top of page

Alinea

Chicago, Illinois || ✽ ✽ ✽ || Creative, Modern Cuisine || Chef Grant Achatz || 2023

Dining here is part theater and pure pleasure; and meals are an olfactory experience by dint of scented vapors, tricks, and tableside fun.
Executive Chef Douglas Alley is firmly in play, turning out whimsical items that are at times experimental. For starters, a custom resin dish bearing cured Arctic char, crowned by crisped skin glazed with maple syrup. The dish is then flipped to reveal roe suspended in smoke gel. The flavors of Thailand follow in salt-baked kohlrabi shaved tableside. The meal meets its dramatic end with a "Paint" dessert—think of a Pollock-esque creation with blueberries and a liquid N2-frozen block of chocolate mousse smashed to bits.

WEBSITE: https://www.alinearestaurant.com/ || RESERVATIONS: Opens every 15th of the month for the next 45 days

BOKA

Chicago, Illinois || ✽ || Contemporary|| Chef Lee Wolen || 2023

The relaxed dining room fitted with banquettes and mirrored light bulbs exudes elegance with a bit of romance and quirk. All the while, an appealing modern menu celebrates seasonal ingredients with bold preparations and exceptional clarity. To start, braised turnips sound sleepy but it’s a superb effort with coriander yogurt and puffed quinoa. Pasta is exceptional. Think ricotta ravioli with summer corn and smoked buttermilk or porcini gnudi packed with garlicky intensity. Dry-aged Rohan duck matched with roasted shallot and plum jam is a standout, but so too is the black truffle roasted chicken. The talented cocktail program is its own adventure.

WEBSITE: https://www.bokachicago.com/ || RESERVATIONS: Open/ Walk in available

© 2019-2025 by The Project of Purpose & Life

bottom of page