Alinea breathes

Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Alinea is serving up some of the best food in the nation, according to Gourmet magazine who ranked the restaurant #1 in America this past fall. Chef-Owner Grant Achatz (pronounced ACK-etz) opened Alinea in 2005 after serving as chef at Trio, in Evanston. Alinea is known for Achatz's creative food presentation and preparation (most often classified under the somewhat controversial term "molecular gastronomy") and, if you believe the reviews, the restaurant also appears to be gaining a reputation for its comfortable chairs, which come in handy for those 5-hour-long tasting menus.

Why am I so fascinated with Alinea rather than the handful of other restaurants focusing on molecular gastronomy, such as Avenues and Moto (both of Chicago) and the mother of all molecular gastronomy restaurants, Ferran Andrià's El Bulli in Spain? My curiosity was initially piqued because Alinea is situated in the one neighborhood in Chicago with which I am the most familiar. After further delving into its creation story, I learned that the restaurant is making a laudable effort to be food-centric - Alinea's décor is reported to be sleekly and chic-ly muted in order to better showcase the food, and after all, the food is why you're there. I dig that the chef-owner is bright and young (about 30 now) but does not appear to be aggressively pushing the envelope for the pushing's sake. Achatz has been well-trained by the Culinary Institute of America and by chefs who are mainstays of the restaurant scene (he worked under Thomas Keller of The French Laundry and briefly worked with Charlie Trotter). Achatz is certainly plating up cutting-edge preparations using cutting-edge technology (induction cooking surfaces, PolyScience's Anti-Griddle, and carefully calibrated water-bath machines for sous-vide methods), but he seems to want to keep the taste of the food at the front of his creative endeavor. From my reading, although Chef Achatz's supporting staff is predominantly male, the kitchen seems to be quiet and efficient, distinguished from the noisy male bravado that characterizes many a restaurant kitchen (a fact or suspicion that has given me pause when considering cooking as a career). I particularly like the fact that one of the sous chefs got a BS from the U of I - in an engineering field, no less (a far more employable degree than my own French BA). This too makes the thought of working in a kitchen more accessible to me - if a guy with an engineering degree would freely choose cooking over engineering, why should I be so hesitant? I've always been a little afraid that if I were to really pursue my interest in working in a kitchen I would be disappointed by the lack of opportunities to engage my intellect. Alinea appears to be a place where being smart would be an asset and would be a trait shared by most of the people working the line.

So I want to eat at Alinea, but perhaps more telling is the fact that I want to work at Alinea. I suppose it should trouble me that Alinea receives 50 résumés per month (with a 98% turn-down rate), but I am not discouraged. I'm just happy that a restaurant exists out there that seems to suit me and I'm happy that not all restaurant kitchens are full of attitudes that would make me uncomfortable. For now, its existence is enough. Alinea's name derivation comes from the typographical symbol that signals the beginning of a new paragraph, the beginning of a new idea. And with that understated but graceful rendering of its corner-turning outlook, as well as that very outlook itself, Alinea inspires me in that word's literal sense of "breathing into": Alinea breathes life into a dream.

A few of my favorite links for more information about Alinea:
- Alinea's page of press clippings
- Food-writer Michael Ruhlman's blog summary of his 03/04/07 interview with Grant Achatz at the Steppenwolf theater
- Chicagoist.com 03/01/07 interview with Grant Achatz
- NYTimes 02/28/07 article on the dearth of women in "molecular gastronomy" kitchens, mentioning a female chef in Alinea's kitchen
- Chicagoist.com 01/22/07 pictorial
- Metromix 08/18/05 review
- NPR's 08/14/05 interview with Grant Achatz
- random blog-type entry on one foodie's visits to Alinea, complete with pictures
- FoodTV Canada's profile of Alinea, including a link to a recipe