alinea

There are two types of restaurants.  There are the restaurants that are completely worth waiting over an hour for the table, and there are the restaurants that are not.  Of the ones that are worth the wait, there is a sub-category of restaurants that are so noteworthy and so incredible that they are worth buying a plane ticket and hopping a Friday afternoon flight just to have dinner.

A year or so ago, Rebecca was on the hunt for a gift for Karen.  What oh what do you buy for the owner of an upscale, luxury catering company who has traveled the world and tried just about every wine, flavor and food that exists?  I’m not sure what went through Rebecca’s mind as she selected the Alinea book, but it was probably one of the most inspiring gifts that she could have purchased.

“Tastes that disorient.”  This was the phrase that stuck with me as I perched in my seat and clutched the awkwardly wide book in my lap.  I was on the way to the O’Hare airport.  After hearing about Karen’s trip to Alinea that followed Rebecca’s gift, I became curious and googled the restaurant.  One plane ticket and a cab ride later, I found what all of the hype was about.  Maybe it was the dark and oddly lit hallway that you walk through when you arrive, with a wall at the end that seems to literally jump out at you at the very last foot.  (This was the restaurant’s clever way of showing you right from the beginning that things are not always what they seem.)  Maybe it was that I couldn’t stop thinking about the article I read about the executive chef, Grant Achetz, writing the first 24 course menu when he was in the middle of chemo for mouth cancer and literally could not taste salt on his own tongue.  Or maybe it was the intimidation of having 4 waiters who looked more like CIA agents serve me each course.  Either way, the experience was so indescribable that I urge you to pick up your own copy now and consider cashing in your credit card points for a quick trip to the most inspiring restaurant I have ever been to.

www.alinea-restaurant.com