable experience from beginning to end, although I must admit a few details are fuzzy. It’s been almost seven years after all.

The outside is very nondescript. I can’t remember if there was even a sign. We walked in the first door into a pine forest, winding our way to the entrance to restaurant. As we were greeted, we were handed a small cup of pine-scented hot chocolate while they took our coats. It was unexpected and delicious.

As we were seated at our table we overheard a nearby group of four being offered a truffle course for $250 per person. As tempting as that was, we were already straining our budget with this wonderful meal. We were stunned and somewhat envious to hear all four of them agree to the truffles.

I can’t recall the exact number of courses. 10, 15, 20? I do remember that course after course was delicious, and there were way too many to note here. One of my favorites was called black truffle explosion. It was a ravioli filled with liquid truffle juice. When we ate it, all in one bite, our mouths exploded with truffle deliciousness. You can see it below. Please forgive the blurry photo.

Another standout was called hot potato/cold potato with black truffle, parmesan, a bit of chive and a tiny cube of butter. It was served in a little wax bowl filled with a cold potato white truffle soup. Balanced above the soup a pin held a hot potato, the butter, a piece of Parmesan and a chive. To eat the dish you pulled the pin out, dropping the skewered pieces into the soup and tipped the bowl into your mouth. This picture is from the book, Alinea. The bowl was no more than about three inches in diameter.

And finally, dessert. There were several desserts but the one that really blew our minds were the green apple balloons. You had to pop the balloon and inhale the green apple scented helium, then eat the balloon, string and all. It tasted like a green apple sour punch straw.

Everything was so unbelievable in presentation, yet absolutely delicious. If you enjoy trying new things, this place should be on your bucket list. Thank you, Trey! What’s Next?