Grant Achatz's Lincoln Park tasting menu: 18 to 22 courses of edible-balloon, painted-tablecloth, hot-pepper-ice theatre that codified modernist American fine dining.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Alinea opened on Halsted Street in May 2005, the first restaurant from chef Grant Achatz and partner Nick Kokonas. By 2010 it held three Michelin stars and has carried them every year since the Guide arrived in 2011. Achatz, a Charlie Trotter alumnus and Thomas Keller protégé, treats the tasting menu as continuous theatre: edible helium balloons of green apple, hot-pepper-flavoured ice, the famous painted-tablecloth dessert finished tableside. The room was remodeled in 2016 into three flows (Salon, Gallery, Kitchen Table). A reservation is among the hardest in American dining; Kokonas built the Tock system to manage it.
Common allergens: Various; communicate at booking
Tip from the editors. Practice the chocolate arc on a tray before doing it in front of guests. There is no recovery if you splat.
Alinea in Chicago is Grant Achatz's three-Michelin-star Lincoln Park dining room, the original American modernist tasting menu since 2005 at 1723 N Halsted.
Tip: Salon is the shortest flow and the easiest to book; Kitchen Table is the deepest dive into the menu.
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