You come to a point where you’re looking at your life and career, trying to make them dovetail. You lay out a road map, and you feel confident. Then Michelin gives you two stars [down from three], and you’re like, OK, well, I’m pissed now. Then I do what I do best and get right back in here. We lift the whole thing off the ground, move the foundation a bit, set it back down. I don’t know if it would have happened to this extent if we’d maintained three stars, but I’m glad it happened, because now we have an opportunity to wipe that chalkboard clean.
Charlie Trotter was a master manipulator. He really got in your head. He didn’t yell that much, but man — psychological warfare. I observed from him how to discipline almost silently. He was also not a chef that cooked. He was largely absent in the kitchen. When I went to the French Laundry, it was the opposite. Thomas Keller was first one in, last one out. Led by example. Nothing was beneath him. He would wash pots. I gravitated towards that because that was my childhood. My parents worked their tails off in their [restaurant] business.
We opened Alinea in ’05. In ’06, Ruth Reichl named us the best restaurant in America. In ’07, we made [Restaurant magazine’s] top 50 in the world. My ego was through the roof, and I wanted control of everything. Then I got diagnosed [with tongue cancer]. I don’t know if I would have gotten too full of myself, but that certainly chopped it off at the knees. I had to take stuff to the chefs who used to bring me stuff for final approval, and say, “How is this?” But I came out of it such a better chef.
Eating, for me, is a chore. Atrophy is one of the radiation side effects. It stiffens tissue and compromises tongue mobility and epiglottis movement, so I have to concentrate with every swallow. Another side effect is the thinning of the mouth cavity surface tissue. Sensitivity is magnified with spicy ingredients, alcohol, and hot or cold items. And all bottom teeth aside from the front six have been removed because I kept getting infections. So I can’t chew.
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I love butchering fish. Once you master it, you’re in that flow state. That feeling is incredible.
People want access. But I’m not a very good public person. The other night we got an email from somebody who was at the kitchen table. They were like, “The food was extraordinary. The service was exemplary. Everything was amazing. However, the chef did not come over and say hi.” That is not my job. My job is to make sure that your food, your service, and your experience are exemplary.
When we first opened, people would say, “What is your favorite tool?” and I would say Google. Not my chef’s knife. Because it’s all about research. People don’t realize how much we lean into history.
We retired many iconic dishes, like the [green apple taffy] balloon. We had a woman and her daughter fly in from L.A. That particular night, we weren’t serving the balloon. The girl started crying, and the mom told the captain, “The only reason we came here is so she could have the balloon and put it on TikTok.” But how many times do we have to serve that balloon? How many times do the Rolling Stones have to play “Let It Bleed”?
Mike Thomas is a freelancer writer for Chicago magazine.