moto Review

What can I say about Moto that hasn't already been said? This place is the bee's knees. Did you know they have their own garden for all those fancy micro greens? Did you know that this garden is INSIDE their kitchen? Forget farm to plate, Moto remains lightyears ahead of everyone.

The attention to flavor detail is mind blowing. You know how when you're in the kitchen and you're throwing dashes of 'this' and pinches of 'that' in because that's what's familiar and expected? I am certain that that doesn't happen here. Everything is so well thought out and almost, possibly, probably... calculated in exact science. Superb!!

Wow. This was the most unique dining experience I've ever had. I came here for an event and all of the food was gorgeous and had a story behind it, which was fun and entertaining for large group of strangers.

Favorite of mine was the salmon on mini everything bagels with a cream cheese creme fraiche. I also absolutely loved the cheese selection, all of which was served on mini plots of grass.

We got to go in the back and see some of the herbs that they grow in house which was impressive. Everything was beautiful and inspired - definitely a place if you're looking for something different.

Ate there a few weeks ago and was truly an unforgettable experience! The tasting menu was well designed for a balenced meal. The food was a molecular gastronomy experience not to be forgetten. Pretty pricey, but if you have to do it at least once!

WOW and double WOW...gorgeous space in the lower level of the restaurant. We have a private tasting here with Google hosting the event. Great treat as we got to view their garden and were explained what was grown there and how they uniquely do this. Pretty interesting seeing how we had a meal that was made via nitrogen hydrogen. Very cool, modern.

Moto is truly a culinary adventure! You start off with a taste of every course you are about to enjoy. The menu rotates seasonably, but is preset! The service was impeccable and the sommelier was incredibly knowledgable! Each dish is unique, thoughtful and truly a work of art. By the time the last dessert course came, it was about a 5 hour meal, however you can truly make an evening out of dinner at a place like Moto.

I was disappointed. I first heard of Moto from their TV show - I thought the entire culinary team was creative and its creations always looked super tasty. Then I saw two of the guys on Top Chef, and was surprised that they got booted off rather quickly. But I was in Chicago for 6 months and there was no way I wasn't going to give it a shot.

If the ratings were based solely on presentation, I would bump this up another star. However, I feel that the team had sacrificed flavor for the sake of presentation. For me, food is ultimately about the flavor, and without that, it really doesn't matter how pretty the plate looks. There were also some funky things going on - e.g., the smoked leather gloves. I know this was suppose to enhance the aroma, but the smoked leather made me want to vomit (this is just an honest opinion, I'm not saying that to be rude).

The team needs to take a page from Alinea's Dave Beran, who does a great job at creating artistic and creative presentations that enhance the flavor of his food, rather than replace them.

Moto last night for our anniversary, confirmed 3 times of strict dietary restrictions. Served rabbit to kosher wife. Not happy, no compensation... only a "Im sorry" Very displeased.
-UPDATE, Chef contacted me, offered to bring us back on the house.

Moto lives up to the hype with their inventive dishes and bold flavors.

I recently went for Chicago Restaurant Week with my wife. For $44 each we were able to have 8 dishes which came straight from their regular tasting menu($175 for 16 courses). This was a deal!

Some restaurants have great presentation with only decent food or poor presentation with great food. Moto is great at both.

After speaking with Chef Farina the menu is updated every couple weeks to keep up with fresh ingredients. Because of this I won't go into much detail about the dishes. My favorites were "Which comes first?" a custard with black truffle powder served in an egg shell. "Root Beer" a short rib marinated in root beer. "Allium 3.0" an onion custard with allium family garnishes.

I would go back for the full tasting menu. It will be worth it.

Very tasty food served up in very unique ways. Definitely worth the experience for foodies.

Very very very cool execution. Food is okay, but it's worth going to at least once for the experience... if you're willing to shell out a fair amount of cash for dinner that is.

Possibly the biggest dining splurge of my life, but I couldn't be happier about it. I took my boyfriend here for a pre-Valentines meal during the 10th anniversary of the restaurant. Each of our 12 courses was more exciting than the next. I especially loved the rabbit gazpacho style soup, the "macaroni and cheese" and the sweet "nachos" for desert. I've also never had wine explained so precisely to me before. The night was topped off by a tour of the kitchen and mini hydroponic garden. What a wonderful night and an amazing experience.

Amazing food experience but perhaps a bit long clocking in just over 4.5 hours. I love to eat but after a while the novelty started to wear off. Highlights: edible menus, 'pork sandwich" as a cohiba cigar, and amazing mollusk preparations for being in Chicago.

Not an every day kind of place, but one of the most interesting dining experiences I have ever had.

These guys here are awesome. The time, dedication, and work that goes into creating each course shows. I had recently gone in with a friend of mine and we enjoyed every dish. Our guy making the drinks was great and had creative and tasty drinks that were just as mindblowing as the food itself. The staff there were professional and very outgoing. This place is a definite Chicago hotspot for any food lover out there.

We had a fantastic experience. Truly unique dining!

Wow. Moto is an incredibly unique dining experience that everyone should experience at least once. We were fortunate to attend a Zagat Presents dinner with Chef Richie Farina (from Top Chef Texas fame!) where we enjoyed a 4.5 hour long meal of 15 courses with a wine progression featuring 13 varitals from around the world. The presentation was impecable, and one of my favorite dishes was the tasting menu - a tasting of all of the courses to come. I also loved the zen garden course and was especially impressed with the avocado inside a chocolate shell for the tostado course. The liquid nitrogen ice cream demo was an awesome and the private tour of the kitchen and hydroponic garden was an added bonus. I highly recommend Moto for special occasion dining, it is a true experience!

Less stuffy than Alinea. Where guest actually giggle about some of the courses they get served. i had an amazing time and would recommend the FULL (not the half, that is for losers) tasting menu to anyone.

I heard about Moto after watching America's Top Chef (or whatever it's called) when two of the guys featured on the show were from Moto here in Chicago. I must say, the whole experience was insane. After about 4-5 hours of eating - I was exhausted!

Definitely something you have to experience at least once while living in Chicago. It was a good experience to get away from the kids for a while :)

A pricey experience but worth it for the finest of finest dining. Fulton Market area is known for $$$$ calibre places and Moto fits the bill perfectly. Located right next to Aviary, it's no doubt that Moto is a perfect fit. Some magazines name Moto as the most notable place for molecular gastronomy in the world, and now that I've dined here I've discovered that something as small as a pebble on my plate can explode into a flavor sensation in my mouth. When I ate here, Moto had not yet earned its Michelin Star but really it was well deserved. I was lucky enough to be served by the late Chef Homaro Cantu before his passing, but really all his staff in the kitchen were nothing short of awesome (yes, we went down to the kitchen and met them all afterwards).

Our Maitre D for the night was Louis. He served as the face that would give us that sense of familiarity throughout the night when our servers became strangers. Louis is above and beyond. Every course had an underlying theme and he explained it all perfectly. This is fancy food, but come hungry because you'll want to come with a clean palate. The entire experience will last between 3 to 4 hours. What first drew us to dine here was the creativity of the dishes. Every course was a presentation in itself with that 1, 2.....TADA...... While I feel that the allure here is not knowing what to expect, but read on if you hate surprises.

-=-SPOILER ALERT-=-
As you walk in, the first thing you see is a giant chemistry set. At the business end of the whole ordeal is the Palate Cleanser. Have a cup, then be ready for the show. The first thing to come out after sitting was a plain plate of 15 dots of food. Yep, just dots. As we tasted each one, Louis explained that each dot was a preview of the courses to come. FANCAE!

The creativity that came from these courses is nothing short of astounding. Like our salad was served still partially in the ground. Louis would come by and start trimming our salad for us and putting it on our plate. Another course was seafood served in a steaming wooden box. Then there was also a picnic theme of eating cheese and crackers in the grass. My crown jewel here, of course it was the seared foie. If you are looking for a long meal, where every course is worthy of discussion and Oo's and Ah's. This is the place.

Extraordinary" molecular gastronomy brings "new surprises around every corner" at this Eclectic West Loop "delight", exhibiting Homaro Cantu's "insane creativity" via a "playful" prix fixe; "steep prices make it event dining for sure", but "attentive" service, "minimalist" decor and "very private" booths mean it's all the more "worth it."

Chef's workshop on Wednesday was a lot of fun with a great menu. Chris, Bobby, and Dustin were great. Thank you and I will be back.

Great place to visit. The food is spectacular and very well prepared. There's a reason why this is one of the city's best. Kudos to chef Farina and his staff. Well done.

After looking forward to this dining experience for many months, we were very disappointed. There was not one food item on any of the multiple courses that we actually enjoyed. The scallop course smelled like old seafood. One person in our party of 4 actually had to spit her food out because the taste was so bad. It took over 4 hours for all the courses to be served. It was brutal. Our bill was over $1000 for 4 people and quite frankly it was a total rip off. We felt we had been taken advantage of. There are so many delicious places to eat in Chicago, this is not one of them. The service was nice but that is the only thing that was pleasing about this dining experience.

Moto is an experience. One that I like to treat myself to once in a while. Come here to enjoy Chef Homaro Cantu imaginative spin on food. The last time I was here, we had a pretty large group, so we had the pleasure of sitting in the private room in the basement. We were surrounded by lab equipment and it was pretty wild. We also toured their indoor herb farm, and it's pretty cool to see that while some restaurants have "farm-to-table" dining, at Moto, your plant would have been cut minutes before it was served to you. The food is, of course, amazing. The flavors blend together so well that your tastebuds will dance with joy.

Came here for my early anniversary. I'm all about creative presentations so this was perfect for me!

The menu is never the same and you won't know how much it'll cost until you get the bill (mine was about $150/pp with 1 wine 2beers, tax and tip).

TIP: ask for a kitchen tour ;)

1. A shot of special-made apple cider juice for your taste buds.

2. Herbs grown in a jar with coco fiber (not dirt). The server cut the herbs and topped it on our buffalo tar tar and funions-like-chip.

3. Salmon with carrot vinaigrette and "aged" carrots. Onions covered in salmon roe sauce. Drops of black licorice sauce. "Aged" carrots: Calcium oxcide then roasted after.

4. Aromatic seaweed in a hand carved box with searing rocks to keep the scallop hot. It also came with a piece of king crab and prince edward clam.

5. A glass jar with an aroma of hickory and autumn leaf seeping thru. The lid had veggie jerky, caramel onions and chips. It was my second least favorite.

6. Chilled eggshells full of truffle foam and creamy cheese!!! Our favorite! Came with another dish with chicken raised in an Amish farm in france. Side of brussel sprouts.

7. Food on little sticks that are stuck to a big stick of magnet. Our least favorite but the most creative presentation. The dish had squab, shiitake bread pudding, a cube of sweet potato and string beans.

8. Boar shoulder and boar leg jerky topped with mole powder with guajillo chile. Side of puffed rice with a corn nutty taste.

9. Onion entre with smoked apple rabbit bacon in a ginormous round fish bowl. It was really tasty and not as stinky.

10. Picnic entre! A small box of grass with cheese/bread sitting on top. The entre came with mini napkins which looked like picnic blankets. Cheese truffle walnut, wisconson cheese with pesto and bread, goat cheese (?) and cheese with a dab of raspberry.

11. Foi gras!! the highlight of our meal!!!! It was so good with the apple butter/slices and chest nuts.

12. Chopped up green strawberry garnished with solid dehydrated sweet milk and dehydrated cucumber skin topped with edible flowers. The sweet milk made the strawberry sweet. Good for people who wants something light for dessert.

13. Date cake soaked in pear foam and pansy flower. Loved the texture and it's so sweet!

14. Mouse chocolate with chocolate crumble with lemon chips lemon cream and basil. It was yummy but it wasn't something to rave about.

15. Inside-out-S'mores. Chocolate ganache wrapped with graham cracker then covered with vanilla bean marshmallow. They served them on a stick and a small wooden dish with a small fire in the middle to cook. Very romantic.

The service was top notch and Louis did an amazing job! He gave us a tour and introduced us to the chefs. They even photobombed our pic.

Big thanks to the entire team for making this experience memorable.

Second time here...and I must say it appears that the owner(s) care a bit less than they did before. Started out well enough, but a short while into the night they ran out of a key ingredient...HOW do you run out of a key ingredient??? For a dinner that c

This was the best meal of my life hands down. I'm completely speechless. The executive chef came out to serve me each course, even talking me about how to make everything. I got to talking with him, letting him know that I am a culinary student. They gave me extra courses, two free drinks, and invited me into the kitchen for a demo of my dessert. I had the 8 course "Lab" experience that they do Tue-Thu. The food was sublime, the service was impeccable. I truly felt as if they were happy to have me. Moto deserves far more than just 5 stars in my opinion!

Moto is an interesting and challenging restaurant to review for its concept goes beyond conventional food. We had the tasting menu with paired wines and spent substantially more than the cost shown on Zagat - about $320 a person. The food was good but not in our opinion as appealing as Alinea. The plating and innovation in the kitchen made each course a fun adventure. Creativity, innovation, great service, & wonderful decor make for a great exp.

Fantastic dining experience! The food is incredibly original and well executed. Although service is somewhat disjointed. I think that in their effort to feel "casual" Moto's service can come across as sloppy. Loved the experience, though.

Chef's workshop was a great experience. The chef gives brief explanations of each dish and his overarching philosophy on food and also offers a tour of the kitchen. moto is unique as there aren't too many places offering haute Southern food and this place also features molecular gastronomy. In all courses, the temperature of the food was always lukewarm which noticeably detracted from the experience. "Oyster Bar" was a playful course with good variety and display of spherication and gels. "BBQ Shrimp" was a memorable dish bursting with flavor. "Hoppin John" was good but lacked interesting flavors. "Venison" was nice and dense, but the accompanying lemon spheres were a bit weak in flavor, allowing the starchiness to come out. "Root beer" was satisfying. Overall, the presentation and creativity were there, but the taste wasn't particularly memorable.

overpriced and underdelivering. Miss it. Save up for Alinea.

They grow most of their greens in house. Economic sustainability done right. I loved the way they combined chemistry and food (two of my passions). The underground private room is PERFECT for hosting an event. I wish I knew about it for my Breaking Bad finale party.

Ambiance was not good at all.
The food was good but nothing over the top to compensate for the lack of the ambiance.

Service from the waiters was impeccable! Great staff!

a very different dining experience. we loved it. many small plates of creativity. prepare to drink you potato chips. minimalist decor. how often can you eat the food of a chef who won on iron chef?

Moto was a surreal, delicious experience for me. I went here about 3 years ago for a friend's 25th birthday. I will not tell anyone what I had to eat, only because I want you to try and experience things for yourself. I will say that the 15 course prix fixe is definitely worth the cost. Save up for this, and you will not regret it.

If you are looking for a memorable scientific experience, this is the restaurant. I went here to kick-off my 30th birthday and they made sure to create a memorable night. The fixed menu allows you to sit back and relax. In fact, they bring the menu out on a plate with little samples of each course that you will be enjoying. It isn't until the end of the meal that they bring you a eatable menu that displays everything you enjoyed. Only downfall is if you like one of the courses there is no way to get it again as they switch the menu each season. Be prepared to be there for 4 hours.

Hello, Moto! It's filled with luxury at its finest! The banquets when you walk in are super high with plush seating. It's almost like your own little room within these booths. You'll be greeted by the freindliest staff, whose also incredibly knowledgeable. The tasting menu changes constantly and filled with not only delicious, but fun dishes that make your taste buds go nuts! Plus, the wine pairings will fit like a glove! If you get the chance, check out the hydroponic farm they have in their kitchen. Seed to table in two weeks is their game and one they happen to be very, very good at. Gotta love sustainability! Go here! It's a little pricey, but worth every penny for food lovers like me.

Food: True molecular gastronomy experience. Beautiful decor with exceptional cuisine. We did the 18 course chefs tasting menu and it was amazing. I'll recommend to do the next tier menu down because it was too much food at the end. For example they served 4 different desserts to end our meal , enough said. I'm not regretting anything but you were warned. The food and menu was curated and inspired by an amazing chef Chris Anderson who used his influences from growing up down south and learning his skills from kitchens all over the world to bring us his creations of those elements.

Side note: You can arrange ahead of time to meet the chef and take a tour of their beautiful state of the art kitchen and Moto farm. I highly recommend it.

Brew: They have an amazing selection of local craft beers but I opted in for their well curated wine paring menu to accompany my chef's tasting menu. It was $95 and well worth it.

Hope they open again and continue to innovate.

Wow. Just, wow. This place is unreal. It's inventive, surprising, delicious, unique and exciting. The food is out of this world, but the presentation and the thought that goes into the courses are what make Moto so unbelievable. I was there for a Google+ event and we had 15 courses, so it was not your normal Moto experience - but it was so memorable. It's inventive culinary arts at its finest and it's something that you must experience at least once in your lifetime.