GAF wrote:On December 20, 2010 in an article about Grant Achatz and Alinea ("The Miracle Worker"), Time Magazine claimed that Next is scheduled to open on February 1st. Any news?

Marketing junk email I received from Grant Achatz capitalist enterprises after eating at Alinea a few weeks ago wrote: Aviary’s custom 'bar' is one of a kind and includes 3 cocktail shaker dispensers capable of holding 175 shakers. Our chefs will not be washing shakers or glasses in between creating drinks.

Habibi wrote:

Marketing junk email I received from Grant Achatz capitalist enterprises after eating at Alinea a few weeks ago wrote: Aviary’s custom 'bar' is one of a kind and includes 3 cocktail shaker dispensers capable of holding 175 shakers. Our chefs will not be washing shakers or glasses in between creating drinks.

I seriously doubt that this is meant to convey that Aviary's bartenders will be mixing your smoked anchovy, barrel-aged old fashioned in the same, unwashed shaker they used for your date's durian vinaigrette flip - that would be retarded. Even more retarded: purchasing 3 custom cocktail shaker dispensers capable of holding 175 shakers so that tapwater, or whatever Achatz uses to wash his utensils, does not interfere with the integrity of your "cocktail".

Habibi wrote:

Marketing junk email I received from Grant Achatz capitalist enterprises after eating at Alinea a few weeks ago wrote: Aviary’s custom 'bar' is one of a kind and includes 3 cocktail shaker dispensers capable of holding 175 shakers. Our chefs will not be washing shakers or glasses in between creating drinks.

I seriously doubt that this is meant to convey that Aviary's bartenders will be mixing your smoked anchovy, barrel-aged old fashioned in the same, unwashed shaker they used for your date's durian vinaigrette flip - that would be retarded. Even more retarded: purchasing 3 custom cocktail shaker dispensers capable of holding 175 shakers so that tapwater, or whatever Achatz uses to wash his utensils, does not interfere with the integrity of your "cocktail".

Habibi wrote:Kenny - care to point me in the direction of any post's related to your feelings about Alinea? Just curious.

DMChicago wrote:"From the moment it opens, it will be among the most exclusive bars in the country — open by reservation, perhaps, or maybe just invitation. “The logistics of access,” Schoettler said, “are still in the works.”"

Sounds a little Carlsonesque.

Independent George wrote:I'll keep my knives sheathed until it opens and we get some first-hand reporting, but let me at least enunciate my concerns:

1. By selling 'exclusivity' as an end in and of itself, the target market seems to be status-conscious D-Bags looking to burn their money in the most extravagent way available.

2. A bar depends on its environment as much if not more than its drinks or its food, and I really have no interest in being around the aforementioned status-conscious D-Bags.

3. To paraphrase Bourdain, I will pay for quality, but I won't pay for BS. Even if the quality is there (and I fully expect it will be), the potential for BS is astronomical. I'll reserve judgement until it opens, but let it suffice to say that I'm feeling quite a bit of trepidation.

yellow truffle wrote:1. Have they actually sold 'exclusivity?' As far as I know they have not sold anything.
2. A bar is always about environment. It is why most people go to bars.
3. What is this BS you speak of?

I don't know George, it seems that although you have not made judgement, you sure have a lot of pretenses.

"From the moment it opens, it will be among the most exclusive bars in the country — open by reservation, perhaps, or maybe just invitation. “The logistics of access,” Schoettler said, “are still in the works.”"

Independent George wrote:

yellow truffle wrote:1. Have they actually sold 'exclusivity?' As far as I know they have not sold anything.
2. A bar is always about environment. It is why most people go to bars.
3. What is this BS you speak of?

I don't know George, it seems that although you have not made judgement, you sure have a lot of pretenses.

I'm basing it on this quote:

"From the moment it opens, it will be among the most exclusive bars in the country — open by reservation, perhaps, or maybe just invitation. “The logistics of access,” Schoettler said, “are still in the works.”"

I apologize if I'm misinterpreting, but the whole concept seems to be to based around keeping people out than on welcoming them in. That rubs me raw.

Vitesse98 wrote:Will there be a ticket limit? Will is be possible for scalpers to buy up whole blocks and horde them? If there is a ticket limit, what will the limit be? What should the limit be?

If you haven’t signed up yet, now’s your last chance.
When plans for Next and The Aviary were announced last May, fans could click on a link on nextrestaurant.com and provide an email address to be notified when tickets become available. The list was at more than 22,000 at Kokonas’ last check and grows by a few dozen to a few hundred entries daily. That “Notify me” link will be going away very soon, “at the end of this week sometime,” Kokonas said.

Ticket notifications will go out soon.
Though we don’t know exactly when tickets will be sold, Kokonas has made it clear exactly how they’ll be sold. Staff, family and investors will get first crack at tickets. Then, an email will be sent to the first 500 addresses on the mailing list, in the order they were added starting last May. Blasts will continue to another 500 addresses every hour after that before the ticketing site goes public. Kokonas estimates they’ll offer about 7,500 tickets for the 12-week run of the Paris 1906 menu, so easy math tells us they’ll likely sell out fast. Tickets for the next 12-week menu won’t be released until a later date.

Signing up more than once doesn’t help.
Duplicate addresses are purged from the list, so signing up every day doesn’t do you any good. “There was like literally one guy that must have signed up every single day for a month … and it turns out he was a concierge,” Kokonas said. Just as hotel concierges purchase theater tickets for their guests, you can bet they’ll be trying to do the same with Next.

You won’t be able to forward to a friend.
Those on the email list will be receive a link to buy tickets as well as a unique user ID and password that can be used to make one reservation. That means you won’t be able to share the link with all of your friends.

If you don’t get tickets, there may be other ways to get in.
“We’ll probably allow a couple walk-ins once we’re up to full speed,” Kokonas said. If you're drinking at The Aviary next door, there's the chance you could get lucky and score the occasional late-night impromptu dinner at Next. “The kitchen will have the option on the back-end that, if they have the energy and capacity foodwise, to say to the Aviary staff, hey, we can do two more tables at 10 o’ clock tonight.” It’s also possible that they’ll use the restaurant’s Twitter feed (@NextRestaurant) to get the word out about walk-in opportunities as they pop up.

Don’t plan for a big group.
Only tables of two and four are available, with the exception of the kitchen table. This six-person table will feature an expanded 14-course version of the Paris 1906 menu to the tune of $150 per person. “We’ve got some really cool service pieces that are antiques for that table that we’re going to bring out and surprise people with,” he said. “The menu there is insane … and it’s once a night.”