Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5 EAN: 9781580089289 ISBN: 1580089283 Label: Ten Speed Press Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 416 Publication Date: 2008-10 Publisher: Ten Speed Press Sales Rank: 353 Studio: Ten Speed Press
Absolutely Beautiful!
Alinea is stunning--beautifully designed and photographed and very interesting to read! I live far away from Chicago, and may never get to go to Alinea, but reading Alinea is like stepping into a magical food world. I might not ever cook anything from it, but I know that I will look at it often to stimulate my imagination to try create my own edible works of art.
This is a wonderful gift for any food obsessed person--I have already purchased 2 for presents.
Achatz is Dali: Alinea - Each Bite is a Paragraph of Mindfulness
Achatz - to cuisine - is what Dali was to canvas. Esoteric, ephemeral, surreal, transcendent, a-linear, the Alinea images are an introspection into the poetry of taste.
Having had the fortune of experiencing Alinea earlier this year, I was happy to stumble upon the book later in the fall: as I had been trying to "paint the picture" of the experience for my friends, I felt the insufficiency of words to convey the whimsical intensity and the moody nuance of Alinea forms. The book solved the problem. With this in mind, I recommend the book as a kind of photoalbum of Alinea pilgrimage to compliment the memories.
I would like to muse on the semantics of the restaurant's name itself...
Awesome
this is what the culinary world has been waiting on is cutting edge stuff from a cutting edge chef- Awesome!
Astounding and inspirational
After eating at Alinea last year I was left with so many questions. I am a chef as well and after attempting to re-create some of the elements from dishes I enjoyed at Alinea I was overjoyed when Alinea was first announced. It is not likely that most people who purchase Alinea will ever reproduce a single recipe let alone attempt to execute an entire tasting menu, but the amount of inspiration and ideas which can be found here is amazing. I bought Alinea more to satisfy my curiosity than for any other reason and Alinea has done so much more than satisfy that curiosity. Many of the ideas are executed so much more simply than I ever imagined.
As for the book itself, The essays which open the book are a must-read, they set the ... Read More
The world is a better place because of Chef Achatz.
Anyone who knows me has heard me compare food experiences with music. Along those lines, Grant Achatz is a Sonic Youth, or a Kurt Cobain. He is breaking out of standards, while still making enjoyable music that challenges the audience, forces them out of their comfort zones, but leaves them happier for it. Alinea is an awesome little viewing window into that world. And the recipes are clear, useful, and understandable to boot. Again, you won't be cooking anything from this at home, but for a professional, this is pretty easy stuff to learn about, and Alinea is a good second step in learning about it. Jordi Cruz's book "Logical Cusine" would be the first step.
