"Spain boasts Ferran Adri's restaurant, elBulli, to push modern cooking's boundaries, but the Chicago restaurant Alinea has its own molecular gastronomy wunderkind in Grant Achatz as he takes food in previously unimagined directions. This cookbook presents the exact recipes, grouped by season, from the restaurant kitchen, such as Yolk Drops with Asparagus, Lemon and Black Pepper or Bison with Beets, Blueberries and Burning Cinnamon, along with gorgeous closeup photographs of these jaw-droppingly fanciful creations. The book opens with essays by food world elder statesmen, including Michael Ruhlman and Jeffrey Steingarten, who lavish praise on Achatz's approach, and Michael Nagrant, who explores the Alinea philosophy through a dish called 'Black Truffle Explosion.' Achatz himself eloquently explains 10 techniques he uses at the restaurant to achieve his culinary goals, from 'bouncing flavors' to custom service ware and aroma manipulation. Though readers are encouraged to make the recipes, or at least interpret them so as to 'craft an experience similar to dining at the restaurant,' where every minute involves intensive engagement with the food, most people will value the book more as a beautifully produced insight into Achatz's creativity and perhaps a spur to their own, even when they are not making spheres of beet juice or mozzarella balloons. Purchase includes access to a companion Web site with video demonstrations, interviews and an forum with Achatz and his team." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

A pioneer in American cuisine, chef Grant Achatz represents the best of the molecular gastronomy movement—brilliant fundamentals and exquisite taste paired with a groundbreaking approach to new techniques and equipment. ALINEA showcases Achatz’s cuisine with more than 100 dishes (totaling 600 recipes) and 600 photographs presented in a deluxe volume. Three feature pieces frame the book: Michael Ruhlman considers Alinea’s role in the global dining scene, Jeffrey Steingarten offers his distinctive take on dining at the restaurant, and Mark McClusky explores the role of technology in the Alinea kitchen. Buyers of the book will receive access to a website featuring video demonstrations, interviews, and an online forum that allows readers to interact with Achatz and his team.

GRANT ACHATZ was named one of the best new chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2002, received the James Beard Rising Star Chef award in 2003, and won the Beard Best Chef/Great Lakes award in 2007. Before opening Alinea in 2005, Achatz was sous chef at the French Laundry and the executive chef of Trio in Chicago. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.