Agreed, the food was very, very good.
If you have eaten at Alinea enough it is interesting to see how Grant’s food has progressed and to eat/think about what he was doing 12 years ago is pretty cool.
The wine disappointing but that is par for the course so it really was not a surprise. The non alcoholic pairing was well done.
George
Dinner on Friday was excellent. The hot/cold chestnut soup may have been the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. It hit every one of my sweet spots
Thanks, for the report, David
Is that hot/cold chestnut soup similar to the cold/hot potato at Alinea?
Similar concept, not similar execution. Like the hot/cold potato, it’s a dish of contrasts, but more textural riffs.
Sounds very interesting…hope I get the chance to try it…
My biggest impression from dining at Alinea is Grant is very big on contrast when designing a dish, particularly texture and temperature.
I think Grant’s cuisine has changed a lot, it used to be more technique driven, more molecular gastronomy, mad scientist sort of stuff. Over the past 5 or so years I have seen it move away from that focusing more on high quality ingredients, with different or unique presentations. Dishes that provoke a memory or a feeling. I like what he is doing now more than ever and every meal I have at Alinea is better than the last.
George
I’ve said for a awhile that his food is really about traditional flavors with unorthodox presentations.
We also dropped our season tickets going forward; we’ve had them since they were introduced and have been to all the menus. We’ve been on the fence about them for a while but kept renewing, then this year’s line up pretty much sealed the deal: Steakhouse was terrible, Chinese was pretty good, Trio had its moments but I thought needed a heavier hand in editing the menu. And next year’s menus look like they’ve run out of ideas. For the price and the hassle, it’s just not worth it.
FWIW, I can think of four menus which have been truly worth the effort / hassle to me: Paris 1906, Childhood, Kyoto, and El Bulli.
Kyoto was my favorite. A lot of it had to do with the sake pairing being really good.
Childhood was fun as I took my kids
The Hunt food was really good. (company wasn’t bad either) Wine was absolutely terrible.
I liked the Thai menu also. Hated Paris. Did not got to steakhouse, vegan or Bocuse.
George
The only ones I actively disliked were steakhouse and Bocuse, so I think you lucked out.
Most of the other menus apart from the four I mentioned above were good, but I think for each, either I thought they were poor value (menus were too variable to justify the prices, or the prices were just too high) or I can think of other, better places to get that cuisine.
The premise behind Next is so hard to pull off: they aren’t the best at any given cuisine (and you couldn’t expect them to be) so for any menu to be worth it at the prices they charge, I think it has to be sufficiently creative / challenging that you say, “yeah, I’ll commit to that- how else am I going to be able to try that”. I think in the first two years, they largely - but not universally - succeeded. In the last two years and what looks to be the next one, they either haven’t been that creative or when they have-- like Bocuse-- they haven’t executed.
It’s been a pretty consistent experience for me. While the food overall has been good the experience is sub par. The beverage program is ridiculous, the service fine but unfriendly. All around not worth the money or effort.
In my view, when the meals are $400+/- per person they should be the “best” of what is being presented. Though for me certain courses (many with the Trio menu and a few with the others) have been spectacular, I think Next has pushed the price point relative to alternatives a bit too much and perhaps have seen some waning in interest. For a while the innovation and excitement drove the stampede to get in - and perhaps for much longer than most new places (perhaps driven by the fact that if people went they didn’t likely repeat a menu and so only went a few times a year and everything was so different it takes a long time for a perspective to settle in) - but at some point the novelty and excitement of something different can no longer drive customers and customers, repeat customers in particular, have to be driven by the fact that it is “great” and makes sense to spend $900 for a couple there rather than Alinea or Grace or any other top restaurant in the city and relative to all the excellent restaurants in Chicago where half that amount gets you a terrific meal.
If you look at the first 2 menus of 2015 with food costs below $100. I think you could guess that Next has figured out they are too expensive. . You could also guess that maybe they have given up on getting a Michelin star. Honestly - Beran can cook and I look forward to the French Bistro and Tapas menu as they are less constraining to see what he can do. Hopefully - there will be a wine list also.
George
Interesting the LEYE is going to a rotating chef concept when the Ambria/L2O space reopens. They are trying to keep it under $100…
This is interesting. For the price, it at least worth giving it a try.
Serial pop-ups!
Hopefully they make good use of L2O’s wine list.
George
I think it’s an amazing idea. Really exciting.
At half or more off the current markups
No joke… good list. Stupid pricing.
George