Chicago ! Alinea, Again.

I know it might be a bit much to visit Alinea two times in a matter of months, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta to do, and sometimes what you gotta do is eat 15 more exquisite and creative dishes from the world's best restaurant.

Although several of the dishes were the same from my prior visit with Diana, I was delighted to find so many were new, beginning with the first course: tangy ossetra caviar with caper gelee and brioche foam.  The foam was the absolute best, as you can imagine, capturing the essence of buttery bread with every tiny bubble.

Second was the fun little salsify dish,

the prize intertwined into the nest of twigs.  I let the boy have a go in the search.  And then we ate the amazingly beef-jerkyesque salsify with great satisfaction.

Brown buttered skate was presented on a beautiful paper-like porcelain plate, the flesh deliciously tender with hints of lemon.

Heirloom tomatoes were blanketed by ashed goat cheese, disguised on the piece of slate like rock and accented by a creative spray of licorice graffiti.  Definitely a dish for the goat cheese lovers.

One of my new favorites was the corn, which appeared...like corn.

Corn reinvented to the core(n) of course - underneath the grilled layer of the sweetest corn was the sweetest corn pudding mixed with truffle oil, manchego cheese and chunks of ham fat (yum).

Rhubarb truffles were again grated atop earthy celery root, celery branch and sweet red wine reduction.

Perfectly poached lobster was served like a work of art, an autumn palette with rounds of beautiful curry sauce, coconut cream and delicately sliced cucumber and grapefruit squares.

I could eat ten of these. All day. Everyday.

Sweetbreads took the form as Chinese takeout once more, flavored with orange citrus and ginko nut, and served with cinnamon sticks, sweet warmth wafted from the charred ends to heighten the experience.

A bubble plate of lily bulbs, rambutans and lime caviar served to cleanse our palates - rosy and refreshing.

The following course repeated the burning coals on the table, hiding the meat treats inside,

instead of wagyu beef, which Diana and I adored last time, pork belly was hidden within.  The slab of tender pork was served on the midnight stump with very charred parsnip, black trumpet mushrooms and inky kombu seaweed crisps.

Another personal favorite of the meal is the hot potato / cold potato dish, a time sensitive affair which requires you to immediately pull the pin out of the plate, releasing the skewered potato coated with black truffle and cubes of cheese into the warm buttery liquid.  You take the whole thing as a shot, and it's just waves of hot and cold and absolute deliciousness in your mouth for a solid minute afterward.

The final meat dish was a repeat of the plumes of dragon's breath aromatics pouring over

dumplings made of foie gras,

duck breast and lobster mushroom.  I loved bites of the ever so melty duck swirled into the strands of the sweet, caramelized sauce.

Blueberry made its brilliant reappearance in the form of crisp airy foam, chewy strands of cold bubblegum that melted instantly in our mouths, with lilac and sorrel.

The weather was a bit humid, so the balloons floated lower than usual, and our waiters had us attack the balloons immediately upon hand-off.  My voice was higher than you can ever imagine and elicited much laughter from nearby tables.  My favorite !

The final dessert was live artistry and magic with ripe, golden-fleshed passion fruit as the star.

So many wonderful and delicious elements on the table, including a smashed ball of solidified coconut cream, thin sheets of crisp, sweet chocolate, brandied cherries, caramelized pineapple, pieces of key lime candy in edible wrappers.

Again, all wonder and brilliance.
Again, I love you Alinea.

Alinea
1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614

Chicago! A Bunch of Meats: Hot Doug's & Publican

Chicago, why has it taken me so long to visit you?  Why do you continue to haunt my dreams?

Diana and I spent about an hour and a half in the hot, hot sun waiting in line with other schmucks at Hot Doug's.  We just had to.  Ol' Mr. Dougie said he's going to stop serving these dawgs in October, so gotta git it while the gittin' is good! (Is this a saying that anyone recognizes outside Texas?)

We thought Friday early afternoon is a good time to do this.  Everyone and their mother and their girlfriend and their brother had the same idea.

When you wait in line that long, you contemplate a lot of things, like, "Why are we doing this?" (To eat delicious hot dogs!) and "When is this ever going to be over?" (When we are eating delicious hot dogs!)

You also get time to look at all their cool stuff.

I need these sort of credentials.

And then finally, after two sweet hours of bonding and sharing what slivers of shade the tiny awning outside can provide, you can stare down at beauts like these!

We just ordered a bunch of specials, and you really can't go wrong with any of them.  The toppings are fresh, the cheese tangy,

the sauces completely decadent,

and the ones with fruit essence, like this one with pear wine reduction, make the dog so sweet, savory and wonderful.

I wish I could remember more,

but all you really need to know is that the encased meats are fantastic, with great snap and texture,

and they are often oozing and gooey with cheese, and that's just how life should be.  Cheesy, over the top and great.

And of course, don't forget the duck fat fries.  (No one forgets the duck fat fries.)

A couple hours later, we made enough space for a dinner at The Publican Restaurant.  The space is interesting, with corralled booths on the sides, and a U shaped community table setting around the perimeter of the restaurant.

In a tucked away corner, Diana and I shared smoked mackerel, which was by far the largest mackerel I've ever had, with lots of oily, tasty meat and slivers of fresh citrus,

a side of fried cauliflower - and as delicious as cauliflower naturally is, it is that much more delicious fried.  Completely crisp, ungreasy and awesome.  I may have eaten this whole thing myself when Diana wasn't looking.

The platter of porchetta is honestly enough for at least 3-4 people, but Diana and I tackled what we could, which was easy since

the porchetta was tender beyond belief, requiring no chew at all, disintegrating immediately like a phone from Mission Impossible.  The skin was so flavorful, so fatty, and so ridiculously good (as all pork fat should be).

And after you finish feasting on all the variety of quality meats the Publican has to offer, immediately order the vacherin.

It's a cake of sorts, layered with crispy, chewy meringue and bright citrusy ice cream.  It's nothing short of brilliant.

Han's Nonsensical Rating: The hype of Hot Doug's is deserved but figure out a better time to go (early lunch midweek?).  Publican is a positively great place to go with friends, order a bunch of platters and go to town. I just want that porchetta fat to coat my throat and the insides of my arteries again.

Hot Doug's

3324 North California, Chicago, IL 60618

The Publican

837 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607

Chicago! The Most Fun Restaurant Ever: Alinea

In our trip to Chicago, I surprised Diana with a dinner at world-renowned Alinea.  It was a place we had always talked about going to, never found ourselves in Chicago at the same time, and now in the height of her upcoming wedding, the stars were finally aligned for us!

The doors of the kitchen are wide open to the restaurant waiting area.

The restaurant interior is stark, with violet lighting and immaculate leaves of rhubarb hanging over each table.  The wait staff is friendly, often funny, setting a much different tone to the dinner than Per Se or Atera.

Each dish is remarkably playful.  The opening "plate" was a basket of woven twigs.  The task, the waiter explained, was to find the two pieces of salsify that were hidden inside.

We turned the basket here and there, studied each branch ad nauseum,

until Diana spotted the first one!  

A dehydrated piece of salsify with the subtle texture and flavor of beef jerky, seeped in soy and sodium.

The next whimsical plate featured lobster with colorful plops and delicate squares of gelees and creams.  Mush them all together, they encouraged - mix and match to your heart's delight - and we were delighted to find that everything was wonderfully synchronous, a marvelous medley of Indian flavors in our mouths.

The waiter then set down a mysterious pile of coals upon our table without explanation.

We didn't have too much time to think about it, when our Chinese takeout appeared.

Unbelievably playful, with charred cinnamon sticks (for necessary aromatics) as chopsticks

to eat General Tso-style sweetbreads.  Never having sweetbreads before, I fell in love with them, resembling the fattiest, meltiest chicken nuggets ever.

And then the coals were ignited.  

More distractions though: ebi, with broccoli stem and sea grapes, beautiful and earthy.

The coals were finally diffused to uncover a piece of charred sorrel and a wagyu filet.  The server slices off most of the charred edges of the sorrel, but leaves some of it on, for a little taste of smokiness.

The plate is a darkened tree stump with inky black sauces.  The beef is forever tender, no chew required, and the smokiness from the open flame is apparent with every bite.

A delicate glass bowl of lily bulb petals and tiny rambutan pearls cleanse our palates.

The waiter than grabs our hanging rhubarb to shave 'rhubarb truffles' onto our next dish.  Isn't he the cutest thing?

Fresh ricotta, freshly shaved rhubarb, celery root and licorice make up this ridiculously fun little salad.

The waiter excitedly presented the next dish, and said, "I bet you can't guess what the crispy thing is."

"Oh, you mean the pig's ear?"  He didn't bank on Diana and I knowing just about every pig part there is (you don't get this porky without knowing this stuff!).  This plate was by far the most beautiful pig ear plate we've ever had though.  Served with wood ear mushrooms, it was one "earie" dish.

A raviolo filled with black truffle, asparagus and the most pristine sliver of parmesan was entirely explosive with rich flavor.

Next, a vase filled with dragon's breath poured onto our table and 

 

over duck "dumplings" made of foie gras and 

in copper bowls, we were given bites of duck breast and a rare duck heart atop an addictively thick, sweetened sauce.

And then we entered into the forays of dessert with  bubble gum noodles, tart blueberries, and tangs of lemon.

Followed by the best treat ever, and worth the meal alone, candy balloons inflated with helium with a green apple candy rope string.  The balloons are handed with careful instructions: put your mouth on the balloon, inhale, chat for fun, and eat.  Also, please take off your glasses.

Our neighbor did not want to take off his glasses and dove right in.

His glasses were completely covered with candy, but so worth it!  The balloons taste just like fruit rollups but a thousand times more fun.

And then the act of resistance, chefs come to the table and perform a work of art atop the rubber-matted table.

The tools.

The best part - sprinkling glittered crumbs over everything.

The dessert is molecular wizardy, hot chocolate freezing before our eyes into a thin cylindrical disk.

My favorite part was of course the candied basil (have you ever dreamed of such a thing?), and of course, everything else.  The chocolate was so creamy, the hazelnut crumbles a crunchy delight, and though we did not feel full coming into this dessert, this is what ended up rounding our bellies so.

Han's Nonsensical Rating: We avoided any kind of description of Alinea entering this meal, and found ourselves fully surprised at every step.  And though some dishes were better than others, you can't help but walk out of this restaurant feeling like you've had the most magical and unique experience, and you can understand why Alinea is consistently ranked among the top restaurants in the world.

Alinea

1723 N Halsted

Chicago, IL

Note: Reservations are a little hard to get, but join their Twitter or Facebook to keep in the know!