I have tickets there for September 8, but from what I've read here and have heard from friends who have gone, it doesn't sound like a four star dining experience as reviewed in--was it--the Tribune.

jrgordon13 wrote:


Lowlights:

-Service: Perhaps the biggest lowlight of our Sicily experience was the service, which was almost shockingly bad. Servers were running into each other by our table, and the meal, overall, just felt out of sync. We waited quite a long time in between courses, which compared to the rapid pace of Childhood was a bit welcome. However, after finishing the antipasti course we waited 45 minutes for the next course, which was lukewarm upon arrival. The service was definitely the most disappointing part of our experience. Granted, every restaurant can have off-nights, so maybe we just came on one of those nights.

Just saw this

Next is currently seeking ambitious and qualified candidates for kitchen and food running positions employment@nextrestaurant.com

Related?

Hi there -

Apologies if this is not the correct place to post this - happy to move it if necessary.

We have a 2-top (no pairings purchased) at 615p on Sunday, Aug 12 for Sicily but are likely going to be out of town. Would love to trade for another weekend night, either in the coming 2 weekends (July 14-15, or July 20-22) or later in August (Aug 17-19, Aug 24-26 or Aug 31-Sep 2). We travel during the week for work so unfortunately can only do weekends.

Eternal gratitude available if you can help us out!

Michelle

mtyf wrote:Hi there -

Apologies if this is not the correct place to post this - happy to move it if necessary.

We have a 2-top (no pairings purchased) at 615p on Sunday, Aug 12 for Sicily but are likely going to be out of town. Would love to trade for another weekend night, either in the coming 2 weekends (July 14-15, or July 20-22) or later in August (Aug 17-19, Aug 24-26 or Aug 31-Sep 2). We travel during the week for work so unfortunately can only do weekends.

Eternal gratitude available if you can help us out!

Michelle

No problem leaving this here but please let us know once it's taken care of so we can remove it. Also, if anyone's interested, please respond by PM, not here on the thread.

I understand that Next's facebook page might also be a good place to solicit a trade.

Thanks,

=R=
for the moderators

Anyone know if there is a trick to getting same night tables? 2x last week I was on Facebook when they posted them (I literally saw the post go up in my news feed) and then sent an email immediately. No luck. Wah wah.
Anything I might be doing wrong? Should I right something in the email other than my name, phone number, and time and number of people?

Curious. Both times I sent the email no less than 15 seconds after seeing it pop up in the news feed.

It's not whoever is first at sending the email. They are randomly (somewhat) selected, with some amount of wiggle room for people who have been trying for a while.

Another round of tickets just went up for sale at the Next website.

Dangit! I was in meetings this afternoon, not wasting time on Facebook and missed the post. Looks all sold out.

Thanks for the explanation on the same night sales. I figured it couldn't just be first response.

Says Nick Kokonas on Facebook:

You are only contacted if you are randomly selected. We typically have 200+ emails for same night tables. Once we sell the ones we have we post again saying that the notifications have gone out. It's a lottery system.

Every few weeks we sell 100+ tables on our website. We post notification here on FB.

I can attest to it being random. Once I got an email from the person at Next saying they recognized my name because I had been emailing every day for the past two weeks, when in fact this was the first time I attempted to get same night tickets for that menu...

Just to add another datapoint on the current menu, I really enjoyed our dinner last night. I thought this was the most accessible menu, and the easiest one to just sit down and eat. By contrast, while I like the el Bulli menu it was more like attending an exhibit. This was more of a meal.

I thought that the swordfish and pork were absolutely perfect. The pork had just the right amount of fat and some nicely crisp skin. In fact, I didn't notice any of the small errors that have been noted in some of the earlier posts.

I'd say the only misfire of the night was on an extra pasta course that was brought out. It was a bucatini with sea urchin which got me really excited. Unfortunately the pasta was really gummy. On the other hand, the standard pasta course with the sardine was outstanding, as was another "bonus" pasta (ricotta gnocchi).

Anyway, great meal. Perfect contrast to the last menu.

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I've been a long-time lurker on this forum and I think I've seen similar posts for Next.

We have a 4-top with standard pairings for 9PM this Sunday, June 22, and one of our friends had to drop out because of an early flight. My family is scrambling to find a friend to join us, but in case we can't being from out of town, we would be open to making a new culinary friend in Chicago. Face value is $206.59.

I've posted a notice on the Next facebook page, but most of those request seem to be for 2 or 4-tops. So does the LTH community have any suggestions for where else I should post this opening?

WSL wrote:Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I've been a long-time lurker on this forum and I think I've seen similar posts for Next.

We have a 4-top with standard pairings for 9PM this Sunday, June 22, and one of our friends had to drop out because of an early flight. My family is scrambling to find a friend to join us, but in case we can't being from out of town, we would be open to making a new culinary friend in Chicago. Face value is $206.59.

I've posted a notice on the Next facebook page, but most of those request seem to be for 2 or 4-tops. So does the LTH community have any suggestions for where else I should post this opening?

No problem leaving this here but please let us know once it's taken care of so we can remove it. Also, if anyone's interested, please respond by PM, not here on the thread.

Thanks,

=R=
for the moderators

[removed]

We dined at Next last Thursday and had a very good meal. It's tough for me to say it was my favorite Next meal (which is probably Thailand over Paris and elBulli, we missed Childhood). I am also traveling from NYC where we have a wealth of upscale rustic Italian now.

I loved the antipasti (charred artichoke hearts were divine) except for their eggplant caponata. Seemed too acidic and light on the eggplant, with a bit too much parsley.

Both pasta dishes were very good but not noticeably better than pastas I've had in NYC (Babbo, Scarpetta, Locanda Verde, Maialino, dell'anima, etc). I was looking for the "hole" in the bucatini but couldn't find it. Maybe because it was fresh?

However, the slow cooked pork in tomato sauce that had been cooking sous vide for 9+ hours was divine, and even though I usually don't care for swordfish, theirs, served with mint pesto and roasted mint was excellent, as were the chickpeas that came with it.

The desserts, I didn't care for really, either, as I'm not a huge marzipan fan. The petit fours also seemed rather meh, and the cookie plate at Torrisi Italian Specialties is much, much better (I found it hard not to compare).

Not my favorite of their menus, but still a quite good meal.

Tickets on sale now. I just got a 4 top for Thursday, August 23rd. VERY exctied!

Ate at Next on August 1st. I've been to every menu thus far, excepting el bulli, and loved Paris and Childhood while only kind of liking Thailand. I thought Sicily was wonderful, though perhaps not totally deserving of the price tag and probably not as "memorable" per se as Paris/Childhood, but still a damn fine meal.

I will note that many of the critiques mentioned several times over this thread seem to have been resolved. Service was excellent, and I am pretty sure that every single wine we were poured was from Sicily. Seth, Michael Carlson's bro, even showed up in Next garb to serve us the pasta courses. Said pastas were cooked al dente, definitely not undercooked as seems to have been the case early in the cycle.

The swordfish was just excellent, as was the pork (not unreasonably fatty, and our leftovers brought out in a bag at the end). I really enjoyed the cake as well, and thought from the descriptions here that I would hate it due to personal aversions. Caponata was also another high point and I hope they get back to their project of releasing the menu ebooks because this would be great to make at home. I thought the weakest dish was the chickpea side, but we still made a big dent in it.

A slightly belated post on Next Sicily. First, with respect to the service, this is the first time I can say that we encountered servers that just didn't seem very interested, or who weren't on their game. No, not everyone exhibited a lack of interest, and in fact one particular waiter who we also encountered at our El Bulli dinner was still there and as great as ever. And then there was the waiter who described the "Berkenshire" pork, and then when prompted to repeat (to make sure that we heard it correctly - or incorrectly) again said "Berkenshire." If you don't know what the restaurant is serving, particularly one where guests are paying $200 a head, you really shouldn't be working there. Maybe I'm being picky, but this is a pretty unique and expensive ingredient and the centerpiece of the dish (and maybe the menu) and the waiter should know the proper name.

As for the food, it was probably my least favorite menu. Some of this falls on me as many of the dishes seemed beautifully prepared, but just not so pleasing to my taste. That being said, the meal started off on a real high note with the Arancine, which were outstanding and maybe the best I've tasted.


Arancine


On the other hand, I thought the panelle were fine but not particularly memorable.


Panelle


My least favorite of the starters was the caponata. I had just had an amazing caponata at an Outstanding in the Field dinner event, and this version simply paled in comparison, although it was fine. I just thought the celery stood out too much, and I'm not quite sure what the chocolate added.


Caponata


As for the artichoke (carciofi alle brace), I really loved that, almost as much as the arincine . . . it was so good I just wish there was more of it.


Carciofi alle brace


One of the best examples of the food just not resonating with me was the bucatini con botarga. The pasta was al dente, the sauce was buttery, and I thought it was quite tasty. But it just didn't excite me. So really nothing wrong, just no love I could return.


Bucatini con botarga


Perhaps an even better example was gemelli con le sarde. Again, perfectly al dente pasta, a beautiful sardine and a flavorful enough sauce . . . just not for me.


Gemelli con le sarde


And although the swordfish was beautifully cooked, I just didn't love the accompanying mint sauce which was just a bit too intense in mint flavor for me (I typically enjoy mint-based sauces, just not with the mint so aggressive). I still enjoyed this course; I just didn't love it. By the way, am I the only one who thought it smelled like someone was getting high every time people cut into the mint? Are we sure it was mint??? I enjoyed the accompanying chickpeas more, however, even if again I wasn't excited.



Pesce spada con di ceci


The Berkshire pork shoulder was easily my favorite dish of the night. I just could not believe how tender and delicious the pork was, and when I found the little fatty bits on the edges I quickly devoured them. Our portion was definitely not too fatty - just right in fact. And the accompanying sauce, although perhaps just a tad too sweet for my tongue, was still delicious. As for the accompanying vegetables and nasturtium, again fine, but after a bite or two I resumed my gnawing on the pork.



Spalla di maiale brasato


Continuing on the path of success, I really enjoyed the terrific blood orange granita - great balance of tart and not-too-sweet.


Granita di arance rosse


The cassata was a real letdown for me, however. I am a huge fan of cassata. I've had it at many Sicilian bakeries, including Pastacceria Natalina (Natalie made a terrific version). And I love it so much that I've even made it myself a couple of times. When it was brought to the table, I was immediately impressed with its beauty. But I found the cake and filling itself to be rather bland, and instead entirely dependent upon the very flavorful walnut whipped cream on the side. At PN, you could always tell Natalie was using a fantastic sheep's milk ricotta, whereas in this version I detected very little flavor (although the texture was wonderfully light and creamy).



Cassata


I wasn't so impressed with the last plate of sweets either. I thought the cannoli shell was properly crisp, but the filling unremarkable. I was even less impressed with the fried ravioli. However, I thought the sesame candy was terrific.


Cannoli, Ravioli fritti and Cubbaita di giugiulena


Adding on to my concerns with the service, as we were eating this last plate of sweets, a waiter dropped off the envelope containing the evening's menu without saying a thing. And that was it - we sat there for a several minutes wondering if there was coffee service but no one came by. Eventually, we just got up and left. We might as well have been at some corner diner. It just seemed odd. I even had to move the table to allow my dining companion room to exit without bumping a fellow diner. This was my fifth trip to Next, and the very first time I encountered such lazy service.

This was probably my least favorite menu, just behind the Thai menu, although I still enjoyed some of the dishes. In particular, I thought that the arancine, artichoke and pork shoulder were truly outstanding.

BR - Reports like yours are why I will likely continue to avoid Next. I think what Beran & co. are doing is thrilling, innovative, fun and extremely difficult to pull off. However, it's that last part that bothers me. It IS extremely difficult, and that lends itself to errors in execution on both sides of the restaurant. I found it strange when people were shocked they didn't get a Michelin star, because just reading and hearing people's experiences, it sounded like there were regularly minor flaws. To me, that's why. Maybe people have a different standard for Next given the model and the pedigree. But for the price tag, I could go to a half a dozen other restaurant's in and around Chicago and be practically guaranteed a world class meal both in service and food. Heck, I could go to places much cheaper, and get that. For my money, it's not worth the risk that I'm going to have less than an exceptional experience. I did make it in for Thailand, and I'm glad I've been, but I don't think I will be venturing to Next anytime in the next several iterations.

That's the conclusion I came to, unfortunately. Even if it were easy to get tickets, it's a model more or less designed to be imperfect. Whereas most restaurants would have a few hit or miss weeks to get things right, Next has a few hit or miss weeks ... and then moves on to a new menu and its attendant hit or missness. I love the idea of it, but the inconvenience of vying for tickets plus the relative expense sends me looking elsewhere. And I'm thankful to live in a city with so many "elsewhere" options.

A "meh" reaction to my dinner tonight at Next. Lasted about 2 hours on the dot, I found the food fine but not as good as a really top Italian restaurant where I could select dishes primarily from the south of the country and probably would have had a better dinner. It was fine--as in no big fails--but no soaring delights. A perfect--and I mean perfect--C+ meal.

In terms of hospitality, my biggest complaint was that I had notified the kitchen about 10 days before our dinner that my partner and dining companion did not like seafood. I told them I knew Sicily would be seafood centric, but if they could attempt to accommodate him to the fullest extent possible, it would be appreciated. The modification? For $523.00 for the two of us, they removed the sardine from his pasta (even though his sauce, they said, was a sardine sauce). For a restaurant of that caliber and price point, I'm sorry--make some basic modifications. OK, I get it that Sicily is seafood oriented, but you can't tell me there aren't modifications that could have been made to retain integrity yet not overwhelm my partner with seafood. Or, just say they can't/won't and he might be better to attend a different menu (but they told me they would try to accommodate the request). Again, that this price point, I would expect some consideration/modification.

Regardless of that, I found the premium wine pairings only fair and in reference to the first wine I commented to the wine waiter that the wine tasted "bland" my word and his reply: "Oh no; it isn't bland at all." Well, for him it might not be bland, but for me (and I do know a bit about wine, with a cellar of over a thousand bottles and a member of a European wine rating society), it tasted bland.

Anyway...a perfectly ordinary meal. One that would have been fine in a little restaurant for around $75.00 for two. But at this price point and with this talent in the kitchen, I expected more.

DutchMuse wrote:...(and I do know a bit about wine, with a cellar of over a thousand bottles and a member of a European wine rating society.)

I do hope you will let him or her out of your cellar, if only to keep him/her from consuming your 1,000 plus bottles of wine.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:

DutchMuse wrote:...(and I do know a bit about wine, with a cellar of over a thousand bottles and a member of a European wine rating society.)

I do hope you will let him or her out of your cellar, if only to keep him/her from consuming your 1,000 plus bottles of wine.

Setting aside the innovative ticketing system (which can be pretty easily divorced from the food), has Next turned out to be an exercise in dilettantism? Maybe only when they tackle foods where we have some point of reference?

Has anyone "transferred" ticket thru their site?
I'm in the process and the both of us the ticket holder and the transferee have accounts it went very quickly
(I was charged $10 for the hassle)

BUT, the transferee has not had his CC charged nor has my been credited???
OK, I assumed that if they were charging me $10 to transfer that they would actually handle the CC stuff as well.

Anyone have any info?

And yes I have emailed them with this question (no response yet but I think they are closed on Monday)

You handle the money exchange. Next doesn't have anything to do with that. They just transfer the reservation name.

Marija wrote:You handle the money exchange. Next doesn't have anything to do with that. They just transfer the reservation name.

and charge you $10....

without the funds transfer I find the charge LAME

I hope this isn't poor form as a first time poster (long time lurker) but here it goes -

My friends and I have a single seat at a four-top tonight Aug 29th for 9:45 with the standard wine pairing (price is around ~$230). A message has already been posted on the Next Facebook page but with no success. If you want it and can stomach eating dinner with three attorneys I encourage you to take it up.

Welcome to the forum.

If you do not receive any bites soon, I would recommend you drop the cost and "eat" some of the ticket price. IMHO it is not going to be easy to find a single on short notice to pay that much to dine with a group of three that know one another, especially for a late reservation on a weeknight.

Good luck and enjoy the meal. In the event you are not able to find someone, Next sometimes has been known to throw an extra course or two at parties that paid for a ticket that went unused; this is not a guarantee to occur, but a possibility.

. . . or you could just bill the dinner to a client, or, even easier, expense it as 'business development - interview meal.'