Well on a lark I entered my email without receiving an email and got a password. I got on the site looked at the dates available and by the time I was able to find something, I was told they were sold out for the season. Better luck for the next cycle I guess.

mattshafferHP wrote:I completely agree. It seems that the people that signed up the earliest were the ones shut out - ironic eh. A friend of mine who also signed up that early didn't receive an email either.

I signed up on the first day and was sent an e-mail in the second wave that went out yesterday. Have you checked your spam filters?

I think I read that 1000 people signed up in the 1st 2 days that the list was opened. I don't think many more invitations than that were sent out.

Moderator Note:

LTH,

There will, no doubt, be many outlets for buying secondary market tickets for Next but this thread will not be one of them.

If you have tickets for Next that you'd like to market, please contact a moderator via PM for instructions.

Thanks,

=R=
for the moderators

Will you guys post what the moderators decide is the appropriate place to sell tickets?
Thanks

msotrips wrote:Will you guys post what the moderators decide is the appropriate place to sell tickets?
Thanks

We've decided that the appropriate place is eBay, Craig's List or a similar site that specializes in user-to-user sales.

Due to the ongoing nature of ticket sales at Next and the fact that there are some areas where disputes could arise (brought to light at Next's web site), we're going to ask that tickets not be offered for sale here. Posts offering Next tickets for sale will be removed from the forums.

Thanks,

=R=
for the moderators

I realize that this, too, shall pass, but I find it disheartening that people are asking prices for a two top greater than the cost of two to Alinea. I appreciate the excitement of novelty, but really, concerts and sports on the secondary market are bad enough. It'll be pretty sad if snagging tickets to Next becomes a joyless mad scramble to beat the "scalpers," as such, to tickets.

Thanks Ronnie, it would be a shame to see this thread turn into an auction house.

I think that if "reservations" to Next are primarily available on the secondary market, it will defeat the purpose of the experiment, which was designed to create a subscription service and to promote loyalty (along with, of course, the economic benefits to the restaurant).

Perhaps Next will decide to extend their run with Escoffier 1906 beyond the 2+ months that is now set.

GAF wrote:Perhaps Next will decide to extend their run with Escoffier 1906 beyond the 2+ months that is now set.

I believe next up is Bangkok 2060!

Coincidentally, Bangkok 2060 bears an eerie similarity to Escoffier 1906. Hey, you never know!

GAF wrote:I think that if "reservations" to Next are primarily available on the secondary market, it will defeat the purpose of the experiment, which was designed to create a subscription service and to promote loyalty (along with, of course, the economic benefits to the restaurant).

Perhaps Next will decide to extend their run with Escoffier 1906 beyond the 2+ months that is now set.

I think the "scramble" also generates perceived value and buzz -- me, I found it more joyless than anything else, but I think others may find it fun, in a Darwinian way.

And if, as reported, tickets are going for as high as $3K for a two-top, it could at the very least make regular prices appear to be a huge deal and, at most, give owners license to bump up their base price.
Despite all that, I can’t help but be happy for these guys.

David Hammond wrote:And if, as reported, tickets are going for as high as $3K for a two-top, it could at the very least make regular prices appear to be a huge deal and, at most, give owners license to bump up their base price.
Despite all that, I can’t help but be happy for these guys.

David, I looked at that. It was $3K for the kitchen table.

edit: Yes I confirmed the asking price is $3K Chef's table, three wine pairings three non-alcoholic pairings. Not that that's much better.
I did see a two top going for $1600 which is just silly.

Remember the 1637 Dutch Tulip Mania. I don't blame Grant and Co. and wish them the very best. But this is a case of irrational exuberance. Is the value of a meal at Next worth a meal at Copenhagen's Noma (with airfare thrown in)?

David Hammond wrote:

RAB wrote: Then, I took a few deep breaths and reminded myself that no matter the ridiculous, over-the-top hype of it all, this is just another restaurant, and in the grand scheme of things, who gives a shit?--Rich

I believe this is a very healthy attitude.

Agreed.

I mean, it's not like you actually GOT a reservation and showed up only to find they were closed due to a "plumbing" problem.

THAT would suck.

JLenart wrote:

David Hammond wrote:And if, as reported, tickets are going for as high as $3K for a two-top, it could at the very least make regular prices appear to be a huge deal and, at most, give owners license to bump up their base price.
Despite all that, I can’t help but be happy for these guys.

David, I looked at that. It was $3K for the kitchen table.

edit: Yes I confirmed the asking price is $3K Chef's table, three wine pairings three non-alcoholic pairings. Not that that's much better.
I did see a two top going for $1600 which is just silly.

Thanks, JLenart. That wasn't clear from the Eater Post but you're right, based on the actual Craigslist posting.

JLenart wrote:

David Hammond wrote:And if, as reported, tickets are going for as high as $3K for a two-top, it could at the very least make regular prices appear to be a huge deal and, at most, give owners license to bump up their base price.
Despite all that, I can’t help but be happy for these guys.

David, I looked at that. It was $3K for the kitchen table.

edit: Yes I confirmed the asking price is $3K Chef's table, three wine pairings three non-alcoholic pairings. Not that that's much better.
I did see a two top going for $1600 which is just silly.

Indeed. Note to scalpers: if, for your Next tickets for a two-top, you are asking nearly twice what a 20-ish course meal with wine pairings would cost for two at Alinea, you are being a moron.

David Hammond wrote:

JLenart wrote:

David Hammond wrote:And if, as reported, tickets are going for as high as $3K for a two-top, it could at the very least make regular prices appear to be a huge deal and, at most, give owners license to bump up their base price.
Despite all that, I can’t help but be happy for these guys.

David, I looked at that. It was $3K for the kitchen table.

edit: Yes I confirmed the asking price is $3K Chef's table, three wine pairings three non-alcoholic pairings. Not that that's much better.
I did see a two top going for $1600 which is just silly.

Thanks, JLenart. That wasn't clear from the Eater Post but you're right, based on the actual Craigslist posting.

The wine pairing at the Kitchen Table is $150, so after tax/service, the cost of that $3k package was just under $1,900.

AdmVinyl wrote:
Note to scalpers: if, for your Next tickets for a two-top, you are asking nearly twice what a 20-ish course meal with wine pairings would cost for two at Alinea, you are being a moron.

DOn't know if the scalper is the moron, I'd say that distinction would go to the buyer.

The problem here is that if a two-top goes for, say, $1,000 on the secondary market, the surplus isn't going to Achatz & crew, but the person who squatted the ticket. I suppose that's true of any ticket sold on a secondary market, but the point behind my semi-serious auction comment remains true: the most efficient allocation is a direct auction of tickets, rather than selling space below market price. It's not the most egalitarian method, but it does ensure that the people who benefit are the diners and the owners, without a middleman.

Completely envious. I work with one of your friends and recognized him from a photo.

Once I made the connection, I promptly marched into his office and demanded he tell me of his experience.

Please forgive me for not elaborating, but the hype around this seems a bit ridiculous to me. I'm sure the food is excellent, but I can't comprehend the utility here. I for one have no need (nor means) to see the (Ethan Hawke-like) emperor's new clothes.

Put another way: if you had to choose a place to dine one night, and you would never be allowed to tell anyone else what you had or where you went, with money being a factor, what would you do? I don't mean this in an obnoxious way, and I pose myself the same question without being sure of response.

Well since the last few pages have been all about getting tickets, and one of the few things that makes Next unique is the ticket ordering process, I figured that it is about time we look the process. Note that the names, dates, times, and other personal information have been altered.



Going to nextrestaurant.com, you are greeted with a login screen, not a typical home page for a restaurant. Links are located in the top and the bottom, with a form field in the center. The form field has has two blocks of information. The left side are for those that have received an email from Next. Enter your email there, click the button, and if all works accordingly, you should get an email with a temporary password. Enter that into the box on the right, click login and you are through.



Once you are through, the body displays three accordion buttons, with the first step opened, Select date and time. Present is a three month calendar view (with dates available), and background on the event and some basic instructions. Click on a date that you want and is available, and it will take you to the next screen.



Three month calendar view is still at top, but the bottom has changed from informational copy to a grid of times and table options. The grid is either empty, or filled with prices.



Click on one of those prices, and the clock starts ticking (top right). You have 10 minutes before your current selection times out. If you like the options, click on the button at the bottom and it will take you to step two.



The second accordion tab opens up, Select guest options. The body is staggered with instructions and buttons. At this point you can just proceed the step three, without any other extra options. If you want wine pairings, there are two options, standard and reserve ($48 and $98, respectively). The kitchen table only has the option of reserve wine at $150, per person.



Should you click on the food allergies button on right, up comes a modal dialogue box for you to check off.



The last step is Payment. Left side has an itemized list of your (soon to) purchase. Right side allows you to add a message and verifies your payment information, for greater security.



Click on purchase and you get the confirmation page, everything you need for you and your party get a table at Next.



In case you loose the ticket, or should you need to verify them, the manage account button lists all your transactions, and detailed info.

To make your purchase, you must click on the terms of service and privacy policy (as seen in the screen shot up-thread). And here is what they look like.





That is 4,608 words for Next's Terms of Service. For perspective, the iTunes TOS is 15,329 words.

BloombergBusinessweek, Next Up in Fine Dining wrote:Nick Kokonas got the idea for his new reservation system while listening to phones ring off the hook at his current bastion of haute cuisine, Chicago's Alinea. "If you sit in that room for a day, you'll think of it," Kokonas says. "All you have to do is hear Emily and Amanda say, 'Sorry, we're full. Sorry, we're full.'" Instead of paying reservationists to perform customer relations that were inadvertently "pissing customers off," Kokonas came up with a revolutionary concept: an entire restaurant that wouldn't piss anyone off. There would be no hounding for reservations, and no bill dropped at the end of the meal. Kokonas has now built that restaurant—and he's even figured out an algorithm to determine the price of dinner.

Unless you count Alinea's four-hour, 23-course meal ($195), the Next online ticketing system is probably the wildest idea the duo has yet to concoct. And it may also be the most sensible. The tickets will allow them to know how much Next can spend on its food budget. More importantly, by spreading diners evenly throughout the week and not getting pinched by late cancellations, they can keep a reasonably sized full-time staff employed, rather than rely on people to work mainly on Fridays and Saturdays. They won't have to pay anyone to answer phones, either.

This is a great concept. I think it is a win for both the restaurant and the diner. They are simplifying the process of dining out. Making it easy for everyone involved. They are making change. But change, can sometimes be difficult. (Most) everybody loves the idea of change. Implementing it can be a little more challenging.

So far the food, wine, service, construction have been a walk in the park compared to the new "beta, Next ticket center." Oh, I'm sure that there were many (possibly more) snags to the menu development, and building construction, but since we were not privy to them, to us, there were none.

On the other hand, the Next ticket center, had many, as documented on their Facebook wall page.

The Next ticket center is the first real interaction with the customer, as they choose not to deal with the traditional reservation method. Grant called out April 6th as the possible opening day for Next, a little over a week before. Everything was practiced and ready to roll, except for the reservation system. Last minute tweaks were still being made the morning of the opening. And then they sent out the email, without the site 100% viewable to the rest of the internet. Some people had trouble getting email or getting through the login page of the site.

To this day, three days after opening, the ticket center is still in Beta. I hope, scratch that, I know that they will transfer out of Beta and get it all sorted out. They just need time. I wish that they took the time before opening, so that the process would have been seamless. It wasn't the plan, but they ended up "pissing customers off." And now it is publicly documented. So now what is next for Next.

Independent George wrote:The problem here is that if a two-top goes for, say, $1,000 on the secondary market, the surplus isn't going to Achatz & crew, but the person who squatted the ticket. I suppose that's true of any ticket sold on a secondary market, but the point behind my semi-serious auction comment remains true: the most efficient allocation is a direct auction of tickets, rather than selling space below market price. It's not the most egalitarian method, but it does ensure that the people who benefit are the diners and the owners, without a middleman.

This is an interesting concept and one that I had not thought of.

IMHO, I would like to see it go this way (after they exhaust the waiting list). Stagger the release of emails with more categories and more time in-between. Investors first, followed by family, then VIPs, past diners (in good standing), industry folks, and ending with a first come first serve. Also, make the time in-between a day, so that the people can approach it without stressing out. I think this will weed out some of those that re-sell immediately. Just my two cents.

pacent wrote:

Vitesse98 wrote:Be considerate of your guests and dress period appropriate.

While I certainly understand your first point, I wanted to get additional thoughts since the restaurant is so new. I also do not think the folks at Next are expecting people to show up in attire from turn of the century France. With that being said, someone on FB posted a similar question, and Next's response was, 'We have seen everything from pretty casual to pretty formal. Something in between is probably about right.'

Has anyone seen diners in period attire, or even clothes seemingly inspired by turn-of-the-century couture? (My dining companions: don't worry, I'll tell you in advance if I'm going to show up looking Paris 1906.) I get very excited by the prospect of costume and food, and if I also get to go to Bangkok 2060, I have a totally bad-ass Issey Miyake dress that just seems meant for the occasion. But maybe this setting is too stiff for that?

I can't believe anyone actually took seriously my totally silly joke of a suggestion that people go in period attire. If, at any time during this restaurant's lifespan, I encounter someone in period garb, I will never come back again, no matter how good the food is or gets. I mean, come on. Save it for the Ren Faire.

Speaking of return visits, I would like to see those with "season" tickets, should season tickets or a subscription be offered, get one of the first cracks at tickets each cycle. To commit to four (at least) meals here basically constitutes an investment in my book. It would suck to have such faith in the place that you're willing to commit to a mystery meal months in advance, then get locked out of prime seats. Then again, the whole notion of a potential subscription seems even more intricate than the current system. But that's just conjecture at this point.

Vitesse98 wrote:I can't believe anyone actually took seriously my totally silly joke of a suggestion that people go in period attire. If, at any time during this restaurant's lifespan, I encounter someone in period garb, I will never come back again, no matter how good the food is or gets. I mean, come on. Save it for the Ren Faire.

happy_stomach wrote:But maybe this setting is too stiff for that?

So, I guess to answer my own question...very yes.