GORGEOUS DELICIOUS TECH NOW

It looks, feels, and tastes like magic, but it’s just food, with a bit of technology, art, and a dose of genius thrown in for good measure.

Grant Achatz is as much a master technologist as he is a master chef. He was one of the first chefs to incorporate molecular gastronomy into his menus.

Originally developed as a set of methodologies that transform the physical and chemical properties of ingredients, molecular gastronomy aims to create new sensations and experiences.

Achatz’s award-winning restaurant in partnership with Nick Kokonas, Alinea, in Chicago, was one of the first establishments to feature the technological and aesthetic wonders of modern science and art applied to modern food.

Influenced by modernist Spanish chefs like Ferran Adria, Achatz, who trained at the famed French Laundry, with Thomas Keller, dove into molecular gastronomy with full gusto. 

New tastes and textures were developed in the form of ethereal foams, fumes, and flavor bursting spheres, now part of the repertoires of many fine chefs around the world, were first introduced to the US by Achatz. 

Achatz invented the anti-griddle, a pan that utilizes a brilliant technology that can freeze the surfaces of foods in seconds. Watch the video here.

Presentation is a big part of Achatz techno-art-taste fusion. He and Kokonas partnered with designer Martin Kastner in Crucial Detail, a studio that makes Alinea’s unique serviceware.

There are dishes that enable you to take bites without using your hands. There are plates resting atop pillows that slowly release transfixing aromas. There is a paraffin wax bowl that suspends ingredients, then releases them into soup when you pulling on a pin. 

Edible balloons bring out the kid in you, while Achatz’s Picasso-inspired dessert, painted on a silicon canvas, tableside, stuns you with its mastery.

Menus are designed to lead you on a journey, as residual flavors from one course transition into the next in 18-22 courses.

Achatz likes to arrange, mix, and match foods to a central ingredient in an extreme choreographed performance of “flavor bouncing.” His iconic dish Lamb 86 offers lamb prepared 4 ways, paired with 86 tech-inspired condiments and accoutrements, artfully displayed on a large pane of glass.

Alinea, considered by top critics as “the best restaurant in the world,” boasts  three Michelin stars and a AAA Five Diamond Award. It is temporarily closed for 1 year, as of 01.01.16, for major renovations and will be taking its beautiful food tech magic show on the road until they are ready to open their doors again.

If you’re lucky, you can book a meal performance at one of the pop-up events scheduled around the world.

Alinea’s team of 78 chefs and servers started off in Spain, in residence during January at the NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding Hotel, where Achatz is partnering with chef Dabiz Munoz, of the three Michelin starred Madrid restaurant, DiverXO.

Next, the show heads to Miami Beach at the Faena Hotel (02.17.16 - 03.13.16), with plans for New York, and possibly a few other destinations.

Get tickets at Alinea in Residence.  

Read more about Beautiful Technology, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including Beautiful Technology Makes Life More Beautiful Now and New Technology Turns Ancient Biotech Into Fine Art Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Scott Heimendinger. Potato Salad. Alinea.
2. Image: by Matthew Gilson. Courtesy of Alinea. Tropical Fruit. Rum, Vanilla, and Kaffir Lime.
3. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Scallop, Citrus Aroma, Fourteen Textures.
4. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Binchotan, Tokyo Inspiration.
5. Image: by Christian Seel. Courtesy of Alinea. Crab, Lilac, Rhubarb, & Chervil.
6. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Scallop, Citrus Aroma, Fourteen Textures.
7. Image: Courtesy of the Frosty Griddle Company. Still from Frosty Griddle Ice Cream Machine.
8. Image: by Christian Seel. Courtesy of Alinea. Uni, Served in the Palm Bowl Service Piece.
9. Image: by Christian Seel. Courtesy of Alinea. Rabbit Served in the Apple Bowl Service Piece.
10. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Balloon, Helium, Green Apple. Edible balloons.
11. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Trout Roe, Matsutake, Apple, Mustard.
12. Image: by Edsel Little. Lamb 86. Alinea.
13. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Alinea's Corn, White Chocolate, Honey, & Mango.
14. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Milk Chocolate, Pate Sucree, Violet, & Hazelnut.
15. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Dungeness Crab, Squash Blossom, Cardamom, & Saffron.
16. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Lobster, Curry, Earl Grey, & Grapefruit.
17. Image: by Christian Seel. Courtesy of Alinea. Squab, Inspired by Miro.
18. Image: Courtesy of Alinea. Milk Chocolate, Pate Sucree, Violet, & Hazelnut.
19. Image: by BN App - Download now!
20. Image: by Christian Seel. Courtesy of Alinea. Dark Chocolate: Chicago. Lingonberry syrup & yellow butternut with drops of sweet stout reduction & smashed chocolate balls.