For a 'forbidden' Christmas gift, my wife kidnapped me to Chicago, IN JANUARY!, to visit these 2 FINE restaurants - each was wonderful in entirely different ways.
Topolobampo is Rick Bayless's highest end Mexican restaurant: great food, very unique & delicious, with excellent service and quantities large enough that we kept downsizing our order from the 7 tastings to 5 to 3! I grew up in southern California, lots of Mexican friends and meals but this is another world. Relatively expensive with the wine pairings and margaritas but it is something we will only do once this lifetime.
Alinea is the creation of Grant Achatz, food wizard extraordinaire. voted #1 in America, 3 Michelin stars, superlatives cannot end for this place. This is food as theater and we want an encore! Impeccable everything. Ultra expensive, especially with the deluxe wine pairings but the wines were fabulous and paired perfectly - except for 2 that were okay. 17 courses, none of which were recognizable: for instance, one dessert was a silver bowl holding a type of shaved ice upon which sat a perfectly clear 'bowl' made of ice into which bowl was a different type of shaved ice! So, basically, 4 'whitish' things made of different types of ice. The dessert? The last shaved ice tasted of the finest dark chocolate
Every course was equally beguiling
We're saving our pennies...
