I was really disappointed with my meal at Alinea. ...

I was really disappointed with my meal at Alinea. Firstly, we did the reserve wine pairing which was ordinary at best. The service was far too casual for a three star; the sommelier did not explain the wines or regions, he simply poured the wine and said the country and the year. We sat at a table in the corner and it felt like we didn't really exist so we didn't go out of our way to ask for anything or question the servers about the dishes. I will admit the presentation of the food was interesting but the flavours were a miss for me. I know Alinea's concept is to make food taste like other food to sparks certain memories or nostalgia, but I was reminded of cheap things like bubble gum, craft dinner and other random tastes that simply did not work well together. Maybe my expectations were too high seeing as I ate at Grace the night before and was blown away. I wouldn't recommend Alinea because $1000 for two people is too much to chance possibly getting a bad meal. I should have listened to my friend who told me a week earlier that it wasn't anything special. I wanted to like this restaurant I really did!