It is a gastronomic dream come true: two of America's most acclaimed restaurants are swapping cities for a week. That means Grant Achatz's Alinea will be in New York City and Daniel Humm's Eleven Madison Park is headed to Chicago.
The swap was first hinted at in a video called 21st Century Ltd, which was released just a few days ago. Starting the 26th of September, each restaurant will take turns serving the other's menu. Alinea will be up first, serving their food at Eleven Madison Park for five consecutive nights. On the 10th of October, Eleven Madison Park get their chance to do the same in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Grant Achatz and Daniel Humm will have just three days to train the staff how to cook and serve their dishes, according to The Braiser. Apparently, the chefs will lose money on the venture even though tickets cost $495 a head. Will Guidara from Eleven Madison Park was quoted as saying ''people sometimes don't understand why we are doing this when there isn't an economic benefit. Sometimes we do what we do because we love doing it.''
The kitchen swap is thrilling for fans of the restaurants, each of which has three Michelin stars and feature in the top 10 of the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list (Alinea ranks 7th while Eleven Madison Park is 10th). Tickets are available via Facebook.
