By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
The experience of dining at M by Alinea begins with the entrance. Enter the heavy hewn doors of the pop-up concept restaurant that has graced the base of Big Sky Resort this winter and you are transported from the outdoor chill into a hug of wood and warmth, into an entry lined with soft forest green curtains—one of which is pulled aside by the staff to allow entry into the dining room. The use of liminal space feels like a welcome breath here, a moment of anticipation before the main event.
The Alinea Group is led by Grant Achatz, a chef “known for his modernist, emotional approach to cuisine,” according to his Culinary Institute of America alumni bio. He creates culinary experiences described as “experimental,” “theatrical” and “immersive.” His accolades list is long, including multiple Michelin stars and James Beard Awards. He opened Alinea in Chicago in 2005.
For the 20th anniversary world tour, the now-restaurant-group has staged pop-ups in Tokyo, Beverly Hills, New York City and Miami Beach. In Big Sky, M has been open since December, and concludes its stint in Big Sky at the end of March. The tour concludes at the Bellagio in Las Vegas from April 16 to May 31. M, however, is unlike any of the other tour stops. It is a new concept for Achatz, a foray into so-called “alpine dining.”
“True luxury is finding the extraordinary in remote places—where a meal isn’t just served, it’s discovered,” Achatz stated in a release from Big Sky Resort. “That’s what we’re building here in Big Sky: something rare, fleeting and deeply connected to nature.”
M’s current tasting menu is 10 courses, with an optional gratin that—having tried to eat alone—I would heartily recommend sharing with a table of people. I would be remiss if I didn’t note that a la carte options are available, especially given the name of this column, but a tasting menu allows a chef more control over the scope of the meal. They are able to take you on a journey through their culinary vision.
Before I took a single bite and attempted to discover Achatz’ version of true luxury, however, I discovered that the menu oozed luxury in the conventional sense as well. It included caviar, foie gras and a literal pile of shaved Périgord black truffle on top of the aforementioned gratin. Bring it on.
First to hit the table was a “shamrock green apple broth infused with spruce tips and topped with toasted pine nut froth,” served alongside a caviar topped cookie. Yes, a cookie. The meal started with perhaps the sweetest thing on the entire menu and gave it a hearty heap of Ossetra caviar from Regiis Ova, a company co-founded by Achatz’ mentor and former boss Thomas Keller. And you know what? It was incredible. My palate was dancing, taking in the unusual flavor combinations I’m doubtful I will experience again.
I’m beginning to see the chef’s vision in this pairing. There is the element of surprise through the innovative use of alpine inspired ingredients, and both overt and subtle luxury. But despite the ways they lit my brain with its newness, each dish was, at its core, warm and comforting. M’s almond-brown butter financier with its fermented blueberry butter and sliced almonds transports me to my grandmother’s holiday cookie table. It’s essentially a thumbprint cookie, though I can’t say I’ve had a thumbprint topped with caviar. And sure, the froth and infusion added umami and herbaceousness, but the apple broth is essentially warm apple cider.
The cookie-cider duo was followed by a single bite of king crab thigh doused in a “popcorn jam” that looked and ate more like a hollandaise. My only complaint was that I wished for more. As a Montanan who has dropped a line or two in a river, trout doesn’t always feel like a luxury. M treats it as one, exploring the ingredient in a dish with birch bark smoked trout alongside a trout-skin chicharron topped with a trout mousse and birch syrup cured trout roe. I again wished for more, though not of the unnecessary tempura-fried sweet potato side.
A roasted chestnut stuffed pasta in a shape known as a “beggar’s purse” and oozing with the flavors of French onion soup prompted one of the waitstaff to remark that this is the “start of the comfort food portion of the meal.” Though I maintain the entire meal was rooted in comfort, things did get heavier. Take that croziflette gratin, which featured squares of buckwheat flour pasta rather than potatoes. It was entirely decadent in its cheesy, bacon-y gooeyness.
I was grateful for the lighter savoriness of the hen of the woods mushroom seared between a bed of herbs and an antique cast-iron iron. I love dramatic flair and presentation—as long as the actual meal doesn’t suffer. Here, it doesn’t. M strives for and achieves European culinary precision. Each dish was impeccable, making me able to appreciate the iron and the baseball-sized truffles that one of the army of waitstaff paraded around in a satin-lined wood box and invited patrons to sniff. No invitation was needed, however, to smell the wafting aroma of the Pekin duck that also circled the room.
I appreciated the frozen pomegranate palate cleanser and the way the Aleppo peppers and pistachio oil lingered on my tongue. I could have used it earlier, though, before the ironed mushroom and its fruit-based toppings. There is only one more savory dish behind it here. Naturally, this dish was a steak. A damn good piece of ribeye accompanied by more beef and served with a proper knife. We are in Montana, after all.
Achatz has achieved something interesting in this combination of comfort and luxury. M’s tasting menu is grounded in a sense of place, then soars. It is rooted in memory then reminds you of the adventure in seeing something familiar through new eyes. Emotional cooking, indeed.
The meal’s finale was the most unassuming dish, a nearly white sphere of ice cream centered in a nearly white shallow bowl. We don’t get to see the theatrics here, though I am told they involve burning a ponderosa pine log and throwing it into an ice cream base where it is left overnight to infuse flavor. The result is an exquisite smokiness that evokes memories of campfire gatherings, of Montana, of home.
Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.
