Went there last night. It was outstanding. We got the wine pairing option (+$48) and the nonalcoholic beverage pairing (+$22), of which more later.

For those who don't know, Next is Grant Achatz's (of Alinea and the French Laundry) new restaurant. Instead of the standard ordering-from-the-menu thing, you buy tickets to dinner ahead of time on the restaurant's website. You pre-pay the cost of everything, including tip. Then, you just show up, eat, and leave. There is no menu to order from; everyone gets the same tasting menu. The tasting menu changes every three months, and each iteration is designed to evoke a place and time.

The current (and first) rotation is Paris, 1906: Escoffier at the Ritz. It's an 8 course tasting menu of Escoffier's recipes from Le Guide Culinaire.

Hors d’Oeuvres: a large silver tray of bite-sized hors d'oeuvres, including a soft boiled quail egg with anchovy, some delicious form of shredded pork on a cracker, brioche with foie gras and apricot, and some sort of egg custard with truffle served inside the eggshell. There was also another item (on the edge of the tray) that I don't remember, but it was yummy.

Paired with a delightful Crémant d'Alsace.



Potage à la Tortue Claire (907) - Turtle Soup. I'd never had it before, but I'm a fan: at once rich and light.

Paired with an interesting white wine (all the wine pairings were, of course, French) that tasted like a non-sweet sherry: very woody. I wouldn't have liked it by itself, but the pairing worked really well.



Fillet de Sole Daumont (1950) - First course of many involving a WHOLE TON OF CREAM SAUCES. This was a bit of a sole fillet with some crayfish: the head, a mushroom stuffed with crayfish meat, and some little bit of miscellaneous crayfish. This was paired with, IIRC, a white Burgundy.

They mentioned that there was a surfeit of the sauce so we could soak it up with some bread. The bread - oh! the bread - was small squares, about 1.5" on a side, and served burning hot with a pot of warm butter that was just shy of melting temperature. It was amazing.



Suprêmes de Poussin (3130) - The chicken course moved us into red wine territory. The diamond in the photo is a pounded piece of chicken breast in a cream sauce. The circles are chicken stuffed inside butter-poached cucumbers surrounded with salt pork. The wine was a Languedoc red.



Caneton Rouennais a la Presse (3476) - The duck was sublime. It was served on a large platter for the whole table, in a red wine and cognac sauce. And served with...

Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise (4200) - ...potatoes Dauphinoise, or as I say, medallions of potatoes in Gruyere and cream. My Dutch friend at the table said they were precisely as his grandmother used to make.

Wine was a Côtes du Rhône.




Salade Irma (3839) - In keeping with early 20th century France, salad was served last. The salade Irma was small and refreshing. No separate wine pairing.

Sorry, no photo. It was a small, lightly dressed salad of nasturtium blossom, asparagus and radish.

Bombe Ceylan (4826) - A light dessert. It was a molded half-sphere with a thin layer of chocolate at the bottom, coffee ice cream. The cherries in the picture were soaked in booze. Served with creme anglaise and a swirl of cherry sauce. Yum.

Wine pairing was a delicious port.



Mignardises - various one-bite desserts. In the below picture, there are pistachio deliciousnesses, salted caramels, and something red and jelly-like. They also brought us a second tray with more of those in addition to shortbreads and nut cluster things.



Now, a word about the pairings. Starting with the first red wine, they left the bottle with us and replaced it if it ran out. They did this for every table in the restaurant. We got the "standard" wine pairing; there's also the option of a "reserve" one.

The nonalcoholic pairings were beverages made in-house and worked very well with the courses. I don't remember all of them, but the first course was a lemon-ginger fizz. The second was something guava-based. There was also a variant of horchata with coriander.

Service was perhaps a little rough in places, understandable for a restaurant that opened only a few days ago. They made mistakes like pouring wine for my BF, who had the nonalcoholic option. One of the red bottles (the one with the duck) was corked. I thought it was when I tasted it, but didn't say anything until the wine director came by with a new bottle. After comparing the two, it was obvious. Very proud of myself that I called it. But you'd think they would have tasted it before serving. But the service was very friendly and informal, overall. They also gave us a tour of the kitchen at the end, and a menu with all the course and wine pairings.

Price isn't bad for a Grant Achatz restaurant and 8 courses. They adjust pricing based on your dining time. I saw a 9:30pm on a Thursday for $70/person. Our Saturday evening at 7:15pm slot was $108/person. Tables are sold as either two-tops, four-tops, and one six-top by a floor-to-ceiling window looking at the kitchen.

Starting July 1, I hear that the new menu will be Thailand in the 1970s.