Grant Achatz brings Alinea to London for three nights only

Grant Achatz will bring Chicago's Alinea to London for three nights in October, joining Restaurant Story's Tom Sellers and Tom Phillips for a joint menu that will not be served again.

The collaboration runs from 15 to 17 October at Restaurant Story on Tooley Street, London Bridge, where diners will share a communal table for a 14-course tasting menu created jointly by the three chefs. Tickets cost £525 per person, according to Restaurant Online.

Restaurant Story's group beverage manager, Carolina W. Seibel, is developing a bespoke wine pairing for the residency that draws on dates and events connected to the three chefs' careers, the trade title reported.

Three nights at one table turn two Michelin-starred addresses into a single, unrepeatable menu.

Two Michelin-starred kitchens, one week

Grant Achatz opened Alinea in Chicago in 2005; it has held three Michelin stars since the guide's inaugural US edition in 2011, before a downgrade to two stars in 2025. Restaurant Story, which Sellers founded in 2013, holds two Michelin stars of its own.

"Grant is someone I've admired for years - his approach to storytelling through food has shaped so much of how we think about menus at Restaurant Story," Phillips said. Achatz said Restaurant Story "is built around creativity, narrative and a strong sense of identity."

Achatz built Alinea's reputation on modernist technique, from edible helium balloons to courses plated directly on the tabletop, and the Alinea Group has since grown to include The Aviary and Roister, both in Chicago. Sellers opened Restaurant Story in 2013 on the site of a former public toilet near London Bridge, building its menu around dishes tied to memory and place.

A contest for the final night

Restaurant Story is separately running a competition for a table of four on the last of the three nights; entrants must buy a limited-edition Restaurant Story x Alinea T-shirt and answer a skill-based question to qualify.

The residency adds to a run of visiting-chef events in London this year. What a tasting menu actually costs to put on a table has climbed as kitchens fly in guest teams for one-off menus, and short takeovers such as Duda Diner's residency at a Paddington hotel have become a regular fixture on the capital's dining calendar.