Alinea Kitchen Table

I have a few chef friends and one of them called me saying he had booked the Kitchen Table at Alinea and they needed one more person to join. It didn't take long for me to clear my calendar and book my ticket to fly out and dine with them!

MrsFlamingo and I had tried the Alinea Salon and frankly were pretty disappointed and wouldn't recommend going. With that being said, we wanted to try going back and dining in the Gallery or Kitchen Table before passing final judgement, this was the perfect opportunity with a group of chefs.

I landed and luckily managed to change and make it to the restaurant just in time.

A view of the gallery dining room.

Soon we were all there and escorted through the gallery into the kitchen.

A side room in glass next to the kitchen and at least for now lit red and quite dramatic.

Hmmm wonder what's under there.

Interesting contrasts in centuries of decorations, but I'm sure all for a purpose in due time.

To kick things off, a glass of Laurent-Perrier Rose was wonderful as always with fresh strawberries, ever so slight toast and nice lemon zest and acid finish to keep things fresh.

Cool they poured it into a coupe glass rather than more modern stemware.

The first couple of bites were up, an oysters and pearl type presentation within an oyster shell, then a white bean "cake" with snail caviar and richer custard. All tasty.

Ohh look at that, of course it wasn't empty!

A savory tartlet was nice.

Next up was the Jean Francois Ganevat Vin Jaune, had a sherry oxidative nose with marmalade, lemon meringue, cracker and dry finish.

Then we were asked to get up and come to the kitchen, right past Chef Achatz.

We all lined up next to one of the counters with a bright bite sitting, there, but first...

What is this fountain doing here?

Well let's grind a bell pepper granita.

And pour in some sweet potato and tequila.

There we go, with the pocket being a fancy pepperoni popper, but elevated to the nth level, crazy good and went great with the cocktail and wine.

Quick peak of the kitchen and watching the precision and intensity.

Back to the table and a whole bowl of fruits and coconuts in the middle of the table.

Next up, some champagne from Jacques Selosse Exquise, a Blanc de Blancs that was ever so slightly sweet, but with spices, nuttiness, and rich, yet fresh.

It went well with our first proper course of trout roe, coconut, lychee and white pepper. This was fascinating and melted together to actually work and definitely pushed our minds to what a dish could be.

Then a word puzzle, hmmm can we decode our menu?

Next wine was the 2013 Domaine Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim from Alsace. It had an intense nose that was floral with a hint of citrus. The body was a deep yellow with honey, minerals, floral and acid to balance.

The lights were dimmed and some vials in ice were brought out that had a lemongrass infusion/jelly to be sucked out in due time.

Also presented was the Thai flavored dish of scallops and a mustard sauce. It was super tasty and reminiscent of a classic Thai dish.

Then on top of roasted peanuts and chilis was a "chicken skin" in the form of a meringue. It definitely captured the flavors.

Then some dry ice theatrics and time to eat the next course.

The next wine up was the 2013 Jean-Noel Gagnard Batard Montrachet. It was solid with minerality, lemon curd and acid rounding things out.

The formation of the next course, with toasted nori seaweed filled with foie gras.

Then a dish I'd had in the Salon before, with a crispy thin wafer of langoustine that would dissolve when a bouillabaisse was up next.

The crisp then dissolves and it truly tastes like a langoustine in soup.

Our server then brought around a huge white truffle from Alba to see if we'd like to have a dish with it.

Look at that beauty, of course!

The next wine up was the 2012 Sine Qua Non "Stein" from Ventura, CA of all places. I'd never heard of this before but it was fantastic with a strong dark fruit nose, full bodied with plums, dark cherries and spice with firm, but smooth tannins.

Next a cook pot brought to the table.

And then some fire theatrics, always great!

Then the next course that was very scorpion looking, but was octopus and scallions, with a black lime sauce. It was ultra intense and paired great with the wine.

View into the kitchen and the quiet, yet intense action.

A view of the wine lineup so far...

Next up, the 2014 Verite Le Desir had a wonderful nose of dark berries with a full body of dark fruits, spice and grippy, yet fine tannins.

A basket of leaves with a crunchy bite.

Then some matsutake consomme.

And a wonderful pot of cream, pine nuts, pickled onions, chives and mushrooms.

With some wonderful braised pork belly put on top.

Such an unctuous, wintery dish, it was WONDERFUL!

Then a pour of the 2015 Yves Boyer-Martenot Le Cailleret Puligny Montrachet. It was rich with some oakiness, yellow and tropical fruits, minerality and acid to finish.

A wonderful piece of pork belly since they heard we love it.

Next up were pours of Chateau Musar from 1979 and 1998. Musar is one of my favorite wineries and from Lebanon, but done in a very Bordeaux style. The 1979 had much more earthiness than the 1998, but both had great dark berry fruit with some red fruit, tannins and medium-full bodies. Wonderful!

Oh so what's that going on down there after the pyro-theatrics? Not yet it appears for us to find out.

Next up a wonderful looking and smelling piece of beef.

That was setup to be carved up.

Look at that A5 wagyu and the marbling, mmmm!

Those end pieces, we asked what happens to those and we got a blank stare and they were whisked to the kitchen lol - chef's prerogative.

Plated up with a wonderful rossini sauce and almost bearnaise sauce dollop.

So gorgeous, rich, unctuous and perfect with a nice crust and expertly cooked with top notch ingredients - amazing!

Then to go along with the Montrachet, a savory French toast over a creamy sauce.

Plenty of shavings of the white truffle.

And spoonfuls of the beurre noisette, or simply browned butter - so stunning, flavorful and perfect way to show off the beautiful truffles.

Next up moving towards the dessert wine section, a 1973 D'Oliveira Verdelho Madeira, such a wonderful nutty nose, caramel and orange body and acid on the finish.

The setup for the next course.

Ahh there we go.

A sweet potato that had been baking inside the cauldron and getting the salt cleaned off.

Preparations

Then getting mixed together.

Almost ready.

Look at that beauty, yam/sweet potato, apricot jam, granola and a nice cheesy cream went together wonderfully.

Then a Mexcal that was very smokey, I'm not a big fan so let my fellow diners enjoy my portion.

The next dish was fun with a tamarind cream, crunchy leaf that I forgot what it was and the dish went great and was refreshing.

Then some candy corn but with a liquid sphere of caramel to eat in a bite.

Then the famous candy apple helium balloon.

We all had a blast enjoying the balloon and helium!

Then the kitchen started getting dark and the kitchen staff lined up, we figured it was just the end of the night...

In the meantime, our server climbed up on a ladder and grabbed a piece of art down.

He set it down on the table and said something about it.

But then the lights went off and smoke was pumped into the room.

And the light show and music started. And then Chef Achatz led the charge of this next course.

Theatrics to the max!

And then every member of the kitchen staff came in to contribute something.

And like that, our amazing main dessert course with so many things I can't remember, but was was like a country fair of desserts, elevated and super enjoyable with textures, temperatures and flavors all combining in the best ways possible!

And here's our answer key!

The menu with the Alinea Wine pairing I got.

The menu with the standard wine pairing for reference.

And the damage of the additions for the night.

And to end around 1 or 2am at this point, we managed to get a picture with Chef.

And then head out back through the gallery.

What an amazing experience, and I'll emphasize experience. The food was fantastic, but really the experience is what you're paying for and enjoying. While I stand by recommending one does not waste money or time going to the Salon, I can definitely recommend the Kitchen Table at Alinea, it was a fantastic experience I hope to enjoy again with MrsFlamingo and others.