boudreaulicious wrote:I gave up on Next a long time ago but I do think folks leaping to the defense of the almighty Kokonos crew are missing the point. I think most know that Achatz isn't in the kitchen at Next--it's Beran's restaurant to run. HOWEVER, when Beran is off in Scandinavia the first week of service in a restaurant whose entire concept changes 3x/year AND that has experienced some apparent challenges in rolling out those new menus, particularly this year, AND that has jacked prices to a level that has many staying on the sidelines where once there were fervent pleas for tickets and sellouts for most of the run--well, that seems like another situation. And a fair one to call attention to. For this and other reasons pointed out in detail here and elsewhere, Next seems to be in need of some refocusing and to do that, the head chef usually needs to be around. Beran takes that trip a month or two later when reviews are good and tickets are selling and no one says a word.

Well said; I do not think anybody informed as to how Next/Alinea/Aviary operates would expect Chef Achatz to be in house at Next on any given night, but one would expect Chef Beran to be present (barring something significantly more important than a vacation) for the early roll out of a highly intricate, uber expensive new menu. Some of the social media posts ownership makes does certainly come across to me as bragging and does not sit well with me (I am very happy that they are successful and profitable in a highly competitive industry, but do not need to keep hearing about this on social media). I might be heading to Next this upcoming weekend as the guest of a friend; I am looking forward to trying this menu but certainly would not even remotely consider paying anywhere near full price for a ticket. I do hope Next does some serious refocusing before the 2015 season; so sad that in a couple of years they have plummeted from my second favorite Chicago restaurant to a place where I pretty much only would go on someone else's dime.

bnowell724 wrote:Understandable to attribute the quality of your experience to whether or not Achatz is present, but myopic and misinformed in my opinion.

And thankfully no-one here is actually doing exactly that! Hopefully you feel relieved!

@Boudreaulicious and @Gonzo70 kind of nail it. Well put, folks.

My season-ticket tableholders and I went Sunday evening. 3 1/2 hours was indeed our experience. We found this one of our favorites, and we've been to every menu since the beginning. Our group commented a few times that this was up there with Paris and El Bulli for us, and stronger than Bocuse d'Or. We thought the menu started out extremely strong -- the first 75% of the menu was terrific -- but ended with a bit of a whimper as the last 4-5 courses were just ok.

While chrisch had an overcooked lobster course -- ours was perfectly cooked and one of the "knock-our-socks-off" courses of the evening. I would eat the outstanding duck course over and over again (hello, duck press, good to see you again!).

We agreed the smoked figs course was not fantastic. We also thought the "pizza" course was gimmicky, but certainly recognized that in the early 2000s, doing this at Trio was a precursor of similar things to come. I've had a very similar "pizza" course at Schwa.

I had not previously been offered a "wine by the glass" option, but it was an option this time. Instead of being presented a wine-by-the-glass menu, whenever my table mate was served a glass of wine from her pairing, we could request a glass if it sounded good to us. I found this to be a perfect option, as the pairing is inevitably too much alcohol for me, over 21 courses, even if I had split it.

bluepig wrote:I had not previously been offered a "wine by the glass" option, but it was an option this time. Instead of being presented a wine-by-the-glass menu, whenever my table mate was served a glass of wine from her pairing, we could request a glass if it sounded good to us. I found this to be a perfect option, as the pairing is inevitably too much alcohol for me, over 21 courses, even if I had split it.

I've done the by-the-glass option twice now and have never seen a wine menu. In both instances, our waiter (same one each time) described the by-the-glass options that would be a good match with upcoming courses and I picked from those recommendations. The only downside: I was a bit surprised to discover last time that one of my selections was a ~$30 glass of wine. Next time I'll be more careful about asking which is the standard pairing wine and which is the reserve pairing wine.

chgoeditor wrote:I've done the by-the-glass option twice now and have never seen a wine menu. In both instances, our waiter (same one each time) described the by-the-glass options that would be a good match with upcoming courses and I picked from those recommendations. The only downside: I was a bit surprised to discover last time that one of my selections was a ~$30 glass of wine. Next time I'll be more careful about asking which is the standard pairing wine and which is the reserve pairing wine.

It's amazing a pricey fine dining restaurant like Next makes their customers jump through so many hoops.

chgoeditor wrote:

bluepig wrote:I had not previously been offered a "wine by the glass" option, but it was an option this time. Instead of being presented a wine-by-the-glass menu, whenever my table mate was served a glass of wine from her pairing, we could request a glass if it sounded good to us. I found this to be a perfect option, as the pairing is inevitably too much alcohol for me, over 21 courses, even if I had split it.

I've done the by-the-glass option twice now and have never seen a wine menu. In both instances, our waiter (same one each time) described the by-the-glass options that would be a good match with upcoming courses and I picked from those recommendations. The only downside: I was a bit surprised to discover last time that one of my selections was a ~$30 glass of wine. Next time I'll be more careful about asking which is the standard pairing wine and which is the reserve pairing wine.

For this menu I believe there is only a choice of reserve pairings or non-alcoholic pairings, but there is not a standard pairing option. I think the pairings for Trio include seven different beverages, so at $138 (before tax/tip) that works out to approximately $20 per beverage - and probably amounts to about a half glass per beverage actually poured (so one is paying somewhere in the vicinity of $40 per/glass when doing the pairings). As such I will definitely inquire about price if I opt to order a glass of wine a la carte as I do not care to pay anywhere near $40 for a glass; I have just not been wowed by any wines during recent menus to feel that such a splurge would be worth while.

For what it's worth, the by-the-glass wines our party consumed, which were both part of the reserve pairings menu, were $14 and $17 per glass, so fairly reasonable in my mind. And to Next's credit (like they do with the full pairings) -- they generously refilled the $17 sparkling rosé I had by-the-glass approximately 4 times, so it was probably actually close to 3 solid glasses.

We went last night and thought Trio was one of the better Next menus so far. I loved that I could recognize themes that have clearly been picked up by other restaurants (one dish evoked Ko, several others Alinea, and another dish evoked an earlier Next menu). I disliked two courses (the figs and the short ribs), but I was fine with that since the volume of food was quite high and the other dishes were overall very good. The service was also outstanding. We've been leaning toward not renewing our season tickets for next year, but last night's experience has caused us to reconsider that.

One somewhat off experience: at about the 3/4 mark, they offered us a supplementary course - risotto with shaved white truffle. It was being offered for $125 per guest, and the whole table had to participate, so that would have added another $500 for our party (and, I assume, additional tax plus 20% tip). We were already quite full and still had several dishes to go, so it was easy to decline, but something just felt odd about the whole experience. The cost of these meals is already much higher than I ever expected they would be when I signed up for our season tickets, and I don't like the idea that in the future certain (and perhaps the best) parts of the experience will not be included in those tickets. I certainly hope this doesn't catch on.

rjque wrote:One somewhat off experience: at about the 3/4 mark, they offered us a supplementary course - risotto with shaved white truffle. It was being offered for $125 per guest, and the whole table had to participate, so that would have added another $500 for our party (and, I assume, additional tax plus 20% tip). We were already quite full and still had several dishes to go, so it was easy to decline, but something just felt odd about the whole experience. The cost of these meals is already much higher than I ever expected they would be when I signed up for our season tickets, and I don't like the idea that in the future certain (and perhaps the best) parts of the experience will not be included in those tickets. I certainly hope this doesn't catch on.

Glad to hear the meal was good enough to make you consider renewing. But, with the truffle supplement it's now possible to order a meal for $390 on a Saturday night (or $350 on a Wednesday) before tax/tip (over $500 for just the food once included). Sure, it's an optional supplement and we have freedom to go whereever we like to dine, but still another reminder that Next has evolved quite far from the original claim of "four star dining at three star prices." http://www.eater.com/2010/5/3/6734893/g ... bar-aviary

I'm not sure the physical space can ever allow for the atmosphere of other restaurants that charge $200+ (or $300+) for meals (perhaps this gives incentive to spring for the chef's table or private room downstairs, but I don't know 6-10 people who can regularly afford such dining). The shared bathrooms with the Aviary are often less than pristine, the tables too close together, the service less polished and food seems to have more inconsistencies than when they started. If they can sell out their tickets and make a big margin, more power to them, but hard to forget the excitement of the first year of menus and meals when it lived up to their original mantra.

I've been pretty down on Next over the last year (disliked both the steak and modern chinese menus), but I thought Trio was excellent. By far the best meal I have ever had at Next. Every dish was on point, with my favorites being 1) the crab & coconut with twelve garnishes; and 2) the duck five ways. We also sprung for the white truffle supplement, which was incredible, although pricy. It was really neat to see some of the courses presented and find the common threads to what's being done at Alinea today.

The service was fine, but for the prices they're charging I would expect more. I agree with Hopped Up's comment above that the physical space may just be a limiting factor.

As great as this meal was, we saw it as a send-off of sorts. We have been season ticket holders for the last two years but will not be renewing. Too many less-than-great menus, and locking up dining dollars a year in advance just doesn't make sense given the other great options available in the city. I am glad we went out on a high note.