Alinea, Grant Achatz's fine dining restaurant, will close for remodeling on January 1, though the team won't be idle long—shortly after, they will jet off to Madrid, where they'll host two pop-up dinners.
Achatz and company have previously done pop-ups in New York, and Spain isn't a hugely surprising pick—two Next Restaurant menus have focused on Spanish cuisine (El Bulli and this past summer's Tapas), and Spain's modernist cuisine is a huge influence on Achatz and the Alinea menus.
The team will first do a series of collaborative dinners with DiverXO, chef David Muñoz's three-star Michelin restaurant, from January 12-16. Alinea: Madrid will set up residence in NH Hotel Eurobuilding, and each restaurant will create a tasting menu. Midway through the meal, the diners will move from Alinea to DiverXO. Then from January 19-February 6, Alinea: Madrid will serve a tasting menu that draws inspiration from Spanish cuisine. Should you have some extra cash lying around, or want to get someone an insane holiday gift, tickets are available now.
After their Spanish residence, the Alinea team will head to Miami for a pop-up later in 2016, though there are no details as of yet.