I got a chance to go to Next Restaurant, Grant Achatz’s new Big Thing. He is the genius chef behind Alinea, which I am proud to say is in Chicago. Alinea has made a ton of top ten lists across the nation, and I have yet to go myself (it’s expensive!).
Next is an interesting concept in that 1) every three months, they switch the entire menu based off a theme, and 2) you buy tickets to this place, which people have likened to going to a concert. Tickets are by a lottery only, and they are very difficult to come by. My cousin happened to have two extra tickets and let me have them at cost, which, surprisingly, wasn’t too bad ($175 for two people). I don’t know if there are other prices, my guess is yes.
Tip is included in the price, and a wine pairing or non-alcoholic beverage is an upgrade you can do at the table if you don’t buy it right off the bat.
I have reservations about going to really expensive restaurants — when all is said and done, and you’ve paid $500 for two people, is it really worth it? That $500 can pay for food for an entire month, or that DSLR camera I want, but can’t afford. You could also buy $500 worth of marbles and see what happens when you throw them on a dance floor. Or a lot of fun times from that lady on the streetcorner in those amazing high heels who always asks you if you want to party, who may or may not actually be a man.
The theme of our meal was Paris, 1906, the golden age of French cuisine. I bet French people then were fatasses, because damn, butter and cream was probably in every course we had. Please excuse any blurriness — these are cell phone pictures, and also…I had a lot of wine.
Hors d'Oeuvres, the most mispelled word in the history of spelling. Quail egg with white anchovy, pork rilletes, mushroom wrapped in leek, foie gras torchon within brioche and apricot preserves on top, egg custard with black truffle and I think, salt cod. I loved every single one of these - all of them were FULL of flavor. Crazy!
Potage à la Tortue Claire. Which is Turtle Consommé. Which is a clear broth. I think the soup was made from one of the Ninja Turtles. It was good, kind of like beef broth.
Filet de Sole Daumont. I'm going off of memory here. Sole in the middle, a mushroom stuffed with crawfish on the bottom right, deep fried fish roe, and crawfish head stuffed with mousse, all on top of a glorious sauce of butter...and the sea. My God, that sauce was retarded good. I wanted to lick the plate and smear some under my eyes like a football player. Who doesn't actually play football, but just eats like a fatty.
Suprêmes de Poussin (do you know how hard it is to get these French accents right? I have to Google them, then copy/paste them like a monkey). This is...CHICKEN! Chicken breast poached in butter, with nearly dehydrated chicken stock reconstituted with whipping cream, and poached cucumber filled with what I think was chicken mousse, surrounded in chicken skin. I THINK.
THIS. This is what we came for. Caneton Rouennais à la Presse is the official title. It's basically duck (medium rare, breast meat) in this unbelievable sauce they make by pressing the remainder of the duck - a blend of duck meat juice, blood, marrow, basically super-essence of duck, reduced with other ingredients to make a sauce that I may never get to try again. It was AMAZING. Rich flavorful duck, perfectly cooked, with a sauce like velvet that tasted like, well, more duck, with red wine. Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise: Potato gratin: basically sliced potatoes in cream and Comté cheese. Went well with the duck, salty, fatty, best use of daily calories ever. I basically duckulated the inside of my pants after this.
Extra duck sauce. ALL ABOARD THE GRAVY TRAIN! I hope I never say that again. What a terrible joke.
THE CARNAGE IS OVER...for now. Paris 1906: The journey continues.
Salade Irma. Asparagus, frisée (frilly lettuce stuff), radish, green beans, nasturtium flower, in some sort of...dressing. I was too busy drinking duck juice to notice this course.
...and dessert. Bombe Ceylan, basically a round half-ball of ice cream over a chocolate wafer, encased in another thin layer of chocolate. Custard and berry cream on the outside and rum soaked cherries (!!!). This...was kind of a sad dessert. After all that amazing food, we got grainy ice cream. Also, that's my buddy's finger in my food. I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out for drinking too much wine.
Last but not least, small bites of candy. Beet jellys, which...tasted like beet, which...is sort of gross if you don't like beet. A nut nougat (nougat is like my favorite word, nougat nougat nougat), and a salted caramel. This is icing on the meal consisting mostly of butter and justice.
Everything was great about the restaurant – the servers joked a little, they weren’t terribly serious, and were pretty loose for one of these fancy places. If you Google Next Restaurant, you’ll find a lot of photos and reviews of the place. The door girl was cute and knowledgeable, and each waiter had something good to say about the food and the experience.
Now the question: Was it worth it?
My answer is a resounding yes, but again, with reservations. My modus operandi is to cook at home most of the time, but when you do go out, save up for the occasion and have fun. That being said, you can also have just as much fun for $7 as long as you’re in the right mood and have the right company with you. Unfortunately for you, I was in the last few days of the Paris 1906 tasting so you’re out of luck there, but Bangkok 2060 is what appears to be next (though I *thought* I heard it was going to be 2032, not that it matters too much).
If you’re lucky enough to get tickets, you should go. Send me pictures and let me know what you think, bitches!
Full Menu, with Wine Pairing:
Hors d’Oeuvres
Hors d’Oeuvres Vincent Carré Brut Champagne
Potage à la Tortue Claire
907
Domaine de Montbourgeau ‘L’Etoile Vin Jaune’ Jura 2003
Filet de Sole Daumont
1950
Meursault Goutte d’Or 1er Cru Coche-Bizouard 2005
Suprêmes de Poussin
3130
Domaine Leon Barral ‘Jadis’ Faugères 2006
Caneton Rouennais à la Presse
3476
Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise
4200
Domaine Brusset ‘Les Hauts De Montmirail’ Gigondas 2005
Salade Irma
3839
Bombe Ceylan
4826
Graham’s 10 year Tawny Port
Mignardises