Alinea :: The Best Meal of My Life

I went to sleep very happy last night. I was perfectly full and just had consumed some of the most incredible food and wine I've ever experienced. I couldn't help but waking up wondering if was all a dream. How lucky were we to get to dine at Alinea! We went with Leif & Melissa, which just made the evening even more special. Alinea was part 40th birthday present to Brian. And part celebrating friendship. (When I look back at our time in Oak Park, I cannot imagine our lives without the Elsmo's. Thank goodness we are only moving an hour and a half away because otherwise I'd be a wreck thinking about leaving them.) I was the Alinea virgin of the group -- but there was only one course that was on all of their previous menus. We were all in absolute awe of what we were being presented with. Grant Achatz is a absolute genius. It's true -- dining at Alinea is extravagant experience. We've been saving for months gearing up for this (and the credit card miles we've been saving will help a ton too). But that's exactly what it is. An experience. I can honestly say, that never in my life am I going to forget our time at Alinea. I was truly magical.

LEMON luxardo bitter, luxardo amaro, grapefruit
APPLE laird's apple brandy, grenadine, thyme
SQUASH cynar, carpano antica, flor de cana 7 year
STEELHEAD ROE dijon, rutabaga, grapefruit *
  Cocktail of Pierre Peters Brut with chrysanthemum liquer and bitters
YUBA shrimp, miso, togarashi
URCHIN watercress, vanilla, mint -
HALIBUT black pepper, coffee, lemon *
  Testamatta 'Cicala del Giglio;, Toscana 2009
RABBIT parfait, rillette, consummé
  Niepoort 'Redoma Branco', Douro 2009
HOT POTATO cold potato, black truffle, butter *
SHORT RIB olive, red wine, black garlic *
  Quinta da Viçosa, Alentejo, Portugal 2005
HAMACHI west indies spices, banana, ginger
CANARD a la Cussy
  Raymond Usseglio 'Cuvée Impériale', Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003
VENISON cherry, cocoa nib, eucalyptus
BLACK TRUFFLE explosion, romaine, parmesan *
SNOW yuzu
SWEET POTATO cedar, bourbon, pecan
  Nittnaus Riesling Beerenauslese, Burgenland, Austria 2002
LEMONGRASS dragonfruit, finger lime, cucumber
BACON butterscotch, apple, thyme
NUTELLA bread, banana, chocolate
LYCHEE jasmine tea
  AE Dor 'Pineau Francois 1er', Pineau des Charentes
CHOCOLATE blueberry, honey, basil *
 Toro Albala 'Don PX' Gran Reserva, Montilla-Moriles, Spain 1982

NOTE: Everything we ate was outstanding. Pretty much every single dish could qualify as the best thing I've every eaten (except the watercress soup, which I didn't hate, but never need to eat again -- and that being said, the urchin part of it was amazing). I marked a * by my absolute favorite dishes of the evening. I'm not even sure I could pick one favorite if I had to. It was THAT good.

Check out Mel's recap, along with some photos of the courses we had.

Photos above courtesy of the Elmso Four.

Yes, that is cayenne cotton candy. Seriously, this meal is getting better the more I think about. I'm even willing to say that I'd prefer to give up going out for dinner all year just to go to Alinea again.