"alinea" news and stories

Need proof that Chicago diners have bought into the hype surrounding Grant Achatz' new Chicago restaurant, Next? Check Craigslist. Fans of Achatz' brand of avant-garde cooking are literally paying thousands of dollars for the privilege of eating at his newest outpost. The restaurant operates on a ticket system -- secure a ticket and you're in for a meal. But demand drives up prices, and since the seats are limited, scalpers are having a field day. Recent Craigslist postings have the coveted tickets listed for as much as $3,000. Achatz proved his cooking chops at Alinea, but he's going to have to put out some pretty impressive food to satisfy diners who ponied up that much dough.

Read the full story at The Huffington Post.

• Alinea's Tasting Menu Expressed In Jelly Beans [Michele Humes]
• Jim Lahey Reviews The New Domino's Pizza [Ozereky.TV]
• David Chang on the Late Show With David Letterman [Eater]
• Starbucks Faces Challenges in Recycling Efforts [NRN]
• Can the Cooking Channel revamp food TV? [Salon]

• Eric Ripert Predicts Beard Winners [Grub Street New York]
• Alinea Named the Best Chicago Restaurant, Ever [Eater Chicago]
• Danone Withdraws Yogurt Health Claims [WSJ]
• My Life in Food - What Sam Sifton, the NY Times Restaurant Critic, Eats [Diner's Journal]
• Bolivia Puts the Coke Back in Coca Colla [Fork in the Road]
• Party's over for Tailgaters at Dodgers Stadium [LA Times]

CORRECTION: Achatz Not Opening Molecular Bar Called 'Boom'

The Chicago bar scene is about to get a little more creative.

Grant Achatz, the chef behind Chicago's award-winning molecular gastronomy restaurant Alinea, is opening a bar -- Boom -- that will turn the classic cocktail on its head, Eater National reported.

Achatz told the Wall Street Journal that Boom will be a stand-alone cocktail bar where food will come second to drinks.

"Liquid nitrogen, dry ice, tapiocas, foam cotton candy, it's endless," Achatz told the Journal. "Not that I am bored here, but it's opening up new possibilities. I would love the opportunity to sit down at a bar and say I am going to have an alcohol tasting menu."

For example, Achatz has re-imagined the Sazerac, a classic cocktail made from whiskey, bitters and sugar. In Achatz's version, the bitters is made into "pudding dots" and the "whiskey is transformed into gelée," the Journal reported.

Tweezers. They're not just for plucking your eyebrows or removing splinters anymore.

In some of the country's hottest kitchens, chefs are turning to the tiny tongs -- the medical variety used by doctors in the operating room -- to put delicate finishing touches on dishes that mere fingers would surely bungle, the New York Times reported.

"I was using tweezers to handle a thin stream of strawberry purée frozen with liquid nitrogen because if you touch it, it falls apart," Grant Achatz, the chef at Alinea, a high-end restaurant in Chicago, told the Times. "Tweezers allow boundary-pushing with scale and texture."