Alinea at Home Extra: BIG NEWS!!!

It's been KILLING me to not be able to tell you all about this big, exciting change in my life, so I'll let the video below do the talking for us. And by "us" I mean me, and GRANT ACHATZ!!!   (holy crap, you guys)  I'm blown away... completely and totally blown away.  Will write more later... time to work!!!

Comments

[kerrie]

No word of a lie, I rolled out of bed this morning wondering what you April fools joke would be this year. How lame am I?! Last years was a blast-I think this one takes the cake!! I'm glad you're not leaving to go cook in Grants kitchen, I enjoy your blog way too much.

[Jodles]

Carol, I want to believe...I do! But something inside tells me the next installment will be April Fools!

[Sam Greenfield]

Congratulations! And the first of April is always a wise day to start a new job! :-)

[Ed Gieskes]

Good one, if it's what I think it is!

[Michelle]

Congratulations!!! I have been following you since 2007, reading every word of your FL and AAH blog and have never commented before. But had to pop in to say this is awesome news (or.... a super April Fools joke). Either way -- you rock!

[Spine]

Check the date. Duct tape? c'mon!

[Lilly]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .. is this an april fools thing?? if yes.. HILARIOUS.. if not.. congratS! i'm so jealous

[The Mediocre Cook]

Something about the date this was posted makes me curious but then again I am a natural born cynic.

Should this be the real thing though, then Congratulations!

[jenn p]

WOA - how completely totally coolio, girl!
Um, are you still going to do the Tues 4pm calls? jk
Congrats and have a frickin blast!!!!

[talia]

Congratlations, Carol. I know that reading your blog has been a source of inspiration (and amusement!) for me. Now you are livin' the dream. Way to go! You made your own luck and what an amazing job you did!

[Sara]

Wow! Great that you were able to unveil the "secret" on the 1st of April.

Boy...it sure seems like a DREAM...or a joke maybe.

Ahem.

Great one though.

[James]

Has anyone looked at the date? Does anyone remember that every year on this day there have been some kind of crazy shenanigans here? Awesome if this was true, but joke's on us!

Way to 1up yourself every year with the April fools Carol, you rock

[reb]

I think the duct tape thing cracked me up more than everything else put together!

[Lisa]

So...this isn't some sort of elaborate April Fools joke that Grant Achatz is in on, is it? If it's for real, congratulations! If it is an April Fools prank, I'm still going to congratulate you for getting effing Grant Achatz to do this. Very awesome.

[Liz]

Hey Carol, I just wanted to wish you a happy April Fools Day. :)

[Lynne]

I know you've done April Fools posts in the past. I'm thinking this one may be, though it's not inconceivable you'd go to work for GA.

[Heather]

WOW! Congratulations. Can't wait to hear more.

[Jerry]

Nice April Fool joke. At least you got to spend time with Grant!

[Sam]

WOW!!!!! Congrats this is amazing! Funny that I had a dream with Grant Achatz in it last night and then I woke up to this post.

Congratulations, Carol!

[Dan Cole]

While I'm sure Carol appreciates all of the congratulations, I'm equally sure that this is an April Fool's Day prank. :)

Well done, Carol. VERY well done.

[Sam]

Oh, and nice that this is on April 1! haha

[Scott]

Am I the only one to yet recognize an April Fools joke?

(A really elaborate one, admittedly. Makes me appreciate this blog even more.)

[Bob Dobalina]

HA! Happy April Fools Day to you too!!!

LOL

[Arron]

Okay Carol, loved your blog about The French Laundry and loving your blog about Alinea...but I have to ask you something. Is this an April Fool's Day joke? If it is, it's still cool that you got to meet Grant, but if it isn't a joke...holy frak! I wanna be excited for ya but the date won't let me. I soooo don't know how to respond to this post! LOL Have a great day. You rock!

[Alice]

wait, what day is it again? Nice one Carol. You totally got us. ;-)

[Ramona]

This HAS to be an April Fools, right?!?!?!

[anne]

Ok, this is super exciting. But I will refrain from actually being excited until you confirm that this isn't another one of your evil April Fool's pranks.

[Emily]

Seriously, 35 comments already and only 2 mentioned that it's APRIL 1st. Did you moderate out the obvious ones or get a bunch of friends to play along?

[Hank]

Congratulations, Carol! This is exciting news, and we're glad to have you in Chicago. Now we've got even more reason to find an opportunity to dine at Alinea.

[Daniel]

Surely I'm not the first to propose that this is an APRIL FOOLS joke?

[Kim]

Ummmmmm...congratulations?!!!! Or Happy April 1st?!!!

[Robert S.]

Congratulations!!!! Now I have a reason to visit my brother-in-law and his wife who reside in the 'burbs there. I'll miss the Takoma Park references, but, it's great that your 1 time zone closer to the left coast. Cheers!!!

[Jenny]

Am I the only one to notice the date on this? I'm pretty sure this is an April Fools joke....

......but just in case it isn't, this is wonderfully exciting news, and Carol if you need a day off, please call me and I'll take your place. ;)

[Luke]

Surely this is an april fools joke.....

[Origin]

For the sake of Pork. April fools folks.

[spine]

You're totally censoring the comment! Only the credulous may post.

Great blog and you've made me laught today.

[Lesley]

Congratulations Carol, can't wait to keep reading - but, tell me, are you going to change the title of the blog? or are you actually going to move into Alinea so you don't have to? :)

[Lesley]

Oh, I just got it - boy am I slow.

[MAL]

Shoot, the video isn't working in my browser. From the comments I think I've got the point, though. Just to be *totally* sure, there isn't a particular reason you waited til April *1* to post this, is there?

[Jeff]

Good luck selling your house in MD (especially in April!).

[Jon G]

I've been tirelessly checking the blog for the past ten days looking for updates...Well this was certainly worth the wait!

Three cheers to you Carol!

Best of luck in the Windy City.

[mandy]

Umm...April Fools???

[Ilana]

I'm guessing the timing of this announcement for April 1 is no coincidence. :-)

[Jason]

I call April Fools. Duct tape? I know it's useful for just about anything, but... come on. It just doesn't have the refined adhesion required for the Alinea kitchen.

[Heather Broad]

Holy cow! That is so exciting!

[Phil]

One of the most elaborate April Fools jokes of all time. ;-)

[joyciel]

Oh wow, congratulations! That is freaking awesome!

[Anna]

** Since you moderate comments, feel free to keep this one off the weblog for now **

No one else seems to have picked up on this yet, but I'm guessing since you posted this on April 1 that it's an April Fool's joke? And a great one at that!

My boyfriend works in the Alinea kitchen (I can see him in the video right behind you), and he mentioned that you came in to Alinea recently - we're both fans of your blog. Keep up the great work!

[Dave]

This is an unobservant crowd. I'm surprised.

[Chris]

Are you editing out the suspicious comments, or has literally nobody else noticed it's April 1st? :)

[Cher]

Holy sheep!!!! That's the best 4/1 joke I've seen yet. For 30 secs., I actually bought it. Wow.

[Andrea]

I'm happy for you, Carol! And Grant will have a wonderful new communicator for his unique brand of creativity. Have fun!

[Gwen M]

Can't figure out if this is some kind of joke for April Fool's day, but if not, you have just landed the most awesome, incredible job ever. Especially when you remember where G. learned his stuff and what he is now...

[Marisa]

I suspect April Foolery!

[Ben]

Welcome to Chicago! That's so amazing I don't know what to say.

[tim c]

This is really cool... (maybe its my jealousy) but sounds like a classic April Fools joke?

[fxtech]

Hi Carol,

I've been following your blogs since Diner Girl. I'm not falling for it. Happy April Fools to you too!.

Great prank and I'm sure there is a lot to the backstory. Can't wait to hear it.

I always enjoy your writing. All the best.

fxtech

[Teanna]

OH MY GOD CONGRATULATIONS! That is SO EXCITING!

[Beth]

Um. April Fools, right? Good one.

[Mark Taylor]

Awesome (literally) news. Congratulations and thanks for the inspiration. Your posts gave me the confidence to dive right in. I'll be setting up my third Alinea-based dinner soon. Best reactions to the first two: "It changed the way I think about food and flavors." "That's a meal I'll never forget." As an amateur, I've never felt so cheffy.

[EssBee]

This April Fool's prank is even better than the chicken stack ups and the attorney's letter from last year......
you are the best!

[Arron]

Carol, did I say something wrong? If I did, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anyone else. I apologize.

[Txgrrl]

So, I am totally thrilled for this news. How amazing! However...I am also looking at the date of this blog...and I am remembering past years blogs on this particular date...so I'll wait until tomorrow for confirmation of what-will-hopefully-be very very exciting change!

[April Fool?]

Can you say "April Fools!"?

[RT]

How cool is Grant to do this??!!!! And duct tape, that's funny. Almost too funny...but adorable nonetheless.

[Arlene]

hmmm, interesting :)

::snerk::

I love this blog.

[Alexa]

I followed FLAH well enough to know you do this every year, so happy april fools, right?

how cool would that really be though?

[Mark Cotton]

Ok, if this is real, I'm very happy for you!

However, considering the date, I think you might be pulling a joke on all of us :-)

[Jennifer]

OH MY GOD! So awesome! I would love to see the video reaction of you when Grant first offered you a position in his kitchen.

I am only saying this because of the date, is this an April Fools joke? Because last year TFL phone was ringing with me ready to cuss them out for shutting you down. Luckily I realized what was going on before anyone picked up.

If this is for real, you are one lucky girl!

[Swarup Bandyopadhyay]

April Fools!

[Anna, Queens]

This doesn't happen to be an April Fool's Day joke, does it? :)

[Richard Chudy]

I'll be the first to say it... It's an April Fools Joke, correct???

[Leslie]

ok, I have to ask...this isn't an April Fools thing is it? If not, then WOW. Congratulations!!!

[boki]

april fools, right?
very cool

[JoP in Omaha]

The vid won't play for me, darn, but I get the idea. Now, dear Carol, you've got me wondering, that's for sure. It being April 1 and all, ya know? Who knows...the real joke might be that there IS some truth to the tale.

[amber]

<3 this post <3

[Nansen]

HAHA, You have the BEST April Fools blog entries. Last year- you really had me going! This year- what a fun video! Thanks for the chuckle.

[Jean Marie]

GREAT April Fools joke!! You almost had me.

[jordanbaker]

This is why I hate this stupid "holiday"; because I buy everything for exactly 40 seconds and then I go "waaaaaaaaait a minute." And that constant up-down all day makes me grumpy.

[Michelle]

Love the inclusion of the duct tape among the tools! Happy April Fool's Day! Great to know that Grant Achatz has a good sense of humor.

[Michael W.]

This launched last night Pacific time, so I didn't have my April Fools guard up yet.

April Fools is the worst thing ever. The idea of this being true actually made me giddily happy. =\

[Kedar]

best 4/1 post ever
Ruhlman went for it too, check out his blog
Great stuff!!!

[Robert S.]

Oh, my, suckered again...you are really, really, really, REALLY funny!!!! And that's why we love you so!!!

[sygyzy]

I watched this last night and admit I fell for it until near the end. Putting it up on March 31st. Well played. It wasn't even April Fool's yet so that didn't enter my mind.

[The Other Tiger]

Oh man, April Fool's. This is what I get for living on the west coast...it's April Fool's everywhere else before it happens here!

[pmorrisonfl]

And, fancy that, I've got a reservation at Alinea tonight. See you there! It must be a 4/1 thing.

Actually I made Gougeres this weekend, from the French Laundry book, which I just bought, largely inspired by your example. Thanks!

[Carol]

Shenanagins!

[Steve Schnitzler]

Brava, indeed! I think my favorite part is the duct (Duck brand?) tape...That sends it right over the cliff!! Nicely done...Made my day.

[Angelica]

OMG!!!! Im crying! Im sooooo happy for you!!! Good luck and congratulations!

[meleyna]

Oh geeze. I actually just took the time to read the other comments. I feel like an ass. (What's new?)

[Carl]

You got me!

[Paige]

This is totally an April Fool's joke. I remember your penchant for tricking us the past two years...

It's totally a joke.

...right...?

[victoria]

I've been thinking about this on and off all day - and then I realized, it's April first.

You got me!

Welcome back to D.C.

[alyson Johnson]

Wait, I totally just realized (like eight hours after my comment) what day it is and what day this was posted. It sucks to be behind on feeds.

(Now assuming this isn't genuine - Grant is pretty awesomely awesome for joining you in this fool's...)

[Kevin]

So, let me get this straight. Whether or not this is real or a prank (because either or both are cool options), you actually got to hang out in the kitchen of one of America's top five (three? two?) restaurants with one of the most lauded young chefs of our time?

Damn, girl..... day-um. You just might be the coolest person EVER. Lucky duck!

[Chrissy]

Really?? B/c that would be totally awesome if it is true!!!!!! Here's hoping ....

[Laurence]

I knew it right away, as I posted above. (I note for the record you didn't spot what AFD stood for. Har har!) What I didn't say then was how kewl it was of Grant to go along with it. All that talent, and so likable too. Bastard.

[Liz C]

Man, I was all psyched until I remembered what day it is. :)

[Cap Awesome]

Does this mean you will no longer be "Alinea at Home"? Maybe "Alinea at Alinea," or "Home at Alinea." Or maybe something awesomer like "Movin' on up."

[Dean E.]

Wonderful, thanks for the big smile. Exactly why did the duct tape intrigue you? ;-)