Alinea is best known by guests for its innovative dishes and mesmerizing dining experience. I learned about this restaurant and its owner, renowned Chef Grant Achatz, through Chef Achatz’s appearance in Netflix’s The Final Table and feature on The Chef’s Table. Though I’ve never dined there myself, what intrigued me most about this restaurant is its commitment to creating an experience where the food is not only phenomenal, but also involves as many senses as possible. While it feels disingenuous to walk through the dining experience in terms of what is served — because it’s the experience that’s so amazing — I wanted to highlight how the Alinea experience involves the five senses and why Chef Achatz’s theory of invention is so important.
If you do want to see the different courses served in a video format, I’d recommend this YouTube video that was posted last year. As a disclaimer, my research included articles and videos from 2016 up until 2019, so some dishes, courses and aspects of dining at Alinea are likely to be different today, not only because of the coronavirus, but also because the restaurant itself is ever-evolving.
Sight: Before it’s re-design in 2017, Alinea’s entrance was known for having a sort of optical illusion set up with a surprise door that set the tone for the whimsical night ahead. Though the main restaurant no longer has this feature, the actual dishes at Alinea are set to challenge one’s perception of food — from their clear pumpkin pie dessert to their iconic edible helium balloon.
Sound: Though my research indicated that Alinea doesn’t play music, I did find that one of the courses served in 2019 was called “Rossini,” after the Italian composer who inspired it, and noticed that one of his pieces was playing in the background in a video (the same one linked above!) while it was brought out.
Smell: Since smell is very much related to how we perceive taste, it’s no surprise that it is a big aspect of the Alinea dining experience. Some dished rely on smell, including one Thai meal where a centerpiece composed of coconuts and limes sat on top of dry ice. For another, fire was used to roast a lavender and crab dish. Personally, I’m not sure how lavender would work on with a savory dish, but I also am far from a food connoisseur and would love to have the opportunity to experience that.
Taste: Definitely the sense that is most used throughout the night, no questions asked. What I found mind-blowing about the Alinea experience is that the number of courses ranges from fourteen to twenty-four and are mostly composed of smaller plates, which leaves room for surprises of all kinds. While the number of dishes could overwhelm even the hungriest guests, the glow in the dark lemongrass palate cleanser (it looks as cool as it sounds) has a refreshing taste that gets guests to make room for more.
Touch: This was probably the strangest sense to incorporate in a fine dining experience, and though I couldn’t find an aspect unique to touch implemented at Alinea, the components of the dishes overlap in the “taste” and “touch” category when it comes to incorporating different textures into a single bite. That being said, the dining at Alinea is an interactive experience all-around, and one that some reviews say does involve all the senses, so I’ll have to take their word for it for the time being.
Naturally, while learning about Alinea, I sought information about the chef behind the magic. Chef Grant Achatz’s story is an inspiring one — seriously, if you haven’t watched his episode on The Chef’s Table, I would definitely recommend — that leaves me thinking about discipline, passion, and drive. He reminds me of how cooking and art can impact people and their emotions. Like Chef Achatz said on an episode of Beyond the Plate, a culinary podcast, “One of our best creative approaches is ‘chase the impossible.”
While experiences can be analyzed, innovation can’t be broken down as easily, and it’s this mindset that is essential in making the Alinea experience one that’s magical and unforgettable.