Jan 22

Written by: Mark Carboni
1/22/2009 10:47 AM

So sit back and ride this 24-course meal with … at Alinea’s in Chicago.

First Course – Char Roe – parsnip, licorice and ginger – all in the form of a cream. Very nice, kept thinking this will be hard to top. I later found myself wondering what I liked about it when so many other amazing tastes would follow.

Second Course – Yuba – this was shrimp, miso and togarashi – this was a stick like edible concoction that was amazing as it had a great dipping sauce.

Third Course – Cauliflower – okay, not a big cauliflower fan, but this sure changed my mind real damn fast. This was an apple-based soup with cauliflower prepared with five different coatings. Three gels and croutons were dancing in the bowl. This was out of the world amazing!

Fourth Course – Lemongrass – Oyster, sesame and yuzu … this was served on a blade of lemongrass (yes, it is not used just for soaps and candles eh!) This course fell to the bottom of my like list.

Fifth Course – Wild striped bass – a chamomile gel squared off a section of the vibrant white plate with shellfish and celery ribbons. Mighty tasty.

Sixth Course – Six flavors – well I had no fricken clue what I ate, but it was pretty. I could not discern the six flavors because everything tasted like “fish”.

Seventh Course – Beef – this was part do-it-yourself and part glad it was done for me. There was a powder that was in a sealed packet that was used for dipping. There was a potato square with it … when you combine the Kobe beef with the sauce you just wanted to have one more square. This course rocked out!

Eighth Course – This was a shot in a glass. A yogurt base was at the bottom of the glass with a pomegranate jell that was encapsulated with intense flavors when the jell burst in your mouth.

Ninth Course – Sweet Potato – Oh my-lanta this was one of my favorites. It was a sweet potato on a smoking cinnamon stick. It was in a brown sugar/bourbon glaze.

Tenth course – Bacon hanging from a string that was coated in a butterscotch and thyme. It has hints of orange too, which made for a dynamic sensation.

Eleventh Course – Cobia – one of the most impressive presentations was the covered white apple bowl that when opened had a piece of cedar smoldering and smoking the radish and a slice of fish. Though I can say the look outweighed the taste.

Twelfth Course – Pork Belly – This was a unique event in itself. The rounded bottom bowl had a parsnip sauce with a suspended piece of pork that was chugged all as one. It was pretty nifty and mighty tasty.

Thirteenth Course – The lobster course was coated with either popcorn, mango or curry. There were jells of butter that splashed opened when touched with the fork. The saltiness of the popcorn coating on the lobster made for an amazing combination for the butter sauce.

Fourteenth Course – Iberico Ham – a hazelnut cream sauce with a hazelnut centered with a smoked paprika was layered with a slice of Iberico ham. Very nice and impressive in presentation and flavor.

Fifteenth Course – Hot potato – cold potato – fun fun fun – this was a wax bowl that had a suspended warm potato with a cold potato soup beneath that when downed it made for a wonderful compliment of the world famous spud.

Sixteenth Course – I have to say, I don’t think I have ever typed the words “…enth” so many times in my entire life – but the food tasting continues – Lamb was on the menu next and it was prepared in many ways. There was this really awesome bowl on the plate that had a hot rock in the center to keep the spices warm … this was used for dipping the rub on the lamb. This is where I made my first big mistake as I took a fork full of something in the bowl to taste it. ah, salt. Hot salt. Everything from that point forward on this plate tasted like salt. I missed everything about this course that looked good but ended up tasting like Outback Steakhouse.

Eighteenth Course – Black Truffle ravioli. Oh my- lanta – this one exploded on contact and it was a damn good thing my mouth was closed (which does not happen often) or I would have shot out a truffle sauce on the sexy model that was a table away. Had to be one of the best things of the night. Intense flavors and presentation and experience like none other.

Nineteenth Course – Now we are heading into dessert territory … well this one straddled the fence actually. It was a baked potato with a chocolate sauce. I have to say, that I am kinda blurry at this point as to what this tasted like and even with the picture I don’t recall. Here is why … at this point I have sampled 9 wines. The rest of the outline gets a bit hazy … so bare with me. I think this was good.

Twentieth Course – Bubble Gum tapioca – this was served in a test tube … you had to suck the jell and tapioca out of the tube. Amazing taste of crème fraiche, hibiscus and pepper.

Twenty first course – Transparency – an item that resembled a piece of peanut brittle but clear, rather rose colored. It had rose pedals on it too. Nice and messy but good.

Twenty second course – Spice Cake – with a persimmon topping, carrot and a rum ball jell that exploded … okay … by now I had another wine and a rum shot … good lord call me a taxi.

Twenty third course  - Chocolate ginache with an olive oil, pine nuts and prune. This was a delightful compliment to my hot tea that I added along with the last wine of the night – which was a dessert wine. So sweet I left my teeth on the table.

Twenty fourth course – finally a dry caramel … it was a mixtures of different powders that when it hit my tongue it made a paste … truly an experience all in itself.

From start to finish, dinner spanned four hours. Twelve wines, twenty-four breath-taking presentations. I have to say this was one amazing and awesome event … err evening.

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