Moto

This was the best restaurant that I’ve ever been too! I met the chefs and seen first hand how the technology was infused in the seating– amazing really! I hate how I won’t be able to come back here I loved my experienced so much! (However, I heard Alinea has bought the space) Rip to Homaro Cantu!

MOTO, THE FINAL & POINTLESS REVIEW– Part 2
The food and service was still great. It simply was not what it was before. At some level one could argue, «wouldn’t this be expected?» I mean, in talking with the staff, the Alinia Group had not let any of them know any more than that Moto was closing. Nobody knew if they had jobs moving forward or what was next for the space. So, why SHOULD they care to do everything perfectly? As «short timers» like to say, «What are they going to do? Fire me?» Further, and no disrespect is intended to the staff, but it is entirely possible that we were no longer dealing with the «A» team. I mean, from a practical standpoint, I don’t know whether I would/​should expect the truly elite staff at an establishment like Moto to «hang around» to the bitter end, just to see what might happen. I mean it seems to me that once they were told that Moto was closing, they would immediately all be looking for new jobs… and I would clearly think that they would find them quickly. The caveat here is that there are plenty of potential reasons why the service may have been a bit off.
But let’s get to ‘dissing’ the food. The same caveats apply here as to the service but there is more to discuss. Since we were the late seating, it gave us an opportunity to stay late and annoy the staff by not leaving sooner, I guess. As the night wore down, we got the fellow who we presume was serving the role of maître d’hôtel to open up a bit about how the staff was feeling, what was next, etc. One of his chief complaints regarded one of the diners’ chief complaints, «it is not the same». He said that everybody wanted the emphasis on the «science of food» but the staff felt that it still was being emphasized… just in a different way. As too often happens in a «disagreement» I think that probably both sides have at least some degree of being «correct».
If you did come expecting the cigars, snowmen, and ‘flavor-​redirects’ of old, you would have come away totally disappointed. However, in fairness to Chef Anderson and his staff, trying to imitate and maintain a style that was distinctly Chef Cantu’s would probably have been «wrong» at many levels. Nonetheless, it was cigars and snowmen and «flavor-​redirects’ that clientele had come to expect as part of the «show» at Moto. So, setting predefined expectations aside, the courses offered to us (we got the higher tier, full tasting with wine pairing) were fine and befitting a restaurant at the level of Moto. However, as I have said many times in many reviews before, they were not «special» in any way that set them apart from other, comparable restaurants. Had we been blindfolded, flown around for several hours, and sat down to an «anonymous» meal at Moto, we would have not guessed that it was Moto. It could have been any high-​end restaurant in any city in the US.
It simply was not Moto; it simply was not memorable. Sitting here removed by a couple of months and finally getting around to this review, I am not sure that I could specifically name a single course that we had. This does not make the dishes bad and could be more a symptom of a memory failing from age. In fact, maybe it actually results from me truly being a spoiled (asinine elitists) customer. The food was fine but in the backdrop of being a 95^th percentile restaurant, it simply did not stand out.
Perhaps that is the «real learning» to be had here. If any professional in the field should even care to read the «wisdom» of an ‘asinine elitist’, perhaps if we distill it down, the real learning is that if you are asked to replace a Chef Homero Cantu and keep the same name on the restaurant, if you don’t deliver circus tents and talking food, maybe you should run away screaming? It is perhaps inevitable that if you take over a restaurant that has carved out a unique niche you will ALWAYS suffer by comparison. Is this Chef Anderson’s and his staff’s fault? No. You don’t become head chef if you don’t have a personal vision and the burning desire to execute it. However, it is also not the customers’ faults if they come to a place like Moto and expect «Moto to be Moto».
Am I saying that it is good for Moto to be gone? I am not sure that it is good to ever lose a Moto. It certainly is not good that a lot of talented people are out of jobs. It certainly is not good that we are down one great establishment in a city where I feel that a once great food scene has regressed a bit over the past couple of years. It certainly is NOT good that the death of a great chef was a cause of this. However, maybe it was time for Moto to be gone.
We have a lot of great memories from Moto. We will have those forever (or at least as long as brain biochemistry allows!). We thank the staff through the years for helping to provide those memories and wish them all the best of luck moving forward. We will certainly miss Moto. It was a key to the maturation of our Chicago food experience.

Moto RIPed on Valentine’s Day and it’s probably for the best. I had such high expectations when I went and with dropping near $ 500. Sadly, the food was just okay. Some things were good, but nothing mindblowing, nothing even fabulous… all was just okay to good. I was a bit disappointed.
The best dishes I had when visiting were the Chicken and Dumplings (served looking very unique like a little log and I think was one of their signature dishes) and the all vegetable dish. Who knew I’d like a dish sans protein so much?! Everything else was just okay and I honestly can’t remember many details of the dishes. I do have to say plating was great the entire meal but was surprised there wasn’t more presentation in such a pricey tasting menu.
Service was amazing. The ladies took care of us all along the way and were personable in our chatting.
A small appreciated cool thing was the customized menu. Made me feel way more important than I am.
When we went, the front half of the dining room had some kind of special group tour/​dinner thing going on where the Chef went out to speak on the courses. My friend and I were seated in the back half and they closed the wall between us. I actually really liked the exclusivity of feeling like we had a dining room to ourselves. But we had a bad feeling that there was no one else seated in the dining room. We definitnely found it to be ominous.
I am glad I went to Moto prior to it closing as I think I would have always wondered how it was. However having now been, I don’t think it was worth the money and it definitely ran it’s course.

I had no idea when we ate our meal last night that Moto was closing. I’m so sad… although I think what we experienced was quite different from Cantu’s original vision, I loved the experience. There was less of the sciencey influence and more of a southern infused fine dining. That was a major surprise for me, because I LOVE southern food!
The southern creations were delectable and so creative:
— Waffle House ‘breakfast for dinner’: I loved this, because if you spend any time in the south, there is a Waffle House on every corner
— Okra dish: I LOVE okra and am so glad the team infused okra into one of the courses
— Chicken and Dumplings: Let’s just say, these aren’t your granny’s dumplings. They were cheese filled! Which was a nice nod to the Midwest in my opinion
I absolutely loved my experience at Moto. We did the 16 course tasting menu and had a blast. My husband even had flowers delivered and they had them on the table for us! By the time the dessert courses started and we had eaten our weight in their cheese plate, we really couldn’t handle the four additional desserts, but everything leading up to the final courses were amazing, unique, and accessible at the same time.

Why, oh why, did I wait until Moto’s last week to check them out? (Hmmmm, I did the same thing with Hot Doug’s. I’m sensing a procrastination theme in my life.) It was definitely worth the wait. A beautiful location, stellar service, and excellent food with perfect wine pairings. I had heard about the Chicken and Dumplings prior to our meal, and I think that was my favorite dish of the evening. Running a close second was the French Toast… after all, who doesn’t like Breakfast for Dinner? Besides the food, I loved the little Moto touches, like the laser-​cut souvenir menu with your name on it. (Nice touch… MK is the only other restaurant I’ve been to that did that.) I would tell you to check out Moto for yourself, but it’s too late for that… but, I am curious to see where the Chef heads to next!

My partner took me here for my «half birthday celebration» and we both left feeling underwhelmed and ripped off. While the restaurant accommodated my vegan diet, they did not replace any of the ingredients that were not vegan-​friendly, which resulted in each part of my vegan tasting being bland and uninspiring – the only dish that tasted good was the vegan breakfast. My boyfriend felt the same about his unaltered seafood/​meat tasting. That said, it was irritating to receive a bill of $ 700 for such an underwhelming meal.
PS– My boyfriend went to The Wiener Circle right after our meal to get a burger and fries because he was still hungry after this meal.

A pricey experience but worth it for the finest of finest dining. Fulton Market area is known for $$$$ calibre places and Moto fits the bill perfectly. Located right next to Aviary, it’s no doubt that Moto is a perfect fit. Some magazines name Moto as the most notable place for molecular gastronomy in the world, and now that I’ve dined here I’ve discovered that something as small as a pebble on my plate can explode into a flavor sensation in my mouth. When I ate here, Moto had not yet earned its Michelin Star but really it was well deserved. I was lucky enough to be served by the late Chef Homaro Cantu before his passing, but really all his staff in the kitchen were nothing short of awesome (yes, we went down to the kitchen and met them all afterwards).
Our Maitre D for the night was Louis. He served as the face that would give us that sense of familiarity throughout the night when our servers became strangers. Louis is above and beyond. Every course had an underlying theme and he explained it all perfectly. This is fancy food, but come hungry because you’ll want to come with a clean palate. The entire experience will last between 3 to 4 hours. What first drew us to dine here was the creativity of the dishes. Every course was a presentation in itself with that 1, 2… TADA… While I feel that the allure here is not knowing what to expect, but read on if you hate surprises.
-=-SPOILER ALERT-​=-
As you walk in, the first thing you see is a giant chemistry set. At the business end of the whole ordeal is the Palate Cleanser. Have a cup, then be ready for the show. The first thing to come out after sitting was a plain plate of 15 dots of food. Yep, just dots. As we tasted each one, Louis explained that each dot was a preview of the courses to come. FANCAE!
The creativity that came from these courses is nothing short of astounding. Like our salad was served still partially in the ground. Louis would come by and start trimming our salad for us and putting it on our plate. Another course was seafood served in a steaming wooden box. Then there was also a picnic theme of eating cheese and crackers in the grass. My crown jewel here, of course it was the seared foie. If you are looking for a long meal, where every course is worthy of discussion and Oo’s and Ah’s. This is the place.

So I’ve avoided coming here for a very long time. I wasn’t a fan of the chef. Not a fan of ING and didn’t think I’d be a fan of here.
Full disclosure-​I saw a deal on gilt city and bought it not realizing in the fine print it was an exclusive gilt city menu with a few pairings. The menu was good but I felt like I got ripped off. I wanted the real menu, not the cheap deal menu. I would’ve never bought if I knew that was the case. When I contacted GILT they said too bad… bums.
So on to the service. Our servers were all great. I actually really liked the vibe in Moto. Just simple. They were not pretentious.
The food was good but I don’t think it was worth the $ 260 for the deal and then our bill was an additional $ 250ish with tax, tip, upgrades. So $ 500 not so much of a deal.
Ceviche was crisp and refreshing.
BBQ shrimp were good
Ravioli again good… not sure of the value
Hoppin John
Chicken & dumplings
Roots-​very tastey
Venison-​great but extremely small. Would’ve liked more flavor development.
Pumpkin cheesecake dessert might have been the most disappointing dessert I’ve ever had. It was just meh. Plain, whipped barely like cheesecake. Meh
Pecan pie was a chocolate with an inside flavored like pecan… which it didn’t and wasn’t. It was bad.
So overall, I left feeling ripped off! I would’ve rather went & paid full price & gotten the whole experience than what we got. I liked the meal portion but it slowly faded when I realized that was it for dessert. My husband received less than an ounce for the «wine pairings.» Sad, should’ve stuck with my gut on this one.

First, service was great. Nothing mind blowing but waitstaff was friendly and informative. Service was neither slow nor rushed.
However, the food was upsettingly subpar. We kept hoping the next dish would be better but the food was not good. Forget creativity. It just didn’t taste good. I am over it now and consider it a lesson learned but still cannot understand how this restaurant received a Michelin star. Understanding that it is a one star (as opposed to two or three), it still stands far below its peers. Especially considering the cost of dining here, I’d suggest going elsewhere.

I’ve been to top restaurants in Chicago (Alinea, Grace, Blackbird), NYC (Le Bernadain), and across the globe, and I am baffled how this place still has a Michelin.
We sat down at 6:15 and left at 10. The couples to both our sides sat down at 7 and left at 10… We both had the same tasting menu. I’m not sure if the policy is to have everyone stay in the restaurant until it closes, but waiting 15 minutes in between bite size courses is not what I call a fun experience.
On top of that, when being presented the dishes, I was asked if I wanted more wine, which I stopped after my third glass (not that bad considering I was in my 3^rd of 4 hours there), and the waitress tells me «yeah, I was surprised you had so many». Who the hell are you!!! I would have easily drank more, but the paltry portions and insane wait times got me to a point where I didn’t have enough food to enjoy he wine I was being poured!
The reason this isn’t lower is that the food itself wasn’t bad. Half the dishes worked for me, the other seemed like it was just them trying to be cool.
I think the place used to be innovative, but outside of a little foam here and there and some smoke in my ceviche there wasn’t anything molecular about this place… The grand finale to our night wasn’t some amazing desert. It was the 300/​person bill for me and my wife (380 food, 100 booze, 50 tax, 70 tip). I felt bad about leaving such a small tip, but that waitress really pissed me off, and I guess that what happens when you piss off a guy who has been eating at your restaurant for 4 hours and still feels hungry!

The outside was very unassuming with a simple red brick façade and a silver sign with green letters stating «Moto.» We walked in to this West Loop location and were immediately greeted by the host. As we walked by some large booth-​like seats, we were surprised to see a ladder laying in one of them. Not the best presentation, if I do say so myself. At least clean up a bit before dinner!
The dining room we sat in was very small with only a few tables. The décor was simple — black and white walls with modern artwork. The chairs were plush white chairs with contrasting black tables — very comfortable seating. The ambiance left much to be desired though as it was very loud and very bright. Not the most romantic place for sure.
Now before I begin, one thing to note is that the owner and Executive Chef Homaro «Omar» Cantu had just recently hanged himself in a new brewery location just a few months prior to this review. The restaurant was operating under the direction of Trevor Rose-​Hamblin and the plans are for it to remain open in spite of the recent events. So, we were quite curious to see what was in store given the recent change in leadership.
The server knew immediately that we were vegan and greeted us appropriately. He also knew of my friend’s allergies without us having to restate them. That’s the kind of attention to detail I expect in this level of establishment so I was pleased with that. We were eating the Gather menu — the vegetable tasting veganized. And, so it began.
We started with an amuse bouche of a split pea purée with dehydrated tomato.
For the first course, we had the foraged forest, as they called it. There was a lot on this artistic plate including fried pumpkin, seared hearts of palm, and mulberry powder. I wasn’t a big fan of the mulberry, but the pumpkin was delish.
For the second course, there was an poached tomato in olive oil over a cracker and white and «purple» asparagus in olive oil with black olive purée. I loved the asparagus — simple yet elegant. But the cracker was too thick and plain for me.
For the third course, there was okra three ways. Crispy okra, pickled okra, and an okra chip. The crispy and pickled okras were both very salty and excellent. The okra chip was kind of plain.
The fourth course was one of my favorites. It featured smoked daikon radish, cocoa nibs, hazelnut, creamsicle foam, mandarin orange, and compressed orange juice. Paired with sake, this was a taste explosion. Party in my mouth for sure.
The fifth course was my least favorite. The corn panna cotta set with agar agar was weird and rubbery. It was served with cilantro curl, jalapeño gel, and corn shoots. I’ll have to given them an «A» for presentation though.
The sixth course was fried hen of the woods — freeze dried with morels, juneberry jam, and shiitake mushroom foam. This course was mind-​blowingly good. The mushroom flavors with all of the sweet accompaniments made for a savory spectacle.
This next platter is also something to rave about. It included small bites to be eaten in whichever combination you chose. There was date spread, blueberry jam, cashew butter, and hibiscus along with mango panna cotta, rosemary thyme bread, pine nut with sherry reduction, and golden beet foam. It was a hit with the table.
The eighth course was a key lime mousse in a waffle cracker with strawberry sorbet and raspberry spread. The waffle cracker and sorbet were fantastic, but the key lime mousse left something to be desired.
Lastly, there was the «pecan pie» sorghum coated with chocolate ganache with a twill brown sugar cracker, peach sorbet and mint leaf. This was paired with a very nice 15-​year aged sherry.
They even finished it off with a special sorbet with a rice candle as an early birthday celebration! And gave the table some gelee.
We all talked about the experience afterwards and agreed on a number of things. I loved that, for the most part, there were elements of every dish that were good and some dishes were hands-​down winners. However, there were some dishes and/​or elements thereof that weren’t all that tasty. We were very impressed with the servers knowledge of these dishes given that they were made especially for us. The wine pairing I had was okay, but not anything to write home about. Some wines were good and some weren’t. And as I mentioned, the ambiance left something to be desired. That said, we had a great time and enjoyed many delicious bites and when I saw the check, I felt that it was appropriate for the price. The meal was $ 135 (less than they said it would be) and the pairing was only $ 60 — so for the value, it was well worth it.
The total ended up being $ 266, which is quite low for this caliber of restaurant.
I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you are looking for a Michelin-​star experience at a lower price point as you will definitely have fun tasting all the molecular gastronomy-​style food you can over the course of three hours. It’s an experience.

I think «underwhelmed» best classifies the experience. The breakdown is as follows:
Service: Outstanding. Great explanations of each dish as it came out. Drinks always filled in a timely fashion.
Dish Timing: The timing between each dish is quite slow. Awkwardly slow at times. After the 2^nd dish, you do the math and are painfully realizing that you’ve got another 1 to 1−½ hours of just «wait» time total for your remaining dishes.
Food: Very good tasting food for the most part. After hearing so many great things about Moto, I was looking forward to being wowed, and it just wasn’t there for me. Don’t get me wrong — the food tastes very good. I just didn’t see the «very good» value in the «wow» price we paid.
Price: Speaking of which, the price was $ 150/​per person for the 8-​course menu. We chose this menu since we were a bit skittish (thankfully so in hindsight). I was certainly glad by the end of the evening that I did not sign up for the 18-​course menu.
Overall, I don’t regret the experience, but I won’t be back. Will try Alinea next.

My wife and I came here for her birthday in December and I was both happy and disappointed.
The experience overall was very unique for me and the plate presentations were outstanding. Of the 9 plates we had I would list three as outstanding where all of the others fell flat or were just average. The three tops for me were the Oyster starter, the BBQ Shrimp, and Pumpkin dessert.
My least favorite dish was the Chicken and Dumplings. (Think of a Chick-​Fil-​A nugget on two dime sized undercooked pieces of dough/​flour)
We are happy we went for the experience and the service was outstanding, but we will not likely be back. Just too much good food in the city to pay this much, leave hungry, and be disappointed.
Our out the door price was ~$ 385
$ 300 for two without wine
$ 35 in tax
$ 50 in tip
Ultimately we were disappointed that the quality of each dish could not be considered at least good/​excellent at this price point. When we think the ‘cost out the door’ and what we could have had at Joe’s or other favorites, that is when the tinge of regret hits.
It is worth a go if you have never had a tasting menu and have something fun to celebrate, but temper your expectations.
Note: if you are like us and leave hungry (most seem to based on reviews) stop in to Carnival on your way home for some Ropa Vieja, Sweet Plantains, and a Mojito. They are just a few blocks East and their food is filling and tasty with a fun atmosphere that can help you forget just how much money you spent at Moto

Food: True molecular gastronomy experience. Beautiful décor with exceptional cuisine. We did the 18 course chefs tasting menu and it was amazing. I’ll recommend to do the next tier menu down because it was too much food at the end. For example they served 4 different desserts to end our meal, enough said. I’m not regretting anything but you were warned. The food and menu was curated and inspired by an amazing chef Chris Anderson who used his influences from growing up down south and learning his skills from kitchens all over the world to bring us his creations of those elements.
Side note: You can arrange ahead of time to meet the chef and take a tour of their beautiful state of the art kitchen and Moto farm. I highly recommend it.
Brew: They have an amazing selection of local craft beers but I opted in for their well curated wine paring menu to accompany my chef’s tasting menu. It was $ 95 and well worth it.

The food was good, but for the price you pay and the opportunity cost of all the other places in the city you could eat at that have amazing food, this experience was not worth it. If I had payed a $ 100 – 150 for the experience, I’d give it a 3 to 4 stars, but you have to factor the cost and ambience of the place. The service was for the most part good, though stuffy. I would say I never felt a warmness from any of the staff. There were some highlights in the foods, but nothing really blew us away. The presentation of the food was nice, but the taste and everything else about the place would keep me from recommending this spot to anyone if you’re going for this kind of experience. Overall, disappointing.

I really struggled to decide whether this was 3, 4, or 5 stars. How could one restaurant produce such a wide spectrum of ratings?
The best part of Moto was the food. They are very creative with their flavors and I haven’t had anything that’s been as close to Alinea as Moto was. Their take on textures and unique cooking methods was extraordinary. Although there were a few dishes I would pass on if I were to go through the experience again due to personal preferences, only one dish would be because I legitimately thought it was a poor dish. On top of the food, the service is excellent.
The worst part of Moto was the amount of time it took to get through the meal. I understand that it’s an 18 course meal, but that’s no excuse for it to take 5 hours. Even the website states 3.5−4 hours. I am not exaggerating when I say it took 5 hours. We got there early at 7:25 PM and we got in the car at 12:31 AM. That is ridiculous. Alinea was 16 courses and we were out of there in less than 3 hours. I’d have to say for me to try this again, they’ll definitely have to work on their pacing.
So in the end, I gave it 4 stars. It is a little pricey, but I would pay it again if I could get out next time before my bedtime.

This was an incredible experience– even for a picky eater like me. A few words of advice though:
1. The reason I am giving 4 stars and not 5 is because our dinner took much longer than we were told it would. This would have been perfectly fine except that we had tickets for a show and needed to leave before our dinner was finished. We were told it would be 4 hours for 18 courses. We added in the extra course at the start for a full 19 and also did the wine pairings. It took us 5 hours to get through 17 courses; we ended up having to miss out on 2 courses. They adjusted our bill and were apologetic, but I’m still disappointed this happened. My advice? Make sure Moto is the only thing you have planned for the evening. Otherwise you will be sad like me.
2. Make your reservation for as early as they will allow you to come. Why? Because then none of the cuisine surprises will be spoiled for you! We were the first people there and we both agreed that half of the fun was not knowing what was coming next. If the people next to you are even just one course ahead then you won’t have the same laughs and gasps that we enjoyed.
Hope this helps! Definitely worth the splurge if you plan it right.

The restaurant is very unassuming. Walking up, we stood in front trying to figure out which door was the entrance. The décor is extremely basic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not into gaudy over-​the-​top, but there should be something. Anyway, our server was very nice. I liked him a lot, he took the time to explain things and was very personable. The other servers who stepped in here and there were okay.
And as for the meal. We had the nine-​course meal with the wine pairing. The courses were all pretty good. There was one that I really liked and thought stood out. Other than that, I just wasn’t wowed by it. And the portions were really elf food (Chase/​Mastercard commercial from a couple years back). As in, we were a group of 5 which included my mom and aunt. I was afraid my mom and aunt would be sickly drunk because I don’t think our food servings were enough to cover the little wine tastings we had. So yes, the food was good but I just didn’t think it was good enough (or enough quantity) for the cost. I left not full and kinda wanting to get more food but didn’t because it was 11:00PM and eating more at that time wasn’t good for the waistline. So the value just wasn’t there for me.

One of the best, if not the best, meals I have ever had.
I’ve been to numerous Michelin-​starred restaurants, and I would definitely place Moto right near the top w/​some of my favorites (Gary Danko, Manresa, Redd, Wakuriya, State Bird Provisions). Everything was top notch — from the food to the service to the ambiance.
The funny thing is, my friends and I weren’t even planning on eating here when we dined at Moto on a Friday night. We had planned on eating at another restaurant in the West Loop, but when we were quoted a wait time of 2 hours, we decided to make reservations at another nearby restaurant. We had an hour to kill before our reservation, so we decided to grab a drink at a nearby speakeasy. Upon arriving at said speakeasy, we were unable to get in (deservedly so, as we didn’t have reservations and we were just hoping we’d get lucky). Moto is right around the corner from said speakeasy, and my friend and his girlfriend had been wanting to try this place. I decided to see if they had reservations just for fun, definitely not expecting to get a seat at a Michelin-​starred restaurant on such short notice. However, to our surprise, there was one open time slot for a party of 3. We went back and forth as to where we wanted to eat, and in the end we ended up picking Moto — and I’m so glad we did.
We arrived and were greeted with a warm smile by the hostess, who literally said «um, did you guys JUST make a reservation?» to which we all laughed and told her about the little adventure we just went on. She took us to your table and told us about the 2 options — a 9-​course tasting menu or an 18-​course tasting menu. We were feeling very Drake-​ish so we said YOLO and ended up getting the 18-​course tasting menu, complete w/​wine pairing (note: the wine pairing for the 18-​courser is only for 12 of the dishes). This was tied for the biggest tasting menu I have had to date (I also did an 18-​course tasting menu at Benu in SF). The whole meal lasted about 4.5 hours and the timing between each dish was PERFECT. I’m going to save the best for last, so I’ll review the food at the end (edit: already hit the character limit, so I can’t review the food — just know that each dish was
).
Service: Phenomenal. Our server, Mike, was friendly and lively throughout the entire night. We were there from 8:30 pm — 1 am, and not once did his friendliness or enthusiasm waver. He was extremely knowledgable and answered all our questions, from the wine, to the food, to the restaurant’s microgarden — Mike was dropping knowledge bombs all night. He was so amicable that we ended up talking about anything and everything we could think of; we even found out that he’s also from the Bay Area (as was our whole dinner party). We were the last party in the restaurant, and there was never a moment where it felt like the servers were trying to rush us to get us out of there. I expect outstanding service from any Michelin-​starred restaurant, and the service at Moto does not disappoint.
Ambiance: the ambiance here is very unique, which I loved. Unlike some Michelin-​starred restaurants I’ve dined at, there is no hint of snobbiness or pretentiousness here. Moto is an elegant restaurant w/​a modern feel, and the crowd of diners was very eclectic. One thing I loved was the music — I’m so used to hearing some nice classical music or elevator music, but I was very delighted w/​the music selection here. They played any and everything, from Grammatik to Tupac to Chromeo to Alabama Shakes! I thought this was a great touch that added to the fun atmosphere.
Wine: the sommelier at Moto knows his sh*t. Every dish that had a wine accompaniment was enhanced because of the artful work of the sommelier. If you dine at Moto, you definitely need to do the wine pairing.
Food: let me start off by saying that I LOVED every single dish. I feel that there’s usually 1 dish I could do without with most tasting menus, but this was not the case. Again, we went w/​the 18-​course tasting menu and were blown away.
Note 1: an * denotes a dish w/​a wine pairing
Note 2: I’ve hit the character limit already haha, so I can’t describe each plate. Trust me — they’re all amazing!
–Oyster bar*
–Forest forage*
–Grow room*
–Shishito*
–Poached tomato heart and asparagus salad
–Foie and lobster*
–Smoked radish*
–18 month aged ham and stock
–Fallen log
–Trout and grits*
–Pork belly*
–Spring onion*
–Chicken and dumplings*
–Short rib and country peas*
–Cucumber and citrus
–Lime and coconut*
–Angel food
–Cherry strawberry pistachio cobbler
–Mousse and strawberry
Apparently, when you make a reservation they provide you with copies of the menu. However, since we dined here on a whim and didn’t give them ample time for a heads up, they took down our mailing address and will be mailing us a copy of the menu from when we dined there. Major props for that.
TL;DR: Moto is a fantastic dining experience. Well worth the $. Eat here & get the wine pairing — you won’t regret it

SO SAD to have just read the horrible news of Chef Homaro Cantu’s passing.
Life of a perfectionist chef artist, constant innovation, challenges of running a business and God knows what else, is not easy.
RIP chef. Thanks for all the good you have done. With prayers for you and your family.