I feel like a writer from the Gawker spinoff known as Eater for being so nefarious as to pass this along (even though it is old news), but it did pique my curiosity to see that Alinea actually failed an inspection.   I spoke to a former line cook who was sent home for dropping a kitchen utensil on a prep table, which made me more intrigued to hear of this.  Luckily, the restaurant received a passing grade from the inspection team a week later.  

Here's another take from NBCChicago.com with the title, "Do Health-Code Violation's Like Alinea's Really Matter?" (I think it suggests that their violations were different… should be titled Do Health Code Violations Really Matter to Alinea"). Bottom line seems to be:

"For many restaurants, high or low end, a health inspection is considered just the cost of doing business," says Julie Lovelass, the director of operations for Keeping It Kleen, an online community dedicated to food safety and handling. "If they get a bad inspection, they pay their fine and go on with their day."

–Brian Ziegler