Beyond Innovation

A few months ago, I watched an episode of Chef's Table on Netflix about Grant Achatz, the chef of Alinea. Our family visited the restaurant during a college visit in 2010 and the experience transcended any expectations about going to a restaurant. The show added additional layers to my experience and further, defined for me what it means to be innovative. Grant Achatz creative leadership of Alinea illuminates better than any other story the potential of innovation to completely transform - in his case, what it means to visit a restaurant, to dine, to eat.  Alinea is a fully immersive experience that engages visitors (for me, "diner" doesn't do it) with all of our senses and then some ... for example, curiosity, surprise & silliness.

After seeing the episode, I decided I needed to go back.  This weekend, Bari and I enjoyed an experience like no other with our dear friends Karyn and Risa Hurwich. Alinea did not disappoint! I took pictures (everyone does) but they barely capture what it feels like to be there. I'm going to tell the story out of order - mostly to illustrate some of the most remarkable parts of the experience.

I'll start at the end, with (2nd) desert course, when we learned that Alinea has a "resident artist". Then I remembered that the Netflix episode starts with Achatz staring at an abstract painting that is more than life sized. This image signals the extent to which he is pushing the envelope of the dining experience - so I understood that he'd want to include expertise on his team to push the limits of the visitor's visual experience.  

The desert course starts with a placemat decorated with a painting by their artist being placed in front of every diner. Moments later, the servers appear with large glass plates that contain our desert. The glass plate is placed over the placemat and the images of the painting underneath and the desert on the glass seem to complement each other perfectly. As the servers describe the course, we learn that all the artwork in the restaurant has been designed by the "artist in residence" to create a cohesive visual experience.

Another distinct element of the experience at Alinea is the menu. I remembered from our first visit that the menu was presented at the end. This allowed Achatz and his team to control the experience and direct each course as a performance that introduced surprise, humor and other emotions to the dining experience. This time, Alinea went a step further and added an element of anticipation and curiosity. After we were seated, the server placed a card on the table with clues about each course and challenged us to guess what we might experience with each new course.

After each course was presented, we'd feel delighted if we even found a clue from the card - but in most cases, we enjoyed the challenge of unraveling the puzzle.

My favorite course from this visit started with a campfire.  Yup, a campfire - lit with a blue flame from a cooks torch and cradled in a lava bowl set in the middle of our table. From our previous visit, I knew there was more to the story but in Alinea form, I didn't have a clue how it would all end.

After the fire burned a a few minutes, the servers arrived to deliver the food. The first to arrive, laid a wet napkin over the file - immediately squelching the fire and creating a gentle smoke that filled the table area with intense aromas of cinnamon, allspice and others that had been burning in the fire that we'd somehow missed earlier - but that were included to complement the food. Instead of including some of the seasoning in the food, Chef Achatz introduced them through aromas.

When you watch the episode - and I hope that I've convinced you to - you'll hear an incredible story about leadership that Chef Achatz learned as he recovered from a deadly illness that (temporarily) eliminated his sense of taste. During his recovery, he learned how to share his ideas with his staff and to give them the opportunity to push the innovation envelope beyond his own individual capacities. In one case, he shared his dream to offer "floating food". One of his staff responded that he'd try to make that work which resulted in a signature dish where guests are now presented with a helium filled balloon made completely (I think) from sugar.

The balloon did not disappoint - it delivered my helium voice and a good giggle.  Sorry I couldn't include the video here - but feel free to click through to watch - it's worth the 10 seconds for a good smile. You'll need to visit Alinea yourself to share the full experience for yourself.