Alinea

NileGuide Expert tip:

If you would like to upgrade from the 12 course meal, and your wallet is feeling full, try the 29 course meal to experience true genius. The tour takes 5 hours.

Description:

• Alinea -- anointed the best restaurant in the country by no less than Gourmet magazine -- is a place no serious foodie should miss. Like Homaro Cantu at Moto, Chef Grant Achatz wants to revolutionize the way we eat, which he does by presenting familiar foods in new contexts and unexpected forms. (He's been known, for example, to serve dishes on lavender-scented pillows, so the floral scent wafts up as you eat.) The menu changes constantly, but you're guaranteed to taste something new here, whether it's ravioli with a liquid-truffle filling or bites of bison tenderloin wrapped in crispy potatoes and seasoned with cinnamon. Achatz, who has worked with Spain's Ferran Adrià (the master of food deconstruction), as well as French Laundry's Thomas Keller, says he wants diners to feel like they're taking a journey, "zigzagging between challenge and comfort." The restaurant itself is certainly comfortable, with shoulder-high chairs you can sink into and soft, flattering lighting sparkling off the sharp angles of the grand staircase. But you'll only be comfortable dining here if you're willing to go along for the ride. Eat with an open mind (and a full wallet), and you'll be well rewarded.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Chicago Magazine

•  Best Dish 2007

Eat Out Magazine

•  Award-winning Restaurant 2008

Food and Wine Magazine

•  Go List 2007

CitySearch

•  Celebrity Chef 2007
•  Special Occasion Dining 2007

S. Pellegrino

•  World's 50 Best Restaurants 2009

Gayot

•  Top 40 U.S. Restaurant 2008

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2009
•  Very Highly Recommended 2010