"Have you been here before?" our waiter asked as w...

"Have you been here before?" our waiter asked as we settled into our first few moments at Alinea.

"No, but we've been to Next."

"Well, welcome to the mother ship!"

Indeed, here we were at the 3-Michelin-star child of Grant Achatz. We had visited Next almost nine years prior, happening upon reservations for the debut menu, Paris 1906.

Were my expectations high? Very. As they should have been... I was about to experience an evening unlike any other.

We had reservations for a Friday evening in the Salon. And did we ever luck out. The Salon consists of three separate rooms, one of which is a round, extremely intimate space. There is no thoroughfare, no one looking for the restroom, no one climbing the stairs to the second floor. It is the perfect location if you're based in the Salon, and I could not have been happier that we were placed there.

When I DID have to find the restroom, service kicked in. I was escorted through the two other Salons and greeted along the way as doors opened and closed for me. The timing of service at Alinea is something to note - if for one second you don't think you're being watched (in a good way,) think again. When my wife had to excuse herself to use the restroom between courses, I realized there was a guy standing court between our Salon room and the hall - so he could alert the kitchen/servers when she was arriving, and therefore, bring out the next course.

We enjoyed every interaction we had with the staff of Alinea - from the receptionist and sommelier to our servers and the pastry chef (at least, I think she was based upon her jacket. We never caught a name.)

But, if I'm being totally honest, with not only my review, but myself, I wasn't absolutely blown away by the food. And, at times, the flow and presentation felt disjointed. With elegance at the forefront of nearly every Alinea minute, I found the rustic camping course an odd fit. It followed one of the evening's highlights: a seafood spread with a visual and aromatic surprise. I won't spoil it, because it truly was one of the 'wow' moments for me.

Two courses reigned: the halibut and an off-menu fun bite of deep-fried sweet potato cream that tasted like an elephant ear and was presented on a burning cinnamon stick.

So, why only four stars? My caviar cloud was runny whereas my wife's was a perfectly formed cumulus. The octopus in Korean bbq sauce was extremely salty. And even saltier was the dumpling. I LOVE salt, but these were too much for me. While the dessert course is interactive and cheeky, the 'paint' didn't stand up to the chocolate bits. That said, I loved the 'snow,' and, of course, the balloon.

When we decided it was our time to depart, we were chauffeured to the front reception, where my coat was retrieved and placed on my back - warm. Yes, my coat was warmed before we exited into the dark Chicago winter night. Now THAT was a classy touch.

The mother ship. The eldest of Chef Achatz's Michelin-starred babies. The upper echelon of experiences.

But, I preferred Next, where, nine years ago, we walked in on an early Sunday evening and were escorted to Paris 1906. Yes, my Alinea expectations were through the (what is probably edible) roof, but with two more stars than it's younger sibling, I should have shot into space and tasted the stars.