Spring break in Chicago!

 Long before the mid term break was set to take place, I proposed the idea that while we were out this far across the world, and while the Erasmus funding was there to lend a helping hand, we should make the most of the mid term break. My proposal was that we take a trip to Chicago!

Chicago is a city located in the US state of Illinois. Chicago is famed for its bold architecture and skyline with notable buildings such as the John Hancock centre and the Willis Tower which was formerly known as the Sears tower. The city is home to over two and a half million people and the city itself is known as the windy city.

Chicago was not chosen at random, however. The city is home to what has previously been named the World’s top restaurant. This restaurant is Chicago’s only three Michelin starred restaurant and it is known for its mind bending gastronomic feats such as balloons of sugar, tomatoes that aren’t tomatoes and taste like strawberries as well s desserts that are plated right in front of you on the very table you are sitting at.

The restaurant which opened under famed chef Grant Achatz in the year 2005, offers three unique experiences; the Kitchen table experience, the gallery experience and the Salon experience. Chef Achatz has trained under some of the world’s top chefs such as chef Thomas Keller the chef Patron of both the French Laundry and Per se, among others. And chef Achatz has also staged at establishments such as El Bulli which was a restaurant in Spain which is accredited with being the creator of modern molecular gastronomy. Chef Achatz was for some time known as the chef with no taste as he unfortunately was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer. He however went for experimental treatment and made a full recovery, also regaining his taste. The inspiration for going to Alinea came after watching an episode about it on the hit Netflix series, the Chef’s Table.  

Other things we got up to while in Chicago were seeing the infamous bean sculpture as well as the World’s biggest Starbucks. The trip was excellent and the meal was one of a kind!