Alinea: Introductions

I'm staging at Alinea this week.

What is a stage? A stage is a professional courtesy and privilege in which a chef allows you into a kitchen to learn - and in the best cases exchange ideas with staff.

What is Alinea? The restaurant of chef/owner Grant Achatz in Chicago - and inarguably one of the most important gastronomic epicenters in the world today.

When asked what he calls their cuisine, co-owner Nick Kokonas says he likes Jeffrey Steingarten's "hypermodern" descriptor - but he'd previously used "exploratory" - but generally eschews a label.

Some of the striking tastes I had last night during service were the fish opah done as bacon; actual bacon itself - Nueske's from Wisconsin - sliced transparently thin and cooked shatteringly crisp in a hot dehydrator.

From pastry chef Alex Stupak came a smooth pumpkin custard set with gellan on a hidden pate sablee, filled with liquid coconut cream; and and a dried caramel powder made with tapioca maltodextrin that turns chewy in the mouth.

Family meal was green salad with vinaigrette; baked potatoes with sour cream, chives, bacon, and a bacon and eggs mayo; blanched broccoli; carrot cake with cream cheese frosting; and a huge tub of iced coffee. I also brought a box of assorted Chinese pastry snacks from Richwell Market in Chinatown - including pastry-wrapped thousand-year-old egg.

Above you see honeycombs on wooden pedastels. They are placed on the table for diners to observe during dinner. They are the only table adornments. Previously a pierced and sliced hand of ginger was used similarly. With the honeycombs, for the opah course the metal sleeve is placed over the honeycomb and then pressed until honey drizzles out on to the plate. A mesh screen filters the honey from the comb and a sliding metal plate stops the flow. These serving pieces are one of the many collaborations between the chef and industrial designer Martin Kastner.

If you have any questions please post in comments.

Alinea
1723 North Halsted
Chicago, Illinois 60614

Comments

[Emmef]

What's it like cooking there during service? Looking at the descriptions and photos of the food I've seen online (I haven't been lucky enough to get there myself yet), I get the impression that the bulk of the cooking is done in advance, and that at service-time it's just a (very difficult!) matter of plating and presentation. But I'm also guessing that's totally wrong. Is it hectic at service-time?

I guess what I'm asking is how does working at Alinea compare to working at other places. I mean, the food is so strikingly different -- is the cooking also as different?

[Ore]

You landed yourself a cool gig!! I was wondering if the kitchen is set up as described prior to the opening on eG. Mentioned was the fact that the kitchen would adapt to the menu. It was said that most of the heat would come from portable Cook Teck induction units. At first thought this seemed like an awesome idea, a movable kitchen around your mis en place - is that how it is now, and in your opinion, does it work?

Also, can you talk a bit about the kitchen staff that is in Alinea. Are they mostly professional cooks/chefs? Are there chefs/cooks from outside the US working there as in comparison to fine restaurants in the E.U., etc.?

Any favorite NEW ingredients you discovered or RE-discovered with Chef Achatz' methods and techniques?

Any cooking technique used in Alinea blow you away as new and exciting, or re-introduced??!??

Did anything straight suck?

You mustn't get to all if that is your wish!

Thank You,

Ore

PS - Cold in Chicago?

[lee]

Are you from Chicago? How long are you going to be there? What are your longterm plans? Sorry if these seem nosy. If I had any spare cash, I know where I'd be eating this week...

[Amy]

The family dinner description reminds me of an article I read where Ferran Adria said at home he likes to eat asparagus and mayonnaise (specifically the jarred stuff). I also heard Harold McGee saying he expects 90% of molecular gastronomy to "go away" (by the way he prefers the term "experimental cooking"). Out of curiousity, since you have tried so much of both, what do you prefer eating? The simpler or the edgier?

[ARG]

Its good to see you back on the uniform. Cooking is no cooking if there is no you in the kitchen

[Jean]

I remember reading a forum thread about Alinea, from its conception to opening and have heard about the meals too (7 hours?).

Looking forward to reading about how the staging went.

[Anita]

I did not know there were so many fascinating restaurants in Chicago - I'll have to visit! Same question as the others - is working in an "experimental" restaurant much different from some the more traditional ones you've also staged at?

[daniel]

sounds like a sweet gig, congrats louisa

[Lil]

enjoy your stage! those honeycombs look good, and i'm sure there are more goodies around!

[Steve]

Is this a paid stage? Ultimately do you want to be a head chef at a top restaurant, or possibly something slightly different(maybe pitching for a food/restaurant-based television show(a la Anthony Bourdain))?

[wiff]

how'd you get so many toadies?

[shuna]

Tell Grant I say hello.

Congrats on this amazing stage, it sounds fascinating. Don't forget to eat those amazing Chicago ribs, and get some chocolate at Vosges.

[Louisa]

Emmef - what's it like at Alinea during service? I understand why you - and many others - might think everything's pre-cooked sous-vide and that it's just a matter of finishing and plating - but you're right - that's totally wrong. All stations are actively cooking during service - with a very deep battery of mise en place on hand. One of the most striking moments comes when the opah - done as bacon - hits the griddle. It curls and writhes and releases an incredibly seductive, unmistakably bacon aroma. It cooks until it's nearly blackened around it's nearly transparently thin edges. This is cooking. Is it hectic? Let's say it's in constant motion. Is the cooking different? Yes and no - depending on the points of comparison. There's still frying, sauteeing, and grilling, etc. - and sous-vide and sub-zero cold plates. It's just a matter of what you're familiar with.

Ore - yes, there are CookTek induction units all around - which are stowed in the basement when not in use. But there's also a central, blazingly hot Molteni too. Do I think it works? Yes, I think it works great. The staff - all pros. One extern is a young career-changer currently in culinary school. No non-Americans currently - but one who worked at Akelarre, two who staged at The Fat Duck, and one who worked at both The French Laundry and Per Se. New ingredient - the opah. Re-discovered - the bacon - the pork bacon. Cooking technique - again, the opah as bacon. "Did anything straight suck?" That I couldn't be everywhere at once in the kitchen. :) No, nothing straight sucked - not even close. And is it cold in Chicago? Depends on what you're comparing it to. ;)

Lee - I grew up in Chicago. Haven't decided yet how long I'm staying or my long-term plans. And pack your lunches, eat in more, and save some cash - eat there another week. :)

Amy - it is so much fun to watch Ferran eat - he is not a snobby eater - at all. Do I prefer simple or edgier food? No preference - I want it all - as long as it's good.

ARG - girl, you are too sweet! Miss you!

Jean - the 7 hour meals are the self-induced exception! Those were the Tours - the full 20+ course tasting menu. Normal diners doing the Tour should plan on around 3 to 4 hours - less of course for fewer courses.

Anita - yes, there are so many amazing restaurants in Chicago - and yes, you must visit. :) Are the "experimental" restaurants different than the traditional restaurants? Because the experimental restaurants are almost all exclusively fine dining, there's a lot of similarity to the level of work - you still have to work very quickly, cleanly, and efficiently. You learn to treat liquid nitrogen the same way you would boiling water. For me the biggest difference is in the energy and constant flow of ideas.

Daniel - thanks.

Lil - that honey's incredibly good - with a great story. And yes, more goodies to come.

Steve - this was not a paid stage - in that I did not pay nor was I paid. And I want to do something completely different. ;)

wiff - toadies? Who? If you've got something to say - especially if it's a dissenting opinion - then by all means, bring it on.

Shuna - I will - the greetings, ribs, and chocolate. :)

[matt]

opening a new restaurant.... in calgary... sounds mad but spent some time in NYC this year with sum crazy azz'd chefs... they all had the jet.... i never used it unfortunately.

think it'll set me apart ?

need some ideas down to the milli gram

have a BSc in Nutrition...
send er over
or call
905 467 1737

[Jane35]

Sounds like a chance of a lifetime.

[Louisa]

Matt - I have a lot of family on my dad's side in Calgary - so it's likely I'll be up there for a visit. When's your place opening?

Jane35 - it really was - maybe I did something really good in a former lifetime to have had the chance.

[Brian K. Fowler]

It is quite interesting all of this. I am swiftly becoming a gastrochem junky. I have been reading quite a bit about chef' Adria & Achatz. So far I have been able to get my greedy little hands on both Tapioca maltodextrin and some ultratex3. I am rapidly trying to use them in the same fashion that these super genius' are. I have been able to slightly produce the dried caramel dust. It is all very riviting. I am ever on my quest to become as good as they are, without losing all of what I have learned as a chef in the last 14 years. My question is this...even though I am striving to achieve this hypercuisine as well...is this where food is going? Will we be subject to hypermetamorphisized food?? Astronaut ice cream? I imagine that we will have to wait and see...

[eric]

how exactly do you set up a stage? im almost done with culinary school and am very interested in staging/apprenticing/ or interning, and would love to do so