Whether it's scoping the Beatles at the Cavern Club or scooping up Google stock at the IPO, everyone loves to get in on the ground floor. Luckily, you can still score a reservation at Chicago's Avenues restaurant to experience the prowess of rising star chef Curtis Duffy.

With stints at Charlie Trotter's and Alinea (as Grant Achatz's right-hand man), Duffy is more pedigreed than a thoroughbred. But unlike his mentors, Duffy dazzles not with international fusion or custom-made service pieces but with hyperseasonal, ingredient-forward food.

However, with diners doing shots of carbonated Cabernet-grape juice and smashing sugar tuiles to get to togarashi-spiced crab in cucumber consommé, his food is far from Chez Panisse redux.

Many dishes look like miniature landscapes: Exotic garnishes like shiso blooms, spruce tendrils and micro romanesco create a tiny forest scene, while a redwood-colored plank of braised pork belly--girded by a chocolate-noodle river dotted with lily-pad-shaped miner's lettuce (pictured)--is an edible pond diorama.

Think of the rotating menu, which rarely repeats dishes, as a "one night only" concert. And if you catch the show soon, you can say you knew Duffy before he became a superstar.

Avenues, 108 E. Superior St., Chicago; 312-573-6754 or peninsula.com