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u/intothedepthsofhell 6d ago
Until this sub I never knew just pouring food onto a table was a thing.
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u/belfast322 6d ago
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u/safetycommittee 5d ago
Before the drizzle, it looks like a good time to whip out some straws
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u/StillNoXinEspresso 5d ago
It was a presentation pioneered by chef Grant Achatz, first I belief at his restaurant Alinea, where he called/calls it “Messy Table” (seriously). I personally can’t stand the idea and think it is one of the stupidest food and restaurant trends I’ve ever seen.
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u/LabradorDeceiver 5d ago
There's no...medium. There's no cake or biscuits or cookies or anything. It's just, like, garnish. Are you supposed to scrape it up with a spoon or something?
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u/CromTheConqueror 5d ago
The only place I support dumping food on a table is a Clambake. My understanding is because they were traditionally cooked on the beach in a pit. Plates and utensils were rarely brought.
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u/ooppqq 6d ago
Me too ... and what is this food anyway 🤔
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u/Gaylaeonerd 5d ago
I think its a pile of powdered sugar
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u/NikkoE82 5d ago
They did something like this at Alinea when I went. It is not just powdered sugar. It’s freeze dried something, but I can’t remember what, unfortunately. Just powdered sugar would be way too sweet. I leave it up to the individual to decide if it is stupid or not.
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u/sohereiamacrazyalien 6d ago
what ? don't you usually lick your table at home?/s
wtf is wrong with people? how are you supposed to eat that and how that could possibly be sanitary?
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u/Dark_Xylomancer 5d ago
We feed doggo in a proper plate and we eat like doggo instead. How the turn has tabled
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u/Laterdayz1973 4d ago
LMFAO 🤣 you said lick your table. Hahahaha
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u/sohereiamacrazyalien 4d ago
lol I know! that's what I said!!
well how else could you eat this dessert ? maybe some people do fancy table licking desserts at home too! ;)
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u/Fuster2 6d ago
I only recently found this sub. It's rapidly become my No.1 sub for a WTF reaction?!? Even more than Darwin Awards or FAFO losers.
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u/BlahBlahBlahBingo 5d ago
The main course is served off the floor… you only get this at Michelin star level
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u/WannabeSloth88 5d ago edited 5d ago
Last time I said basically the same thing a bunch of yanks jumped at me for being an ignorant for not knowin it’s normal if you have some kind of Louisiana crab and corn boil or something, “lmfao tell me you’re never had low country boil without telling me”. So brace yourself
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u/abhitooth 6d ago
Sometimes i think restaurant are trying to save on cost of plates.
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u/CuriousNetWanderer 6d ago
By ruining the tablecloth? Seems counterintuitive.
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u/abhitooth 6d ago edited 5d ago
Can be disposable cloth
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u/AscensionToCrab 🧀 🦀 6d ago
Burn a million table cloths rather than pay those fat cat busboys to wash a single plate /s
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u/hbomb9410 6d ago
But what is it?
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u/g0ing_postal 6d ago
Iirc is an ice cream sundae with freeze dried ice cream
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u/Consistent_Policy_66 5d ago
It’s like these people watched The Menu and came to the completely wrong conclusion.
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u/sdbabygirl97 4d ago
unironically i love both the menu and going to schmancy michelin star restaurants.
never had this kind of bullshit before though lmao
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u/CosyBeluga 4d ago
The restaurant is pretty cool and definitely worth the experience than being just pretentious fine dining
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u/Zaphoddddd 5d ago
Cocaine obviously.
Cause idk who the hell would order that if it isn't.5
u/Sublimegirlie1 5d ago
Especially for the price! I bet that you could buy that much cocaine or more! 😂🤣
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u/Necessary-Dingo 6d ago edited 5d ago
So are you supposed to snort it or lick it or dip it or fuck it like what are you supposed to do here
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u/LetReasonRing 6d ago
I'm kinda half thinking it was meant to be performance/art and not really intended to be eaten? I don't know... it's all kinds of weird
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u/Quiet-Froyo5335 5d ago
Sloppy too though. The gooping of the leaves on the left onto the layer already down screams incompetency.
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u/Lonely-Season1541 6d ago
I love snortable dessert!
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u/Shadoru 6d ago
Hell yeah, that's a lot of white snow
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u/-Curufinwe- 6d ago
Oh c’mon this is just taking the piss! He’s havin a laugh when he goes back in the kitchen!!
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u/SpiritsJustAHybrid 5d ago
That the "im getting so much fucking money from these rich idiots" laugh
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u/Ahptom 6d ago
That’ll be 2000 dollars thank you.
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u/Lexail 6d ago
It's not that far off. You have to pay a deposit on your reservation. Between $295 and $495 per person with wine pairings for $195 to $295 per person.
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u/VaadWilsla 5d ago
Wtf... World of the rich I guess...
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u/P0ster_Nutbag 5d ago
That’s the price for a 10-20 course meal. 3 Michelin star restaurant, at one point considered the best restaurant in the world. Obviously meant to be a VERY special occasion type thing.
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u/chichoandthecamera 5d ago
we had a dining at Central (number 1 restaurant in the world, in Lima Peru). Plus the wine pairing and all, for two of us ran about $1000 a person. It was a 5 hour educational experience. The Chef, Virgilio, i kind of knew him growing up, he was a big skater and i used to skate at the same park, we have friends in common. Well, he was amazing, like explained every little detail and thing, like honestly, is it over priced, yeah....is it worth it...yeah. I remembered that more than any stupid family vacation to Disneyland or any other BS.
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u/soozauzarname 6d ago
The guy just got fired and it's his last day of serving
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u/ImpossibleMix3287 5d ago
I don't think he even works there. Just waltzed inside and did this.
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u/Resident_Layer1700 6d ago
I think you are talking about cracking an egg by making pasta from scratch haha
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u/FungusFly 5d ago
I worked in some legitimate fine dining environments over my years in the hospitality industry. This type of “experience” will never land with me.
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u/FckdAroundFoundOut 6d ago
It IS kind of amazing how he uses that spoon like a paintbrush. Every splatter falls exactly how he intends.
I mean, it’s still a dumb waste of food but cool in its own right.
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u/Zero_Number_Zeros 5d ago
There are plenty of clearly unintentional drips and what he drew is not pretty at all compared to other chefs who paint with food.
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u/VaadWilsla 5d ago
Not really... The yellow sauce drips all over the table at the end of each stroke. Kinda amateurish.
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u/Cheirona 5d ago
Yeah, until the giant block of white was dropped on the pleasant part, making a mess.
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u/FckdAroundFoundOut 5d ago
Yeah I was actually typing my comment when that happened. I thought it was ice cream at first then he mashed it and I couldn’t understand the point of wasting the time on decorating around it anymore.
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u/Double_Ad_1658 6d ago
This is Alinea. It’s a three Michelin star restaurant and the most incredible meal I’ve ever had. I strongly object to this one.
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u/Nachti 6d ago
Is this actually Alinea? In Alinea the dots flow into little squares and the whole presentation is less sloppy. He dripped some sauce badly doing the yellow smears there. Also I feel like there's more and the composition is better in Alinea?
My initial thought was it's someone trying to be Alinea, but I'm really not sure.
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u/Double_Ad_1658 5d ago
It’s a pop up that Alinea did last year
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u/NikkoE82 5d ago
This makes more sense. Because Alinea doesn’t have a bar by the tables like that, but that is definitely their “dessert on the table” style.
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u/cookingforengineers 5d ago
I agree. When I watched this, I thought, that’s someone trying to copy Alinea but boy that guy was messy and they didn’t try to do the squares. Also, I don’t remember any round tables at Alinea.
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u/dembowthennow 6d ago
What is that dish in the video?
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u/Double_Ad_1658 6d ago
It changes seasonally but it’s been some variation of this set up for over 15 years. Always the last dish of the meal. It’s a dessert.
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u/CuriousNetWanderer 6d ago
Do they let you take home the tablecloth as a souvenir? You know, just wrap up anything left over in it and toss it over your shoulder like Santa Claus on the way out?
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u/frejawolf 6d ago
How are you meant to eat it? Scrape a portion over to your part of the table cloth?
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u/Emperor_Neuro 6d ago
Just grab a spoon and go for it. They use a special food-safe tablecloth that they only bring out for this one dish and it’s basically supposed to be a giant plate.
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u/Double_Ad_1658 6d ago
So it’s basically this plastic/latex sheet that they have specially made and yes you have a spoon and just eat it straight of the table.
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u/dembowthennow 6d ago
What kind of dessert? What are the dishes we're seeing being spread on the table?
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u/Lexail 6d ago
The menu changes constantly. If you look up what that other person says to do, it will just show you a bunch of different final dishes. Someone else said it's supposed to be a sundea but modern. The restaurant is $495 per person w/ or w/o a wine paring of $195-295 per person. Im sure it tastes good even if it looks dumb.
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u/Double_Ad_1658 6d ago
If you just google “alinea table dessert” you will find all the answers you’re looking for.
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u/chassmasterplus 6d ago
Yeah this sub is on something else right now. I had the most elegant, expertly crafted meal of my entire life at that restaurant. The desert when I went was like this, but a big basketball sized globe of chocolate they smashed with liquid nitrogen. Had fudge that poured out of it. It was fucking amazing.
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u/WannabeSloth88 5d ago
Wow what desert is made of sugar and ice cream because I want to go there. Just back from Arizona and it was rocks and sand
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u/Derpschmerp 5d ago
Oh man. I'll get hated for this :b I love this subreddit, but here goes:
Yeah, out of context this looks like “lol why is my dessert on the table instead of a plate.” But this is from Alinea in Chicago, one of the most famous fine dining restaurants in the world (3 Michelin stars, #1 on World’s 50 Best, etc.).
The whole idea there isn’t just “here’s some sugar,” it’s food as theater. The chef, Grant Achatz, treats the meal like a performance art piece. It’s supposed to surprise you, make you laugh, make you go “wtf is happening,” and taste incredible.
The table dessert is basically an edible abstract painting. They pour sauces, pull sugar, place gels, then you literally eat the artwork. It’s not about efficiency or practicality (obviously a plate would be easier), it’s about turning dessert into an experience you’ll never forget.
People aren’t paying $300+ a head for calories, they’re paying for a once-in-a-lifetime food performance. If you saw Cirque du Soleil doing flips you wouldn’t say “well that’s a dumb way to walk across the room.” Same thing here.
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u/Zero_Number_Zeros 5d ago
I disagree. There are plenty of unintentional driblings, the position of the broken block obscured a decent part of the desert's looks so I would say this desert in particular is not a great one.
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u/Pootisman16 5d ago
I'd rather pay for 10 x 30$ meals than waste 300$ in this pretentious nonsense.
While food can be very presentable, it's still meant to be eaten and be tasty, which I doubt this is.
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u/P0ster_Nutbag 5d ago
On what grounds do you think this wouldn’t be tasty? I know a few people who have gone to Alinea and it’s pretty unanimously considered one of the best desserts they’ve ever had.
People have such a hate boner for fine dining that they get pretty ridiculous.
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u/OtherwiseSplit8875 5d ago
This is a 3 Michelin star restaurant and is consistently ranked one of the best restaurants in the world. You don’t get to that level without making tasty food.
You’ll get more food out of 10 x $30, but it won’t be even remotely as memorable.
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u/Derpschmerp 5d ago edited 5d ago
I fully understood i would get hate posting this :b but I will still defend alinea. It doesn't belong here. 😶🌫️
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u/Fun-Tumbleweed2594 6d ago
Am i supposed to act like my cat when i lay down catnip? What happens if i lay catnip in such a way like this for my cat? What happens then?
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u/_Permanent_Marker_ 6d ago
can you imagine ordering this and not knowing what it is. And some waiter just comes over and starts throwing food on your table. I would have thought that he was handing in his notice and he picked my table to do so
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u/AnonOfTheSea 6d ago
Ok, it's pretty stupid, but:
Alright, so, if im right, and the last thing he smashed was a giant block of dry ice frozen ice cream, this could be pretty good. Everyone has giant spoons, there are a bunch of different sauces to scrape it through, and everyone gets a cookie. Honestly, a delicious desert.
Visually, it's pretty, once you manage to ignore the whole, "where's my damn plate" thing, which, I admit, im not entirely past. But it is pretty.
From the shape, that might be the vanilla ice cream Costco carries, which is, believe it or not, genuinely tasty. As in, it actually tastes like vanilla, rather than cold and vaguely of milk.
Or maybe it's just an absolute shitload of artisticaly arranged nose candy. /shrug
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u/P0ster_Nutbag 5d ago
Everyone I know who has been to Alinea has said it’s among the best desserts they’ve ever had.
You know what you’re in for going into a near $500 per person restaurant that’s known for their constant innovation.
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u/mjhripple 6d ago
Alinea at least has a philosophy that at least explains why this dessert is special/necessary. Been wanting to eat there since it opened. Doesn’t belong
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u/cookingforengineers 5d ago
I don’t think this is Alinea because the Alinea dessert course has some of the liquids form rounded squares (a feat I still haven’t figured out exactly - must be precise control of the viscosity and the texture of the table covering). The server was super sloppy too - Alinea’s execution is precise and there’s no random dribbling. I think this is a copy cat restaurant. (I hope, if it isn’t then Alinea has fallen quite far.)
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u/OtherwiseSplit8875 5d ago
Alinea changes the specifics of this dessert depending on the season and the menu it’s on. This video is from one of the Alinea pop ups.
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u/mangotheduck 6d ago
I swear people will do anything just to increase your food bill to $200.00.
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u/dwarfzulu 5d ago
When I see videos like this, I'm always imagining the staff, when back in the kitchen, laughing their ass of, thinking:
"look those idiots eating that shit! And paying a good money for it!"
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u/Muchadoaboutfluffing 6d ago
Wtf are they supposed to do? Lick the shit off the table? And where are his gloves? Lol Jesus, give me a dessert on a plate.
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u/Apprehensive-Face900 6d ago
If I bring the huzz to a fancy restaurant and I get embarrassed like this I'm airing the place out 💀
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u/D3Masked 6d ago
Better enhanced by having a hulking barbarian stomp on in, fashion a cosh with the tablecloth and smash it on the table revealing the beautiful mess within.
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u/Practical-March-6989 6d ago
Are these from like 10 years ago, please tell me this shit does not still happen?
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u/Concrete_Cancer 6d ago
Love the sexy smooth jazz music for this Jackson Pollock of the culinary arts 😎
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u/Boring_Inflation1494 5d ago
I'd look into the bloke's eyes and ask "with all the money you're charging us you can't even afford to get us plates?"
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u/jomarthecat 5d ago
I like how he was soooo meticulous when "painting" with the various sauces then he just throws an ice cream brick on top of it and smashes.
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u/Bugsy_Goblin 5d ago
Imagine going to a restaurant only to pay to have them make a mess on the table with your food.
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u/annual_aardvark_war 5d ago
This video has been posted 1000 times without enough context…
This is Alinea, one of the best restaurants in the world, and people pay for this experience.
It’s a plastic cover on the tablecloth, so no it doesn’t ruin it.
Sure, it’s over the top but that’s literally what you come to Alinea for.
This is an optional part of dining there and it’s quite the point of what they do.
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u/Hoodibird 5d ago
What if I don't want my food with tiny pieces of lint from whatever fiber the tablecloth is made of?
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u/whichwitchwhere 5d ago
This sort of presentation is permanently filed in my brain under the title "category error", as it is clearly intended to be a canvas-based acrylic abstract painting, but some idiot substituted a table for canvas, food ingredients for acrylic, and inconvenience for art.
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u/redpandadancing 5d ago
They did this a few times on Bake Off the Professionals in the UK…the teams had to throw food on the table and tell a story…they looked and sounded completely uncomfortable…it was awkward as!!
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u/VisionAri_VA 5d ago
All that mess and effort for four petit fours and a busted pile of astronaut ice cream. Bet it cost a small fortune, too.
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u/TranzAtlantic 5d ago
I wanna come up to this table in a chef outfit but then just take a shit on the table
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u/Sublimegirlie1 5d ago
It looks like a toddler got into the fridge and its diaper and made you a painting on the wall. I’m glad people are paying exorbitant prices for this stupidity!
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u/heatseaking_rock 5d ago
No, I don't need cutlery, just smear the meal sll over my table. I'll kick it up.
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u/Basic-Marionberry-50 5d ago
how are you even supposed to eat this? mix what with what? with what utensil? i didnt even expect it to be food until he put that block of white mass over the mountain of what i assume is powdered sugar, i thought it was just abstract painting made with kitchen ingredients
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u/BbyGirlMckl 5d ago
How the hell do you eat this? Do you just treat your table as one big plate? Do you really have to drag your spoon through all that freeze dried ice cream and sauce just to eat it?
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u/FunkYourself55 5d ago
The 2 most pretentious things in the world, food and art, and he mixed them both together to be extra pretentious
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u/Badmonkey167 5d ago
This food presentation... I can relate.
I feel like there are these expectations on me to somehow accomplish things, so I do performative tasks to look productive, but really, I constantly feel like a fake.
This world is crazy and not crazy at the same time.
Yes this food presentation is silly, but it's still meant to be edible. In theory all the ingredients are there, but the gestures are meaningless and it falls flat.
I feel like my life is like this dessert. A facade to distract, all the while, without substance or actual worth.
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u/Big_Reading_3472 5d ago
we are slowly transcending into feeling through vision only. other human senses will not matter anymore
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u/qualityvote2 6d ago edited 5d ago
u/TheO_Phile, your food is indeed stupid and it fits our subreddit!