Just one of the many gorgeous courses Tim and Brandt enjoyed at Alinea in Chicago earlier this summer. I think he said the meal, excuse me, dining experience… lasted six hours. Whew! What’s the longest feast you’ve sat through? Was it glorious?
Let's eat
Responses to “Too pretty to eat?”
August 25th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
Once, my husband’s grandmother took us to the Penrose Room at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The formal restaurant overlooks the foothills of the Rockies there in the Springs. I remember around 20 tables–but only 2 or 3 of them were taken.
Service was slow. Of course it was purposefully slow, ostensibly allowing for dancing, plenty of cocktails and lots of sparklingly witty conversation. If only. The whole experience was as long as the Oscars with a bad host. You keep watching, hoping for the best, knowing it SHOULD be a great experience, while you yawn and wish you could tear yourself away.
The entrees were actually served by a team of waiters, each one carrying a silver domed plate. That touch did create a moment of excitement: the only one of the evening. I can’t remember exactly what the bill was, but I remember discussing that we could have bought a small car with what dinner cost.
I do love the Broadmoor, and I do enjoy a leisurely dinner. But I’ve noticed that certain members of “the greatest generation” (eg, my grandmother in law and her friends) have a penchant for a level of leisure–or should I say a length of leisure–that makes ME feel like the octagenarian.
My post is almost as long as that dinner. :).
August 28th, 2006 at 9:58 am
I don’t have a great story about an epic meal, but I do have a link to a blogger’s post about his experience at Alinea. (The writer is a friend of my husband’s from Nashville and he blogs about his two great passions — eating and running.)
I didn’t know that restaurants like this existed. And I’m not really sure that’s where I want to spend my dining bucks, but it does make for some interesting reading:
http://runninggags.blogspot.com/2006/05/my-chicago-appetite-iii-alinea.html
August 28th, 2006 at 10:38 am
Is that a Paper Napkin I see in the picture? I would think a 6 hour meal in a restaurant of that level and price would use linen.
August 28th, 2006 at 10:46 am
Our longest meals have been about three hours. We had a really fun time at the food bar at Emeril’s in New Orleans. Our server explained all the parts of the kitchen to Patric, who was ten then, and the chefs spoke to him as time allowed. He got the perfect gifts too, a Bam! chef’s hat and an autographed cookbook. The food was excellent too.
More recently, we spent three divine hours at Manresa in Los Gatos, California. That was a spectacular meal. The service was professional and still very receptive and friendly to Patric (12 now). We had eight glorious courses, and Patric had four. And there were also five amuse bouche for each of us.
You can’t ask about long meals and not expect long posts. 
August 30th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
Trust me…the menu wasn’t even paper. It was velum in a leather portofolio.
The flatware napkins were pure linen as were the dinner napkins. Not cotton or poly made to look like linen. Real linen and the dinner napkin was a full 16″ square.
The flatware naps were sewn to an Asian ceramic trivet. One of the waiters brought the linen laiden trivets out and told us that we should send all flatware that was used back with each course as they would bring new flatware each time. They went on to say that we wouldn’t soil the linen if we were at home so we shouldn’t do it there either…it was done with a smile.
Off to French Laundry this weekend. More pics soon.
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