Alinea

Part theater, part dining, this Michelin three-star restaurant remains fiery after nearly 20 years

One of only two Chicago restaurants with three Michelin stars, Chef Grant Achatz’s pioneering Alinea has earned its reputation for modernist culinary excellence by combining theatricality and avant garde techniques with attention to every detail from dishes to wire suspensions of items within the dining space.

Our recent meal began and ended with dramatic flourishes – a dining surface set on fire for a candle-lit soup, salad, and champagne course, contrasting with servers climbing ladders to remove giant black plates from the ceiling before plating cosmically deconstructed, liquid nitrogen-frozen pies. The rest of the meal took place at more conventional small tables, apart from a brief visit to Alinea’s famous kitchen for a drink and snack.

Courses included beautiful, elaborate props ranging from a glass rooster in a basket with buns and tea to a glass sea urchin shell for an uni bite, to a caviar dish that blended in with the caviar inside.

Not every course was a hit, but only a couple (including a foamed corn cocktail) were a big miss, while service was generally attentive and friendly. Alinea’s signature edible apple balloon, including helium, guarantees every guest a happy, high(-pitched) end of the evening.

Stats

Price: $$$$
Service: Table
Open Since: 2005

Addresses

1723 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60614

Instagram: @thealineagroup