**balloon pic stolen from google as I’m in all the pics we have with it**
*Price* – 1037.57 for two people pre drinks, including tasting menu (I think $385 pp?) 20% service fee, plus taxes. I believe we paid maybe an extra 40 on top of that for a delicious blueberry NA ferment as well
*Where I’m coming from/my restaurant tastes for context and whether you’ll want to take my review seriously or not* – not a chef, don’t have extremely skilled palette. I love fine dining because I love weird and kitsch experiences that are over the top for the fun of it, not for the best food (imply don’t have the palette to tell the difference often between great food and amazing food 🤷) If a restaurant is anything like DiverXO, Alchemist, P&P, Fat Duck I’ll most likely love it. The more over the top and ‘gimmicky’, the better, the less the food looks like food, the better. The weirder the ingredient mixings and presentation, the better. You get the picture
*Overall impression* – amazing! Lots of unique and fun flavor mixes and presentations, amazing service, and just tons of fun! Kitsch in an elevated way that we really enjoyed. Most everything was absolutely delicious and beautiful.
*Service* – So great! Every server had such a vibrant and personable personality, cracking jokes and telling fun stories while still being completely on top of the service with a finesse that showed fantastic training.
*Favorites* – outside of the obvious balloon and paint, the hot potato/cold potato dish, ostera, and mango dishes were fantastic!
*random/main critique* – there’s no cocktails. We knew this going in, but I feel like it doesn’t fit with Alinea’s character? It’s not as much of a party place as say Pineapple and Pearls or DiverXO, but you literally have an edible balloon, how can you not have a cocktail menu? I’m not a wine person, I would have loved to have either a cocktail option or a NA pairing option of various juices and ferments.
by MrSpiderisadomme
4 Comments
Plates 12-14 are …a choice, aesthetically. Did they look better in person?
Have you been to the Aviary? It’s one of Alinea’s sister restaurants and they do cocktail and food pairing. (I went to Alinea in 2022, going to the Aviary in May)
These prices in the US are insane – costs almost the same to eat at Alchemist but better experience
Beautiful plates, as in the actual dishes. Food presentation is lacking. Overall doesn’t look appetizing. The dog turd under the glass lid is laughable.