When we announced we were moving I asked for your favorite places to eat, and one of the places that was brought up was Next. Back then it was just a concept, but I was intrigued by the idea. World famous chef Grant Achatz, the same chef/creator of Alinea (the place we plan to eat at early next year!), launched this restaurant based on the idea that diners might be interest in pre-paying for seating at a restaurant, which happily eliminates any anxiety about how much to tip. The menu rotates several times a year and isn’t just seasonal or local or regional, it’s even more specific. The debut menu was entirely based off of a famous cookbook, Escoffier’s “Le Guide Culinaire,” first published in 1903. According to the little mini tour we had, this was not a riff on the cookbook, it was the cookbook.

The NYT had an article that describes the concept really well:

Just to set the bar a little higher for himself, and make the creative process more invigorating, each menu for Next will draw from a different place and time. So, rather than the earthbound categories of Japanese, Italian or Peruvian, the food will evoke cloudier concepts: Kyoto in springtime; Palermo in 1949; Hong Kong in far-off 2036. A menu might be designed around a single day — say, the Napa Valley on Oct. 28, 1996, the day Mr. Achatz started work at the French Laundry, where he remained until 2001.

Since it’s opening earlier this year, Next has been sold out within minutes. According to our friend, it is incredibly difficult to get a ticket, and last week he was lucky enough to score 4 of them for a 7:30 seating. That Husband called me 2 hours before, asking if I would be interested in going, and we had to decide right then and there if we wanted to eat at Next that night. At about $200/person for the non-alcoholic drink menu it was a pretty big decision! I was excited to share this meal with our friends, fellow foodies, and so I said we should go for it.

I am so very glad we did. This ranks as one of the best meals we’ve ever had, not only because the food was excellent, but because it was such a unique experience from the moment we walked in. The theme on the evening we went was Tour of Thailand. We didn’t choose what we would eat, and I liked that. I walked out feeling like I had actually experienced Thailand in some small way. Now to visit the country to compare, right?

The entrance of Next is completely unassuming, we thought we were going through the back door when we walked in. They took our coats and seated us right away, and at our table we found a Thai newspaper with 4 menus wrapped inside. The waiter came up and presented all of us with our menus, and spread the newspaper across the style. The first course would be street food style.

Next really won me over by offering interesting and inventive non-alcoholic drink courses throughout the meal.

Eat: roasted banana, prawn cake, sweet shrimp and garlic, fermented sausage, and steamed bun. The prawn cake was fried and salty and my favorite of this course.

Drink: guava, mango, papaya

Eat: hot and sour broth, pork belly, tomato, ginger

Drink: chrysanthemum, lemongrass, lychee

They brought out rice and some sauces/sides and told us to familiarize ourselves with them as they would be on the table for the rest of the meal (barring desserts).

Eat: chili, shallot, garlic; salted duck egg, green mango, white radish; pickles

I missed photographing a course here.

Eat: catfish, caramel sauce, celery, coriander root

Drink: carrot, ginger, orange

We universally loved the next course

Eat: beef cheek, curry, peanut, nutmeg, kaffir lime

Drink: hibiscus, mangosteen, Thai pepper

Drink course time! A fun little shooter of watermelon and lemongrass.

The first dessert was so unique. The textures and flavors shouldn’t have melded well, at least I would never have imagined they could, but they did.

Eat: coconut, corn, egg, licorice

Drink: corn, pinapple

As it was explained to us, Thai meals usually end with fruit (unlike us sugar loving Americans). If you read online reviews people will complains about the rose syrup on the dragon fruit, but everyone at our table loved it. I’d go for some right now actually.

Eat: dragon fruit, rose

Drink: cucumber, vichy catalan

We ended the night with a drink blend of rooibos, palm sugar, and milk, which I didn’t drink.

The couple who invited us asked if we could see the kitchen before we left. It was so orderly, calm, and free of foul language! Very different than what I experienced at Magleby’s and Cave B Inn once upon a time.

Do I think it was worth the money? Absolutely. I’d fly back to Chicago specifically to have another experience like this! I don’t think we have the money in our budget to visit again before we leave, but I’ll be watching the website to check out what the future menus are.

Has anyone else been? I’d love to hear what you thought!

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