Alinea's Desserts

I had the pleasure of eating for the second time at Alinea last night. Both my girlfriend and I enjoyed it very much. We both enjoyed three sweet courses to finish our meal. The first couple pictures are of Earl Grey, which was brought out on a pillow that was perfumed with the scent of earl grey. The dessert consisted of lemon curd spheres, crystallized pine nuts, cookie crumble, carmelized white chocolate, and I believe a rose water gelee. The second dessert we enjoyed was their Chocolate dessert. It consisted of coconut gel, menthol, hyssop, frozen coconut, frozen chocolate mousse, warm chocolate "puck", and a chocolate crumble. The third and our final course was there classic bubble gum shooter, which was filled with a long pepper gelee, hibiscus gel, creme fraiche, and bubble gum tapioca. Overall our meal was fantastic. I look forward to the next time I eat at Alinea.

My thoughts

First and foremost I focus on flavor, and how I can get the most from my product. I usually start each dessert with a flavor profile of 3-4 main flavors that I want my dessert to consist of. You have to think that if you use too many flavors in your desserts things might get “lost”. Sometimes less is more if you know what I mean. When I go to a restaurant or a bakery, I always eat with my eyes. I believe that customers will always eat with there eyes first. People are not going to come into your establishment if your food does not look appetizing. So another main focus of mine is to make my desserts visually appealing. I really enjoy movement in desserts. I like to kind of stray from the more classical symmetry that I have seen in a lot of desserts lately. I guess you could say I like more organic and whimsical shapes. Another thing I like to focus on is color in my desserts. Being a marketing major I have learned that each color in our spectrum introduces and provokes a different emotional response in people. It is through these emotional responses that feelings are formed. Each color represents something else. So, playing with different colors and components you can in turn begin to delve into the minds of your guests. I also try to focus on technique whether it be classical or more modern. I believe that you must have a strong foundation of technique. These are just a few of the things that float around in my brain when I begin to work on a new dessert. To be continued….

New Hering Plate

This is a picture of a new hering plate we recieved at L20. Im not sure if it is new to the restaurant or just new to the menu. When I first saw Laurent pull this plate out I fell in love. A crowd of eager chefs soon circled to see the plate for themselves. Hering must have broken a lot of plates drilling the holes. I am not quite sure what the actual name of the plate is or the exact price. I would imagine a single plate would cost $400-600. (don't quote me on that).

Plates Continued...

I wanted to share with you pictures of different plates that I have acquired over the past few years at per se, Alinea, and L20. I really get inspired by seeing beautiful china. My mind starts thinking of different dessert components that could both compliment each other and also compliment the lines of the plate. Plates are a big expense in a restaurants budget. I have been witness to quite a few mishaps in the kitchen when stacks of plates have been broken, servers dropping trays, porters dropping plates, etc. It might be one of the worst sounds in a quite kitchen during service. The CRASH of a tray stacked full of a 6 tops entrees, the kitchen going silent in the horror, the chef stares in shock, the server’s remorse. At per se any plate that was chipped or disfigured in any way was discarded immediately. This attention to detail can cost a restaurant hundreds if not thousands of dollars on a single “accident”. I have been fortunate enough to be around and lay claim to the restaurants expenses.

per se

Alinea

L20

Alcohol "Gums"

The pictures that you see are taken at L20 and are of mezcal “gum”. Essentially it is a gelee made from gelatin and sugar with mezcal alcohol as the flavoring. I have made other gums using the same formula but with different alcohol flavorings. The texture is that of a gummy bear, but with pure alcohol flavoring. A grown up gummy bear if you will. The formula consists of the alcohol flavoring bloomed with powdered gelatin. Another mixture of the same alcohol, sugar, and glucose is heated to 125 degrees C, and then cooled to 100 degrees. The bloomed alcohol and gelatin mix is added to the cooled sugars, with a third amount of the alcohol. The finished gelee is funneled into oiled silicon molds to set in refrigeration. I would imagine that any liquid could be replaced in the formula to add flavor (fruit purees etc.) I think the finished product is an interesting way to add a different textural element to your desserts.

Hering Plates

I really have a thing for plates. I love going to restaurants and seeing what kind of plates they use. Some of my favorite plates are made by a German company called Hering. Mostly all of there plates have the same type of design on them, they are all made from porcelain, and are all very expensive. I have had the plasure of plating on hering plates/bowls at both per se and L20. At L20 we use about 85% hering plates, which makes me very happy. In my opinion picking the right plate for your dessert is a major decision that takes time.

New Dessert

On my days off I really enjoy coming up with new dessert ideas in my own kitchen. All of the pictures in "My Desserts" have been made at home in my kitchen. I own a lot of idustrial chemicals that help me to achieve the products in the pictures. I also own a lot of tools that I rely on to create my desserts (immersion blender, thermowhip, vitaprep, atomizer, etc etc.) I really hope that I can inspire more chefs to cook and test recipes in the comfort of there own home. I know that after 14 hour days that is the last thing that most of you would want to do. But hey this dessert only took about an hour to make from start to finish.

Apricot, Lemon Confit, Orange Confit, Lemon Gel, Apricot Gel, Vanilla Bavarois, Heavy Cream Powder, Orange Candy, Orange Sorbet