Food as science has been around for a while, but it is now reaching new heights in restaurants as more chefs begin working their magic at their stoves. They are creating food as theatre - producing oohs and ahhs from diners as the conjuring act transforms traditional dishes into innovation on a plate.

Chefs maintain that this is the first real change in recipes for many years. They are seeking to realise the full potential of food and have adopted inventive techniques and used newly developed appliances to achieve their goals. For example they use intense freezing agents as liquid nitrogen to make instant freezes. For these techniques understanding food chemistry is all important. Much of this magic cannot be repeated in the home kitchen as special chemicals, ovens and instruments are required to capture the essence of the food.

Recently we had the amazing experience of eating at Alinea in Chicago, voted top restaurant in the U.S. by Gourmet Magazine and now one of the best 50 in the world according to London's The Daily Telegraph. Executive chef Grant Achatz has also just won the James Beard award for best chef in the Midwest. His imagination, dedication and understanding of science consistently produced flawless food.

Our meal took 5 and a half hours to eat and each of our 26 courses was fascinating, as were the 13 wine matches that accompanied. It truly was was food as theatre... and art: many of the plates were specially created for the spectacular food. Achatz also works with a designer who custom-makes all his tableware. The eye ball serving dish was my favourite. It literally looked like an eyeball without a centre -- it was designed to keep the food completely cold.

Alinea's menu changes every day. The lighting is computerized and changes to match the moods. This is the only restaurant ever where I was served duck with mango on a lavender pillow to have the aroma enhance the taste. And then there was the foie gras truffle! Because there is such a thing as taste bud weariness, Achatz serves desserts throughout the meal to stimulate different areas of the mouth. An incredible experience!

Here's the menu we enjoyed (wine pairings to follow later this week)...