Alinea: More Complete Account, Part 12

As far as I know, this was the only course with a title: Hot Potato, Cold Potato. The soup was a vichyssoise (cold potato soup), and the bowl had a tiny hole on the side. Through the hole, they had placed a pin and skewered things on it. The big ball was a piece of hot potato topped with black truffle. I think the smaller items were a little piece of butter, and perhaps a cube of cheese, along with a baby herb. To eat this course, we had to first remove the pin, dropping the hot items into the cold soup. Of course, anything with potato, truffle, and butter is a-okay with me.

One thing I wonder about is how they got the pin to stand at attention -- it stuck up at about a thirty degree angle. The bowl doesn't seem thick enough to hold the pin steady, and the bit of pin outside the bowl wasn't weighted in any way.

This was our last savory course -- bison encased in savory granola. I don't know what the sauces were, or what the foam was. I think the long, green things were pieces of chive.

There was something about the texture of this course that didn't appeal to me. It almost tasted like the bison was ground, and the granola was heavy on the oats. The whole effect wasn't bad, but a little bland.