Alinea is a restaurant in Chicago that opened on May 4, 2005. Its head chef and owner, Grant Achatz, is known for his preparations and deconstructions of classic flavors. In 2010, Alinea became one of only two restaurants in Chicago to receive the highest rating of three stars from the Michelin Guide and was subsequently reviewed by restaurant critic Sam Sifton in the New York Times. The restaurant takes its name from the symbol alinea, which is featured as a logo. In October 2008, Grant Achatz and co-author Nick Kokonas published Alinea (ISBN 1-58008-928-3 ISBN 978-1-58008-928-9), a hardcover coffee-table book featuring more than 100 of the restaurant's recipes. The book's narrative follows life in the kitchen for Achatz and his crew, and includes more than 400 behind-the-scenes photographs by Lara Kastner. The name says it all. In the course of history, an "alinea” would mark the arrival of a new idea or philosophy. If the concept flies, it could mark the beginning of a different way of thinking or a new practice. The restaurant Alinea situates itself in that sphere and in a forthcoming age that succeeds all the inns, restaurants, taverns and bistros as we’ve known them. So be prepared: Alinea is a restaurant like no other in America, period. The experience begins at the doorstep when one enters into a post-post-modern, bare set-up, evocative of a museum of modern art. Tables are over-size, widely spaced and free of distracting tablecloths. All of this is to focus our attention on the food and nothing else. Waiters dressed like bank executives with three-button grey suits move smoothly on the carpeted floor, delivering solemnly to the tables miniscule cups, small glasses, mini plates and mysterious decorative objects symbolic of an esoteric food that needs to be deciphered before eaten. The dinner, composed of approximately 16 to 18 courses, is concocted with dozens of components and in an order and a fashion revealing the art of Grant Achatz. This all may have a disconcerting effect if one is not prepared. So staff pop up to explain and guide one’s approach to the odd presentations, such as at the tip of a metallic skewer or on a steel string swing.
