Just got the email announcing the menus for Next Restaurant for 2014:



January - April 2014
Next: Chicago Steak

We admit it -- we have a love / hate relationship with steakhouses. Too often it's just 'meat on a plate' without sauces and a bigger-is-better, size-trumps-all attitude.

We love a perfectly cooked, dry-aged cut of beef, marbled, juicy, & delicious. A great lobster thermidor. Perhaps a succulent shrimp cocktail, a silky bisque, simple but perfect vegetables and a few potatoes. Mix in a cocktail to start, a trophy red in the middle, and a digestif with dessert. Big music, big smiles, and a casual satisfying time for conviviality. Perfect night, right?

Next: Chicago Steak will marry the simple and delicious with wonderfully sourced ingredients, modern techniques, and an old-world vibe. Expect a party.

** please note: due to the cost of high-quality dry aged beef this menu will be priced slightly higher than previous Next menus.

May - August 2014
Next: Chinese: Modern

What happens when a thousand year-old cuisine collides with the mind-set of culinary innovation? As China goes, so too does our Chinese Modern menu at Next.

Noodles, buns, dumplings, seafood, poultry, pork -- all the basics could be covered. Chinese cuisine typically favors small portions of each dish but many bites, not unlike many of the menus at Next. But while we honor the ingredients and traditions, we will bring a unique Modernist attitude to this menu. Recognizably Chinese.... recognizably Next.

Chinese take-out anyone? You never know....


September - December 2014
Next: Trio, January 20, 2004

Approaching the 10 year Anniversary of Alinea in 2015, our Grand Menu for the year will revisit the Tour de Force Menu that chef Achatz served on January 20, 2004.

Documented in their book Life, on the Line, the meal was the start of a conversation between Grant and Nick about building a restaurant. Barely over a year later Alinea opened.

A unique retrospective on the nascent ideas that became an identifiable cuisine... as well as a few 'classics' that were long ago put on the shelf, this menu will transport diners back to a great time in chef Achatz' career. But it is hardly a museum piece. The cuisine remains vibrant, startling, and delicious.

I'm skeptical that they will be able to pull off steak and Chinese. Steak, IMHO, is something that is best when very basic, and only needs gussying up if the cut of beef is poor quality. Chinese - maybe they can pull it off, but they really bombed with The Hunt and Vegan, so I'm skeptical. Trio sounds like the most interesting of the three menus.

Doesn't mean I won't renew, though.

Interesting, I agree that Vegan was a bust, but I thought they did a fantastic job with The Hunt and spectacular job with Kyoto. I didn't got to Thailand, but most reports indicated it was fine but there are any number of great Thai restaurants in Chicago where you could get as good of a meal--if not better--for much less money. Given that Chicago is lacking for Modern Chinese restaurants, I'd be surprised if you'd hear that complaint. (And having been to Bo Innovation in Hong Kong, I'll be curious to see how Chinese: Modern compares.)

Chicago Steak is the least interesting to me, simply because I'm not a huge red meat eater. I read that description and just know that I'm going to be doubled over with a stomach ache at about 2 am if I eat all that they describe. If a friend offered to buy that table off of me, it would make my season renewal decision easier.

Have you been to Bocuse d'Or yet? My reservation is later this week.

And I'm glad that this tweet from Achatz wasn't foreshadowing of a 2014 menu.

Kyoto was my favorite menu (I did not have the first three), and one of the better meals I've ever had. I loved El Bulli and thought Sicily was great but too filling.

I thought the Hunt was a great concept, but they just didn't take it far enough. It felt just OK, and following that up with Vegan made me question whether I would renew next year.

Vegan was just bad, which is too bad because it had such potential to be amazing. Someone there apparently decided to make everything mouth destroyingly sour. My taste buds were burned 2/3s of the way through the meal. I would have been fine with that if they were burned from spice, which seemed to be absent from just about everything.

I went to Bocuse about a month ago and thought it was good, but a few courses felt like they were tainted with the same "pickled" concept that ruined Vegan. It was good enough to justy renewing next year, and I'm hoping that all three menus next year are at least as good.

Notably, all of these menus got the highest review from Phil Vettel. I'm moving to Chicago next month and will have to remember to ignore his future reviews.

I still think Childhood was my favorite, but Kyoto is a close second. I skipped El Bulli and thought Sicily was great food but not a standout compared to dishes I've had elsewhere.

LTHForum.com. A number of Chicago's food journalists (though not Vettel unless he's under deep cover) post there, plus countless informed and opinionated others--some in the trade, many not. When Saveur or the New York Times or any other national media does an article on Chicago's great restaurants, you can always tell if they've used LTH and its posters as inspiration because they'll refer to restaurants that 99.9% of Chicago has never heard of--and the other .01% are on LTHForum raving about it.

Sweet Willie and I both post there under our same handles. I know there are some other FTers who lurk or post, though no one who's jumping to mind immediately.

Season ticket owners: Renewals opened today and will run through Sunday night.

FYI single table tickets for Chicago Steakhouse went on sale this weekend and there are still a ton of seats available. First time in memory it didn't sell out very quickly.

Priced out to ~$700 for 2 people including standard wine parings.