Available on Amazon as of today: the Alinea cookbook. If you haven't heard of Alinea, it's the Chicago restaurant that Gourmet magazine named the best in America:
Meanwhile, someone new has entered the arena. His name is Grant Achatz, and he is redefining the American restaurant once again for an entirely new generation. And that - more than his gorgeous, inventive, and delicious food - is what makes Alinea the got-to-go-to restaurant in the country right now.
I can't even express how proud and excited I am to be involved in this project. When I first ate at Alinea for a story I was writing for Wired, I knew that I had stumbled into a completely new world. Chef Grant Achatz and his team blew me away, not only with the astonishing creativity and taste of their food, but also with their dedication and commitment to the restaurant, and to one another.
I stayed in contact with Grant and his partner Nick Kokonas over the next couple of years, as Grant was diagnosed with cancer, and then beat it back. When they asked me to contribute to their cookbook, I said yes in a heartbeat.
It's going to be an amazing project. I'm writing about the science behind some of Alinea's dishes. Meanwhile, maybe the two best food writers in America, Jeffery Steingarten and Michael Ruhlman, are also writing about Alinea. Michael Nagrant of hungrymag.com is also bringing behind-the-scenes looks at this amazing place.
The book will be out in October, and you can preorder it either at Amazon, or better yet at Alinea's site, where you will get a limited edition of the book and also access to Alinea Mosaic, where there will be videos from the kitchen at Alinea, extra recipes, and tons of images.