Underground Kitchen SF

Table 30Covers 30

San FranciscoService closed

A cooking club built around one rule: bigger and better each time.

Once a month, thirty of us got together to recreate meals from the restaurants we admired. There were ambitious plates, very long prep lists, and a lot of washing up.

Alinea · The French Laundry · Atelier Crenn · Noma · wd~50 · El Bulli · Eleven Madison Park · Momofuku

Living well and eating well are one and the same.

Seared scallop on slate with a swipe of sauce — scallop, slate

Cubes of compressed watermelon with blue cheese and hazelnuts — compressed watermelon, blue cheese

The finished dessert table, painted from above — the table. Alinea night

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The Alinea dessert table

Sketching the design onto paper before service — the sketch. every stroke planned on paper first

Sifting a crumble through a sieve onto parchment — the elements, sifted onto parchment

Painting sauces across the table — painting. brushed and flicked across the table

The painted table taking shape with people around it — it takes shape. nobody allowed to touch it

Everyone gathered around the table eating — service. straight off the table

1 of 6

The making of

Alinea ends its tasting menu by painting dessert straight onto the table. We did it for thirty, across the whole table.

From the first sketch to the last spoonful, six photographs tell the story. Use the arrows to browse, or select a photograph for a closer look.

Watch The Cook II · 3:46

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Vacuum-compressed watermelon

A small experiment

Watermelon, a chamber vacuum, and a very different texture: glassy, dense, and full of flavour.

Served cold with blue cheese, toasted hazelnuts, and olive oil. One of the little plates that stayed with us.

Paella for thirty

Paella with shrimp, peppers and asparagus in a wide pan — paella, pan one

A thick tortilla española in a skillet — tortilla, hubcap size

Spanish night

Mussels. A tortilla the size of a hubcap. Two enormous pans of paella.

The one night nobody used tweezers.

Watch The Cook I · 3:11

press play

Three films from the kitchen

The food is only half the story. Watch the people, the preparation, and the table coming together. Choose a film to play it with sound.

3:46 Watch film

Alinea night · 2017

The Cook II

Dessert painted across a table for thirty. The planning, the plating, and the moment everyone digs in.

Film by Shot Seeker Media

3:11 Watch film

Spanish night · 2018

The Cook I

Two pans of paella, tortilla española, and a kitchen full of people cooking together.

Film by Shot Seeker Media

0:51 Watch film

The whole kitchen, frozen · 2016

Mannequin Challenge

Fifty-one seconds mid-service. Mussels in the pan, tweezers in the air, and nobody moving.

Film by Shot Seeker Media

the photograph wall

What came off the pass

Plates, people, and a little organised chaos. Select any photograph to open it full size, then browse with the arrows or swipe on your phone.

Rows of chocolate desserts with mint and citrus on white plates — chocolate, mint, citrus

Braised meat on polenta, on slate — on polenta, slate

Gnocchi with asparagus and shaved cheese — gnocchi, asparagus

A chocolate dessert dressed as a forest floor — forest floor

Flatbread with prosciutto and arugula — flatbread, prosciutto, arugula

Short rib with sauce and asparagus — short rib

A small tomato tart on a white plate — tomato tart

A dessert served inside a coconut shell — in the coconut

A charlotte ringed with ladyfingers and raspberries — charlotte, raspberry

A bowl of ramen with pork and enoki — ramen

Canapés lined up on slate — canapés, slate

A yellow quenelle with crumble on a white plate — quenelle, crumble

A dark dessert on slate with green dots — on slate

Sushi and sashimi on wooden boards — sushi night

Tasting spoons in a row — tasting spoons

Mussels and clams with lemon — mussels, clams

Green ravioli with shaved garnish — ravioli

A single spoon with citrus and herbs — one bite

Meat with a swoosh of sauce and asparagus — the swoosh

Small cakes on white tiles — petits fours

A round sourdough loaf on a rack — sourdough

Fish and chips with lemon — fish and chips

Corn cakes topped with tomato — corn cakes

A line of slate plates ready for service — ready for service

The film crew setting up in a garden — Shot Seeker Media, garden

A camera operator at the dining table — camera at the table

A cloud of liquid nitrogen over the counter — liquid nitrogen

Plating a dish with tweezers — tweezers, not spoons

behind the pass

The crew, and the nitrogen

Thirty cooks, borrowed kitchens, and Shot Seeker Media behind the camera. The best part was doing it together.

A cooking club that chased the best restaurants in the world.

The story

The Alinea dessert table

Vacuum-compressed watermelon

Paella for thirty

Three films from the kitchen

The Cook II

The Cook I

Mannequin Challenge

What came off the pass

The crew, and the nitrogen