Alinea [Hardcover]

Grant Achatz (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 1, 2008

The debut cookbook from the restaurant Gourmet magazine named the best in the country.

A pioneer in American cuisine, chef Grant Achatz represents the best of the molecular gastronomy movement--brilliant fundamentals and exquisite taste paired with a groundbreaking approach to new techniques and equipment. ALINEA showcases Achatz's cuisine with more than 100 dishes (totaling 600 recipes) and 600 photographs presented in a deluxe volume. Three feature pieces frame the book: Michael Ruhlman considers Alinea's role in the global dining scene, Jeffrey Steingarten offers his distinctive take on dining at the restaurant, and Mark McClusky explores the role of technology in the Alinea kitchen. Buyers of the book will receive access to a website featuring video demonstrations, interviews, and an online forum that allows readers to interact with Achatz and his team.

"Achatz is something new on the national culinary landscape: a chef as ambitious as Thomas Keller who wants to make his mark not with perfection but with constant innovation . . . Get close enough to sit down and allow yourself to be teased, challenged, and coddled by Achatz's version of this kind of cooking, and you can have one of the most enjoyable culinary adventures of your life." --Corby Kummer, senior editor of Atlantic Monthly

"Someone new has entered the arena. His name is Grant Achatz, and he is redefining the American restaurant once again for an entirely new generation . . . Alinea is in perpetual motion; having eaten here once, you can't wait to come back, to see what Achatz will come up with next." --GourmetReviews & AwardsJames Beard Foundation Cookbook Award Finalist: Cooking from a professional Point of View Category  James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef Award! "Even if your kitchen isn't equipped with a paint-stripping heat gun, thermocirculator, or refractometer, and you're only vaguely aware that chefs use siphons and foams in contemporary cooking, you can enjoy this daring cookbook from Grant Achatz of the Chicago restaurant Alinea.. . . While the recipes can hardly become part of your everday cooking, this book is far too interesting to be left on the coffee table. As you read, a question emerges: Is Alinea's food art? . . . I go a little further, describing Achatz with a word that he would probably never use to describe himself: avant-garde, as it defined art movements at the beginning of the last century--planned, self-concious, and structured attempts to provoke and shake the status quo. Just as with those artists, the results are not necessarily as interesting as the intentions and concepts behind them. In this sense, this volume constitutes a full-blown although not threatening manifesto."—Art of Eating

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, October 2008: The dishes at Grant Achatz's award-winning Chicago restaurant Alinea are entirely new, yet what diners taste often resurrects their most cherished food memories. Achatz has said that flavor is memory, and of all the ways in which Alinea appeals to the senses, it's flavor that he has harnessed and reinvented in a kitchen that never rests on its laurels. (Although, Achatz has employed everything from smoking oak leaves to cinnamon torches to impart flavor, so who's to say that laurel branches are out of the question?) For a menu as ambitious as Alinea's, its cookbook incarnation is as clear a window into a chef's creative process as you could hope for, buttressed by stunning photography and thoughtful essays from Achatz and food literati Michael Ruhlman and Jeffrey Steingarten, among others. This doesn't mean necessarily that you'll cook from Alinea often, or perhaps ever: the 600 recipes are composed precisely to show that any motivated cook can recreate Alinea's dishes at home, but to do so may be missing the point. What makes Alinea remarkable--and unlike any other cookbook on the shelf--is its passionate insistence that there isn't just one recipe for being a cook. --Anne Bartholomew

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A Conversation with Grant Achatz

Amazon.com: Can you describe what sets Alinea apart from other restaurant cookbooks?

Grant Achatz: We took the approach that we will present exactly what we do in the restaurant without concessions. That means that while we scaled the recipes to 8 servings, we did not convert to teaspoons or cups. This assures us that the recipes are tight and sound because we have made each of them a thousand or more times. Equally important is the fact that every single finished dish is pictured in the book. I always find it frustrating to read a great recipe and then not see the finished product. I understand that usually cost factors into showing only a portion of the recipes in picture form, but we decided that we had to take pictures of everything and we did.

I also think because the creative team involved in making the book is the same that has made Alinea what it is, the "feel" of the book exemplifies that of the restaurant. This is truly important when taking on a project of this scope, the hope is that the reader felt an Alinea experience without dining here. We wanted the book to capture the essence, the spirit of the restaurant, and I think we accomplished that. Many cookbooks set out to simply highlight recipes, we wanted more.

Amazon.com: When you started developing the book, did you have other cookbook models in mind? How did you want yours to be different?

Achatz: We wanted the book to mirror the restaurant and its philosophy in a consistent manner. We looked at various other books to set different bars--one for the aesthetic, one for the quality of the printing, others for their clarity in recipes--then we decided what we didn't like in other books and went about finding solutions. For example, giant ingredient lists at the top of a page are often frustrating when you begin to go through the recipe. So we eliminated the overall ingredient lists and placed the ingredients right next to the instructions on how to make that sub-recipe. We think that makes a ton of sense and simplifies making the recipes a great deal. We were encouraged by pretty much everyone to explain each and every dish in a header--something most books do--and realized that they all start sounding the same. At one point we started reading headers from ten different books and they were interchangeable. So we got rid of those and put the over-arching explanations and technique descriptions in the front.

Amazon.com: You designed a website to complement the cookbook. How do you hope cooks and chefs will use the site?

Achatz: Ideally a community forms where home cooks, professional chefs, and our staff can interact with each other as a community interested in pushing the culinary arts forward.  By community, we mean an open exchange of ideas and encouragement. Now that we are done with the book and it is hitting stores and homes we are going to turn our attention back to the front of the Mosaic as well and start adding more content--videos, recipes, essays....

Amazon.com: Speaking of websites, how do you think "Alinea at Home" blogger Carol Blymire will fare? (She did make it through The French Laundry Cookbook…)

Achatz: We already have a section on the Mosaic where early buyers who gained access to preview recipes made dishes and posted their results--and they look fantastic! I think she will do quite well but will be forced to scale back in a few areas unless she makes this her full time job. And that is fine--we encourage ambitious amateurs to tackle the recipes by picking out key elements and making the dish their own.

Amazon.com: Since Alinea opened its doors three years ago, both you and your restaurant have earned the prestigious James Beard Award. Could you have envisioned this enormous success when you first started out?

Achatz: Our goal was to build the best restaurant in the country...that was our stated goal. Did I think we would get there? Is there such a thing? We push to refine and get better. We are certainly not the best restaurant to go to if you want a pizza. But within the high-end haute culinary world I think we compare well. I don't believe there is such a thing as "the best." But we strive for that ideal.

Amazon.com: Molecular gastronomy is something of a vogue classification these days--do you think the food at Alinea fits this description, or is the high-tech aspect of your kitchen just one piece of the puzzle?

Achatz: It is a small piece of the puzzle.  Questioning convention is the bigger piece.  We do that with almost every dish…and with the book.  Technology is used where necessary to achieve a specific goal for a specific dish. As we say in the front of the book, we create first and worry about technology second.  At the end of the day, I am a cook.

Amazon.com: Does a "molecular" approach to cooking necessarily mean that you're working with greater precision and efficiency than you would if you were only using traditional methods?

Achatz: I believe that Herve This did not mean "molecular" in the sense of chemistry when he coined the term...regardless, our approach is to do everything with a sense of purpose.  Does that mean we are a precise and efficient kitchen? Absolutely. But I don't know if using unique ingredients and techniques pushes us in that direction. I think, rather, it is a commitment to overall excellence that does that.

Amazon.com: In today's ever-competitive culinary landscape, is it possible to be both low-tech and genuinely innovative? 

Achatz: Absolutely. High-tech for its own sake is a bad idea and results in a soulless cuisine. I have had some high-tech meals that fall flat and taste lousy. You can certainly be innovative with just ingredients, a knife, and a pan over heat. But why not do both if you have the inclination, desire, and ability?

Amazon.com: What advice do you have for home cooks who want to experiment with your style of cooking? Is there a technique or ingredient that's versatile enough to be a useful entry point for the uninitiated?

Achatz: You know, none of it is really that difficult to execute.  It is just very time consuming as there are usually a great many mise en place requirements. So I would advise that they start with the dishes that are small in scope and build up from there.

Amazon.com: What do you enjoy most about the process of building a new recipe?

Achatz: Discovering a combination that is both unexpected and delicious. It is remarkable to me when we hit upon something that seems incredibly novel at first only to think at the end at how obvious it was--like it was sitting there just waiting to happen.

Amazon.com: What are the challenges (and, conversely, the triumphs) for your staff in serving the Alinea menu?

Achatz: We work hard with our service team to remain approachable and to have fun with the guests. The meal should be enjoyable, but there is a great deal of information that needs to get passed to the guest to maximize their enjoyment. So we work to do that in a way that doesn't sound like a lecture or a rote script. So the staff needs to find a balance between giving descriptions and keeping the evening rolling along. Most of the time they are good at reading a table to find out what kind of experience a group wants and then tailoring their service to that table. We can do formal Michelin 3-star European service, and we can do a really smooth but toned-down relaxed style.  Ultimately, we have a group of people in the front of house that love the restaurant and believe passionately in what we do--and as long as that shows through above all else,the guests will be well served.

Amazon.com: What's the most gratifying presentation you've created for a dish? Is it featured in the book?

Achatz: Again, this is like asking a parent to single out their favorite  child. Impossible. I enjoy the Hot Potato–Cold Potato. I think it shows the collaboration between Martin (Kastner) and I. It exemplifies the whimsy, the function, interaction, and engagement we utilize in our dishes.

Amazon.com: Do you take in the occasional Chicago hot dog, or are your local food pleasures more quirky?

Achatz: Pot Belly's Sandwich Works is always a good call. I like pizzas, hot dogs, quintessential Chicago diners. I am not a food snob.

Amazon.com: In the book you talk about how food is as much an emotional experience as a physical one. Do you have a favorite food memory?

Achatz: I have many great food memories. The first meal at the French Laundry always lands near the top. I credit that experience with opening my eyes to the creativity of food, and establishing my relationship with my mentor Thomas Keller. 

Amazon.com: Jeffrey Steingarten was frank about his initial hesitation to eat at Alinea, wondering if he would "get" your food. What's your advice to diners who may not understand what you’re trying to do at Alinea, or who may find it intimidating?

Achatz: Try it. Really, there is no other way. I often read comments on the web or in the press about our dining experience or food from people whom I know have not eaten at the restaurant.  How can they know without trying? 95% of our guests come down to the kitchen at the end of the night and the look on their face tells me that they had a great experience. So I would tell anyone--young, old, from any part of the world--come try Alinea...there is a 95% chance you will "get" it.

Photography by Lara Kastner, Courtesy of Alinea & Achatz LLC.

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From Publishers Weekly

Spain boasts Ferran Adria's restaurant, elBulli, to push modern cooking's boundaries, but the Chicago restaurant Alinea has its own molecular gastronomy wunderkind in Grant Achatz as he takes food in previously unimagined directions. This cookbook presents the exact recipes, grouped by season, from the restaurant kitchen, such as Yolk Drops with Asparagus, Lemon and Black Pepper or Bison with Beets, Blueberries and Burning Cinnamon, along with gorgeous closeup photographs of these jaw-droppingly fanciful creations. The book opens with essays by food world elder statesmen, including Michael Ruhlman and Jeffrey Steingarten, who lavish praise on Achatz's approach, and Michael Nagrant, who explores the Alinea philosophy through a dish called "Black Truffle Explosion." Achatz himself eloquently explains 10 techniques he uses at the restaurant to achieve his culinary goals, from "bouncing flavors" to custom service ware and aroma manipulation. Though readers are encouraged to make the recipes, or at least interpret them so as to "craft an experience similar to dining at the restaurant," where every minute involves intensive engagement with the food, most people will value the book more as a beautifully produced insight into Achatz's creativity and perhaps a spur to their own, even when they are not making spheres of beet juice or mozzarella balloons. Purchase includes access to a companion Web site with video demonstrations, interviews and an forum with Achatz and his team. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: 10 Speed Press; First Edition edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580089283
• ISBN-13: 978-1580089289
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 1.6 x 12.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

GRANT ACHATZ was named one of the best new chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2002, received the James Beard Rising Star Chef award in 2003, and won the Beard Best Chef/Great Lakes award in 2007. Before opening Alinea in 2005, Achatz was sous chef at the French Laundry and the executive chef of Trio in Chicago. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 86 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A book designed to inspire October 17, 2008

By Cookbook Gal VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

What this book is: a gorgeous, coffee table quality book at a fantastic price. It is geared toward serious foodies and cooks. In my opinion, it is intended to inspire, and to help improve the skills of home cooks who are daring enough to try the recipes.

What this book is not: an everyday or family-type cookbook. If you are looking for a book like that, with great recipes that work, check out some of the America's Test Kitchen books. Think of it this way: if you want practical shoes, buy sneakers, not 5-inch stilettos. This book falls in the stiletto category.

At first glance, the book is intimidating: beautifully constructed dishes, artfully photographed. When I actually bothered to read the introduction (lesson: read the intro materials!), I saw that the authors: (1) duplicated the Alinea recipes, but scaled them down when possible for home use; (2) intended that the book be a springboard for your own creativity. In other words, some of these dishes have multiple elements, but you don't have to make all of them. An example cited in a section entitled "How to Use this Book," involves adaptations made to a truffle broth (using commercial button mushrooms) for a Thanksgiving dinner at home. They don't tell you how to adapt the recipes, so you have to be an experienced and/or adventurous home cook to figure out how to do this by yourself.

The recipes call for a lot of commercial equipment, but again, the intro explains how you can pull together home equivalents, and clarifies that Alinea uses the commercial equipment to maintain consistency for the volume of food that it produces. You still have to be pretty dedicated to go through all the home-cook modifications if you want actually to make some of these dishes.

The cookbook is arranged seasonally, so the dishes are organized under Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer.

The recipes require many weird ingredients (e.g.,citric acid, agar agar, lecithin - and those are the less weird ones!). They are explained, not in a glossary in the back of the book, but in another section in the introductory material. Some sources are listed, but the important thing to note is that the authors have set up a website that they want readers to use in conjunction with the book, and that site will give sources and other advice: http://www.alinea-mosaic.com.

The negatives include: (1) a microscopic font size on dark gray pages, which makes it hard to read the recipes, and (2) weak cross referencing. By that I mean, if a recipe component is a truffle broth, they do not cite the page for the truffle broth recipe - you have to go to the index, look that up, and rifle through the book.

Books of this quality (like the El Bulli books) sell for a LOT more. This book is almost a steal at this price, and it could push your cooking to a whole new level if you actually give the recipes a shot.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Like Being A Mad Scientist, but You Get To Impress Your Friends and Eat the Results, Too! February 6, 2009

By Amy Senk VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Like most foodies, I was well aware of Grant Achatz and his amazing Chicago restaurant, Alinea, even though I haven't eaten there and live 2,000 miles away. Word of this cookbook was buzzing about for months, and we were anxious to get it and look at it and...well...be amazed. Just by looking at it.

But a funny thing happened, which was a blogger we love, Carol Blymire, decided that after cooking and blogging her way through The French Laundry Cookbook, she was going to take on the Alinea book. Now, suddenly, this complicated book became a kind of ongoing educational text. And as Carol tried out the recipes, we then pulled out our copy and tried the recipes, too.

Achatz is known for molecular gastronomy, which means he uses chemicals and innovative tools to turn a meal into an explosion of flavor and surprise. This book shows his food being served so it looks like something from outer space; and there is a section that discusses things you might never really buy, but which he uses, like antigriddles, which freezes food instantly.

It's fun to take a book that seems so extreme and out of our comfort zone as home chefs, and to prepare actual recipes from it. This book has us ordering crazy ingredients, and doing things like turning homemade caramel into a powdery shotglass of yumminess.

We've had a blast with the Alinea cookbook, and I highly suggest buying it and having fun. Read Carol's blog, AlineaAtHome.com, for inspiration, and try out a recipe or two on your own. We went from thinking it was a book to look at only, to having our children use some of the recipes (a cracker one, for example) to create their own snacks.

Definitely, one of our favorite cookbooks of all times.

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars impressive June 14, 2009

By Jackal

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This books has several hundred detailed descriptions of molecular gastronomy dishes. As others have pointed out these are not likely to be cooked, but they could be. The correct end result is always presented by instructive pictures.

I will not give the current book more than three stars. If you are an aspiring MG chef, clearly this is a must buy due to the quality of the recipes. I've eaten in the restaurant so I can attest to this fact. What about the rest of us?

Most customers would do better buying Adria's A Day at El Bulli and/or Blumenthal's The Fat Duck Cookbook. They provide more insight on the creative process, especially Blumenthal. Adria is interesting because he arguably created the MG cooking, A better understanding of the creative process in the kitchen is the most important learning in these books. Their approach is so different from the traditional apprentice model. Achatz provides a few reflections on the creative process and that is interesting. However, the first sections of the book read like a marketing brochure and Achatz is raised to the sky by a number of guest-authors. That is very dull reading. It is also sad the we don't hear the voice of Achatz more. Blumenthal and Adria come across as living human beings. Achatz is so much more anonomous. I'm not interested in a biography, but how he thinks about creativity, etc. I want to hear his voice. He is still a very young chef, so I'm sure that will come when he gets more maturity.

If you actually want to cook MG recipes (and have the equipment), I would go with Achatz rather than Blumenthal because of the larger amount of recipes and better pictures. Adria's book doesn't have many recipes at all, but of course Adria also has several recipe collections.

The binding of this book is just awful and will break very quicky. But then again this book is very cheap compared to the competitors. Still I would have preferred a slighly more expensive book that has a decent binding.

UPDATE: Despite its high price Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking should probably be the first book you buy if you are interested in molecular/modernist gastronomy.