Alinea - the Final Countdown... 5 Kinds of Dessert

So, it's come to this. Dessert. Five desserts, in fact. And I have to do all of them at once, lest I lose myself as I replay them for five days straight.

Shall we begin?

Applewood (muscovado, fenugreek)

That looks like a marshmallow, doesn't it? Well, of course it ISN'T.

It's actually a dense little cylinder of applewood ice cream, rolled in muscovado sugar with a bit of caramelized fenugreek. Another triumph of texture, temperature and flavor.

Sassafrass Cream (mandarin ice)

What you see is a hollow cylinder of mandarin orange "sorbet", filled with sassafrass cream,   resting atop rootbeer reduction and shortbread "crumbles".

This was refreshing and delicious, but it was "busy" - at this point in the meal, my palate wasn't doing so well with the myriad flavors going on in this dish.

Sponge Cake (tonka bean, vanilla fragrance)

Absolutely my favorite dessert of the night. And the 2nd dish where I made a bit of a fool of myself.

A crackly, caramelized bit of sponge cake is skewered by a vanilla bean. It rests in a foamy emulsion of tonka bean and bits of dried berries. So simple, so delicious. And considerate of chef to leave us a vanilla bean to chew on -- wait, what's that? I'm not supposed to chew on it?

Well, the staff doesn't seem to mind. In fact, they proceed to vacuum-seal a FRESH vanilla bean for me to take home. Sigh.

Chocolate (avocado, lime, mint)

The only dish I couldn't finish all night, making me feel like an abject failure.
A twirled ribbon of chocolate ganache with chocolate "dirt", a perfect droplet of avocado cream (which tasted remarkably like a light banana pudding - delicious), lime ice cream (refreshing AND mouth-coating -- amazing!), and mint syrup.

Unfortunately, the mint killed this one for me; it was simply too strong compared to the "fresher" flavors of the avocado and lime, and a bit too viscous when paired with the exceedingly dense ganache.

Peanut (five other flavors) -- aka, redemption

Another neato contraption, this time with little nubbins of "peanut" in five different permutations. Each of these was a perfectly tasty little morsel, and several evoked fond childhood memories.

 

Technorati Tags: Food | Food & Drink | Alinea | San Francisco | Chicago