Wow. I do not even know where to begin to even portray, literally, the best meal I have ever had in my lifetime, and probably for all of my lifetime. Even from my small handful of Michelin’s and fine dining experiences, nothing prepared me for the endless surprises, the captivating experiences from the variety of ambiences, flavors in all of my senses. Did that even make sense? I will try to relive my experience at Alinea.. put into words. But I already know that nothing I say, no picture I take, will even make you guys understand why this was the best meal I have ever had.

You can also watch Chef’s Table, Season 2, Episode 1, that features Chef Grant Achatz and his restaurant Alinea. The episode gives a brief biography of the Chef, which I am so grateful to have watched the next evening after my meal because it gave me a whole new found respect for the chef and his creations. It also didn’t ruin the surprise for me.

Did I mention, this is the first time I did not research ANYTHING online, on yelp, whatsoever. I just went by my friend’s word. We must eat here in Chicago. It is a 3 Michelin star restaurant. It used to be #1 in the entire world at one point. Now it’s like #16 or #24 or #26. But whatever it is, it is still top 50 Best Restaurants in the World.

So now that I’ve hyped up this restaurant for you (if I have at all) and am living in reminiscent of my experience, I will get started.

So here is a picture of my boyfriend and I. We were seated at our table with a big plate of lemons, limes, a huge avocado, lemon grass, etc.. We were like. What is this big bowl of vegetables doing here? What a weird centerpiece. I had no idea that this chef loves to surprise his clients. He likes to play with the senses, especially loves to mess with aroma. Toy with your sense of vision and trick your sense of smell. And so. much. more.

I asked our waiter, “Will we get a copy of the menu at the end so that we know what we ate?” He replies, “This is your menu. Everything is on there.” It was a crossword puzzle! Or not that one.. the other one. Let’s find the words! Throughout our meal, we found words before OR after we were already served the food. So it was fun to play with, fun to guess with. I remember at one point, we circled “Nostalgia” and we kept wondering.. wow is this dish nostalgic? No.. this one is… no, wait, this dish is nostalgic! Just this simple menu game kept us guessing, kept us engaging with each other, kept us intrigued with our food. But that’s not just it.

A table left and the waiter was preparing for the next party. he even vacuumed the sofa chair and the carpet underneath.

This is our private dining area. We were upstairs. There were three different meals we could reserve from. We chose the cheapest one, which was 10-14 courses, totaling up to $270 pp before tax and tip. You pay everything up front when you reserve. And it was hard to book. Within the minute, everything was gone.

Welcome to our first course. We were presented with a wooden spoon, a small cute pot-like bowl, and a delicate cabbage sitting on top of a metallic plating that is balancing on a three-prong stand.

Terrarium. Iceberg, avocado, herbs. I don’t like cabbage. It doesn’t do anything for me and the texture doesn’t appeal to me. But this was the most delicious cabbage I have ever had. Each bite was refreshing, each bite was crisp, each bite was delightful.

Smoke. Osetra, sunflower, onion, lemon. The caviar eggs make up the center of the sunflower. The petals are edible. When you open the lid, a smoky aroma flows from the bowl. Inhaling it was like smelling heaven. This was a dish for the nose and the eyes and the tongue.

Glow. Lemongrass. Here is a palate cleanser. They glow in the dark! You put the red end to your mouth and give it a pulling force. Commit to it. Don’t worry about it hitting the back of your throat. It is gelatinous. It is refreshing and light.

Kaeng. Scallop, mustard, chili. This is scallop on scallop. Scallop fried ramen on scallop pasta. The pasta was made of scallop. The ramen was made of scallop. How did you take something like scallop and turn it into the texture and form of pasta? How did you take something like scallop and fry it into the form and texture of ramen? How did you do it?! My mind was blown.

Oh.. this wasn’t just a centerpiece.. Let’s pour a pot of hot water in and create a table full of refreshing and sweet lime-ly aroma of smoke to flow through our table while we eat our next course…

.. our plate of the sea scallops…This was more than just a dish, more than just a course. This was an experience. His play on aromas made this meal emotional for us. It wasn’t just to eat. It wasn’t something pretty to look at, tasteful to chew one, good to smell. This was an emotional experience.

For the next course, the waiter took away the centerpiece and replaced it with a pot full of coal, sand, burning on fire.

This is a black lime.

Ink. Octopus, scallion, black lime. The tail end of the scallops is the scallion. How did it all blend in together to look as one? The scallion was so delicious…..

Because for each course come with a different theme, comes with a different ambience, comes with a different environment.

Oh the smell of strong and fresh lavender as the waiter shakes and places them onto our burnt out fire, directly onto the coals.

He accidentally dropped one so he brought us another..

Perfume. Crab, XO, Lavender. Let’s call this one perfume because it is a perfume of lavender. Four cute little crab stuffed baos?

This is a sheet of lobster.

Let’s pour some broth onto the sheet of lobster.

Paper. Langoustine, bouillabaisse, olive oil. .. To give me a delicious, comforting bowl of broth to sip on, some lobster to chew one.

Crunch. Rouille, Nori. Wow. The crunchy nori and the uni-like nori inside is the most creamiest ever.

Now there was an interruption into our meal. The waiter announced to everyone in the room that we were going to go on a field trip. Leave all of your things behind, trust us, don’t worry. We’re just going to all go on a field trip.

Nostalgia Field Trip. We went onto a field trip downstairs into the kitchen, where there were dishes already lined up for us. Must I say that this is the most calmest, most quietest kitchen I have ever observed? Everyone knew exactly what to do. Everyone was doing exactly what they were to do. Everyone was in sync. Everyone was in rhythm, in harmony. Quiet.

This green looking thingy was an old drink shaker from the 19…60s? I forgot. That’s how they made our drink for us and pour into our different goblets.

Soft explosion of what reminds me.. of a pizza ravioli in my mouth? The drink was refreshing, light, sweet, tangy.

When we came back, of course there was already something at our table in preparation for our next meal.

I thought this was a fire torch but I was completely wrong. It wasn’t.

Old Bay. “Oyster Cracker.” These are oyster crackers for our… soup!!

Alinea has his own hot sauce!

That was air compressed, foamy clam chowder soup! Wait!! Do you see that brush on the right? He made a play… He was like.. Oh, what is this in here? Digs underneath the fired sand that was sitting at our table this entire time, under the fire this entire time. It was a potato being cooked in front of our eyes this entire time without us knowing! He takes out the potato and mashes it for us to be part of our clam chowder soup.

The Cape. Clam, potato, bacon. Each bite that you take from the soup, it disappears into air in your mouth. It was the most airy and light soup.

Got most of them!

Wow, this meal tricks me the most. Here is a jar that says vanilla on it. When you open and smell it, it smells strongly of vanilla. But if you look at the ingredients on the jar, it is not vanilla….

Wrinkled. Bull’s Blood Beet. A wrinkled beet for our next course.

Bean. Tenderloin, Spices. It’s a beef jerky. It’s a tenderloin.

Read the ingredients!!

Coal. Squab, Black Forbidden rice, Binchotan. Wow. This squab is so good. Look at what it looks like! Does not look like squab. Look at the charcoal sand on the side. That’s black garlic.

Heirloom. Peach, Begonia, Nasturtium. Our vegetable course that was so refreshing with so many flavors going on at the same time, I got confused.

Four little empty tea cups waiting to be filled. The log is real!

Wood. Hoja Santa, Tamarind, Chocolate. Whoaaaa! Tamarind on dessert? On chocolate? The most light and airy chocolate I have ever had.

You drink it with this bitter tea.

Corn. Popped, caramel, liquid. THIS IS NOT POPCORN. Well it is caramel popcorn that you CAN eat but you shouldn’t eat. If you look closely, there are four camouflaged balls on top. Grab it, eat it quickly! Put the whole thing in your mouth quickly!! It is a soft explosion in your mouth… Full of sweet creaminess..

Happy birthday to any of us because there is always an occasion to celebrate!

A birthday cake that you drink. It tastes and smells like birthday cake.

Balloon, helium, green apple. And finally our dessert!!! A very fun dessert to eat from, to suck from, to breathe from, and make your voice high and squeaky.

Thank you for giving us the answers at the end..

The receipt for our white bottle we shared look so pretty! So thought out, I had to take a picture of it.

How did I even summarize this? I even have Chef’s Table playing in the background while I typed this blog. Reliving this experience. I will never forget every minute of it. Never forget every surprise, every FEELING that each course made me FEEL. It was more than just a meal. It was an experience, full of surprises that brought back childhood memories, that brought so much innocent happiness, all in the joy of food, challenging all of my senses. Surprises til the end.