Originally Posted by trojanman

I second that comment. I did the 26-course tasting at Alinea with full wine pairing. It was the most expensive meal I've ever had in my life (roughly $600 including tax and tip, for one). However, I will say that of the 26 courses, there were only 3 that were "world class" (Lobster 3-ways, A5-12 Wagyu, and the Guiness Beef thing), about 4-6 that were "excellent", about 12 that were "good to very good" and the remainder really just fell flat on their face...I would venture to say "unacceptable" (like the stuff you suck out of a glass tube, the duck, the egg thingy).

What makes the Alinea experience is the perfectly orchestrated service, the incredible knowledge of both the servers and wine stewards, and the fact that they have bread pairings to go with several courses