Food It looks like I'm going to Alinea in November.

I'm not completely educated on everything being kosher means, but I'm relatively certain at least a few of the dishes we were served wouldn't qualify. However, when you make the reservation, when they confirm the reservation several days in advance, and a final time as you are being seated they ask if anyone has any dietary restrictions or allergies. My guess is that a place like that gets responses from people with kosher diets fairly often, and I would imagine they probably adjust and replace courses accordingly (and probably do so for the entire table, not just the individual(s) making the request), especially if that request is made at the time of reservation. If you are really contemplating it, I'm sure either a google search or even a call into the restaurant could clarify that better.

 

I live near WD-50 and can't seem to get myself to go to the restaurant. I'm not sure why. It sounds like a lot of fun.

 

Dress code is formal. They ask that men wear jackets, and there be no jeans, t-shirts, etc. I did see one or two guys without jackets, so they obviously don't kick you out, but virtually everyone was dressed formally.

The customers around us didn't seem to pretentious. There was a table of 3 young couples sitting behind us that seemed to be having a good time, but the girls were all picking at their food like they were afraid to eat in front of their dates. I don't think most people go to a place like that (or pay for a date to go!) without expecting to enjoy all the food provided, so I found that a bit odd. But in general we had very little interaction with other customers because the tables are spread out through several rooms and areas, so there were only 2-3 other tables within sight.

I wouldn't consider the setting exactly intimate, because the noise level was a bit higher than I expected. The conversation from the nearby tables, and the fact that there is often a server or sommelier at your table explaining something or other meant there was a lot of talking going on. Not annoying or loud, but not really intimate either. Plus the table was good sized, so you were spaced apart from the other guests at your table, it wasn't like we could whisper to each other.

The servers were awesome. It is obvious they get some repeat questions from almost every table, so they address some of those questions immediately. For everything else, they seem to respond to how you present yourself. We were all laid back and enjoying things, all of us had various questions, and because we were interacting with each other and the servers with humor, they did the same. While the servers (especially our head waiter and the sommelier) seemed incredibly knowledgeable, they did not come across as if they expected you to already be familiar with things. They helped make the evening fun, and they never made us feel stupid or uneducated on the food or wine.

The price on their site covers the basic tasting menu. That means you get all of the basic courses for that evening (no choices between one thing or another, you just get everything). I don't know if it is typical, but they did have one extra course offered at an additional charge (more on that later when I do a full review). They also offered a full bar, wine by the glass, wine by the bottle, and two different wine pairings (one standard, one reserve), all for additional charges. We all got the extra course, the girls got a couple of wines by the glass, and the guys both got the reserve wine pairing, so there were substantial additional charges on top of the basic tasting menu.

We did not ask, but I do not believe you can repeat items. There were 14 courses, and we all left very full. Not the uncomfortable, unbutton your pants full after a huge steak and starch dinner, but full enough that I wouldn't have wanted to eat any more.

Those are some great questions. I think I addressed them all, and that covers a decent amount of the detail. I'll be back later to list the food, wine, and more.

 

Here was our menu for the evening. Included are the wine pairings from the Reserve list, which included one beer and one saki.

 

Ok, a lot of ground got covered in post #25, so check that out if you haven't already. But I'll try to do a general review here.


First, Alinea would be easy to miss if you weren't watching closely for it. The sign is tiny, and it is just a small townhouse. We were meeting our friends at a bar across the street (Black Duck, seemed decent enough), so I valet parked at Alinea and we went over there for a drink first as Alinea does not have a bar area. From my understanding they change the decor of the entrance often, but when you walk in it is very unusual. After we entered the big heavy doors we were in a hallway that got narrower and the ceiling got lower the further we went in. It almost appeared to be an optical illusion, especially since the lighting was dim and red. It was kind of odd. Not necessarily in a bad way, just unique I guess. When we got to the end of the hallway the recessed doors slid open automatically and we enterd a small area where the hostess took our coats and escorted us to our table. They asked one last time to verify there are no dietary restrictions or allergies. From the moment we step in until the moment we left the service was impeccable. They did all the simple things correctly. Pulled out chairs when we sat, even when returning from the washroom. Had our napkins replaced and refolded any time we got up. Were waiting at the doors holding our coats as we prepared to leave. Everything was without asking or being prompted, they just timed and planned perfectly. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the servers were very gracious. They were knowledgeable, but did not seem to look down on us when we asked questions that might've sounded simple or stupid to them. They used humor appropriately and did a wonderful job throughout the night.

The main thing was obviously the food. It was simply amazing. The flavors and the presentation were incredible. The way the courses were served all fit together very well, including a very unique ginger course that was a sort of palate cleanser between the main courses and the dessert courses. I am a little disappointed that most of my pictures did not turn out well, but I did not want to use my flash and disturb other diners, so I was somewhat limited by my phone's ability to capture stuff in low light. I'll post a few later. But the experience and presentation was everything I hoped it would be.

I don't want to sit and try to write up 14-15 different reviews for every course, but I'll hit a couple of the high points then answer questions if anyone has any.

The scallop dish was amazing. The presentation was very cool. They brought out the dishes and set all four of them down. When they uncovered them there white clouds billowing out from liquid nitrogen (I think?) used to freeze the scallop shells. When you opened the shell there was just an awesome dish sitting there in the mist. The flavors were incredible, it's obviously hard to describe flavor in words, especially when my memories of the dishes run together, but suffice it to say it was incredible.

Another highlight was the binchotan. They brought out pieces of what appeared to be slate, with charcoal burning on one end. On the other end was a huge shrimp (head and all), a piece of wagyu beef, a piece of pork belly, and a chunk of tuna steak. All amazing. I would kill everyone reading this for an entire ribeye of that wagyu, and the pork belly might've even been better.

The course they asked us at the beginning whether we wanted to add or not was a White Truffle Risotto. When they asked at the start of dinner if we wanted to add it they said the entire table had to agree to either add it or not. I thought they said it was $25/person additional and I looked at my buddy and nodded, he nodded back, so I told the waiter we'd all add it. I only found out after the waiter walked away that he said it was $125/person to add it! However, I'm still glad we did. They served us a bowl of risotto. Then the waiter took a white truffle almost as big as my fist and started grating it over my wife's bowl of risotto. Then he moved to my buddy's wife, then us two guys. Then he continued around the table. Until the ENTIRE FREAKING TRUFFLE WAS GONE! It had to be 3oz at least. I had no idea until later that that particular type of truffle can run as high as $2500-3000/lb. So the $500 our table paid for that course was likely basically equal to the cost of that single truffle he grated onto our risotto.

One more course aside from the dessert that I thought was really noteworthy was the duck. They brought us each 5 pieces of duck, each piece prepared differently. Everything from duck breast to foie gras. Then they set a huge glass rectangle in the middle of the table with 60 different items on it, each a different accent flavor for the duck. The idea was for each of us to experience something entirely different. We all could take 15 of the items, so we all divided the 5 pieces of duck into thirds, then had every one of those 15 bites taste totally different based on what we paired it with. There were some crazy things too, everything from chocolate to beets to horseradish to a vodka bubble. Very fun.

 

The scallop dish:




The binchotan:


The White Truffle Risotto (the shavings on top are the truffle):


The duck and pairings:




Some other random shots include:
Green apple balloon:



Black Truffle Explosion:


Hot potato, cold potato, truffle:



And the Grand Finale Milk Chocolate Dessert:

 

Very cool, I hadn't noticed that. However, the first picture actually has you appear on the second floor! If you click on it, the table you can see on the right hand side of your screen is the exact table we sat at.

If you walk through the next room so the stairs going down on to your right, then click opposite of the stairs to your left, it actually pops you into the first floor hallway I described. However, it is much more lit up in that pic than it was in the evening on Sat. Also, the colors in general inside are very different now (darker) than they were when the Google pics were taken.

 

Thought this was funny:

from: http://jezebel.com/maybe-dont-bring-your-baby-to-3-star-restaurant-1501004334
Sucks for the parents that had the babysitter cancel. Personally, I'd want to enjoy a meal at a place like Alinea without my child, and I'd do whatever it took to make that happen.

 

That was all over the local news the past day or so.

I feel bad for the couple that their babysitter cancelled, but I feel worse for the people who paid an insane amount of money for dinner and had to sit through a crying baby next to them.

Hindsight is 20/20, but maybe Alinea could've offered the parents a dinner on another evening without forcing them to lose their money for a no-show that night.