Moto (Chicago)
 

So I spent a few days in the Windy City last week to attend a Christmas party with the wife. This was only the second time in about 5 years that we were sans kids so we decided to treat ourselves. We were flip-flopping between Moto and Alinea and ended up at Moto for a variety of reasons (one being that I was able wear jeans).

If you're not familiar with the restaurant, chefs Omar Cantu and Ben Roche do molecular gastrony. They also have a TV show on the Green Channel called Future Food. They have two Prix Fixe meal options - 10 or 20 courses. We opted for the GTM (20) along with the wine pairing.

The meal took almost 5 hours in total and I was reasonably filled and pretty intoxicated (I also had 5 cocktails along the way). The food in and of itself was good, but not spectacular. The creativity and experience, however, made it well worth the trip. On to the menu. Forgive me for any omittances or incorrections. I took some notes, but as the night grew long, my focus seemed to stray. :)

Edible Menu - Crispy brioche, parmesan paper, carmelized onions, French onion stock.

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Wine Pairings

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Snow Man - Hawaiian yellowfin, lime foam, volcanic sea salt, tequila and orange juice.

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Carbo Grapefruit - Olive oil poached salmon, hearts of palm puree with vanilla bean, tobiko, carbonated grapefruit with juniper berry infusion.

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Golden Twist Ale - Beer braised brats, Wisconsin cheddar, freeze dried shallots, pretzel puree. Pretzel puree came in a beer bottle and was opened and served tableside.

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Chicken Noodle Soup - Chicken infused noodles, chiffonade of celery, chicken powder, mirepoix puree and stock.

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Clam Bake - Butter poached lobster and clam, "scallop" gnocchi, butternut squash puree, acorn squash "corn", croutons.

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Yellow Snow - Pineapple chutney, dehydrated chicken curry, curry and coriander oil.

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Baseball Snacks - Cracker Jack crusted quail, caramel apple beer reduction, coke reduction, popcorn powder, cherry paper.

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Astronaut Tartare - Freeze dried filet, shallots, juniper berry, essence of tartare.

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Cigar - Roulade of pork, braised collard greens (wrapper), red pepper coulis (ember), black and white sesame seeds (ashes).

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Forest Roll - Rabbit tenderloin, rabbit bacon, roasted Brussel sprouts, cremini mushrooms (rice), sesame seeds, champagne vinaigrette, pickled radish (ginger), freeze dried peas (wasabi), Jamaican all spice aioli.

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Stipe & Pileus - Braised pork belly, rabbit and broccoli rabe hash, gai lan, maitake bread, mak man puree.

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Coffee Break - "Shabuccino", rare prime ribeye, edamame and carrots, dashi, white truffle "sugar cube", baked potato foam.

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Venison & Alium - "The Onion Plate", Smoked venison, red wine demi glace, "funions", onion butter puree, crispy shallots, re-constituted scallion, scallion sous vis, roasted red pearls, pickled chipolinis.

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Crepes That Are Cheese - Parmesan Reggiano, raspberry crepe, blueberry crepe, re-constitued currants.

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Either the camera lighting is off, or am I really staring at a pirce of FARMED SALMON?!?!?!???!!!!!

Wild salmons look a lot redder and not orangey...

Frites - Frozen & Fried - Sweet potato fries and sorbet. Can't remember what was underneath.

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Green Curry Lime - Lime and curry jelly, coconut curd, lime and jalapeno rind, grated coconut, lime pulp.

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Banana Split - Banana ice cream, freeze dried peanut powder, strawberry puree, caramel, fudge.

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Acme Bomb - "Smoores", Crushed graham cracker center, marshmallow layer, chocolate coating.

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Cookie Crumbs - Butter cream crumble, Earl Grey ice cream, orange cream and chocolate mousse bark, freeze dried raspberries.

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Tonka Bean Flavor - "Cream Soda" or "Ice Cream Float", Brown butter vanilla bean packing peanut frozen in liquid nitrogen, tonka bean soda water.

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Meeting the Sous Chef and Staff

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wow Mark, looks like an incredible meal and experience... Thanks for sharing

It was super fun. Definitely glad I had the experience.

I've seen them on TV a few times. I always liked watching what they came up with. What a treat to eat there!

could very well be. these guys are environmentally conscious and use sustainable food.

Looks awesome, the cigar is insane.

Well, wild salmon from Alaska is very sustainable. They have been doing a really great job managing the stock, though if they had use that instead of the farmed stuff, the cost of material for that dish would probably triple. A one pound White King Salmon from Alaska is over 20 bucks.