Why Alinea Is One of the U.S.’s Most Influential Restaurants | Eater
"Maximalism and gastronomic creativity rule the day: Chef Grant Achatz, along with then-partner Nick Kokonas, opened the restaurant in May of 2005 in Chicago’s Lincoln Park and immediately intrigued an American food public weary of the routine fine-dining choices. From opening night, meals promised more than two dozen courses that featured wisps of smoke, bites hanging from tightropes, and all manner of flavors—“milkweed pods! Dandelion roots and tobacco and lavender!”—deconstructed, gelled, foamed, frozen, candied, microplaned, and all painstakingly grafted back together in wholly unexpected ways. Later dishes such as the apple taffy floating balloon and painted-table dessert became iconic. The project vaulted Achatz into the country’s most influential chefs and collected major honors: a 2007 James Beard Award for Achatz (Best Chef: Great Lakes), a 2016 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant, numerous appearances on the World’s 50 Best List (including being named Best Restaurant in North America in 2010 and again in 2011), and three Michelin stars. The restaurant’s influence spread through imitators embracing a scientific, slightly gonzo approach to dining and through the Alinea Group’s expansion to seven other concepts, including Next (a rotating culinary program) and the cocktail bar the Aviary; many alumni—Curtis Duffy, Dave Beran, John Shields, Alex Stupak, Jenner Tomaska, Jeff Pikus—have gone on to make notable independent marks. Critic Ruth Reichl captured the spirit, writing: “What makes [the restaurant] such a fabulous experience is the sheer exuberant fun of the place. This is food as performance, food as surprise, food as you’ve never seen it before.” Achatz reflects on origins and context: “I had worked at the French Laundry and El Bulli, and felt there was a gap in fine dining, because prior to 2005, it was mostly [defined as] French cuisine... In 2005, we’re right at the peak of El Bulli, the Fat Duck — molecular kind of gastronomy. So we felt like it was an opportunity. With us and wd~50, it just migrated over the pond.” He recalled Chicago’s reset—Schwa, Everest, Rick Bayless’s places, Paul Kahan’s Blackbird—and the pre-opening internet anticipation (he was blogging on eGullet) and even having Frank Bruni of the New York Times in the dining room on opening night. He also acknowledges hardship and resilience: “We were fortunate enough to be pretty popular off the bat. We just got super busy, and honestly, it never stopped. And then, in 2007, I got diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer. A lot of the guests weren’t sure if they should even still visit. It was quiet for a bit while I was going to treatment.” Momentum returned by late 2008, the downstairs dining room and experimental menu introduced in a 2016 renovation “catapulted our creativity further,” and he expresses pride in having weathered the pandemic and kept staff employed. On industry change he observes bluntly: “Everything has changed. Wages have changed; rents have changed. There’s a lot more reform needed.” Looking back on two decades he notes an emergent maturity—“Restaurants like Le Bernadin and the French Laundry... they have a certain intangible maturity”—and a feeling of resilience that staff and guests can sense." - Grant Achatz
