Next Restaurant

"Put away any apprehensions about going to a tasting-menu restaurant for soup. Next Restaurant, the rotating concept from Alinea Group, is basing its menu around the food from Charlie Trotter, the influential Chicago chef whose Lincoln Park restaurant was a pioneer in the fine dining scene. Trotter’s featured a chilled heirloom tomato soup which became a favorite of Alinea’s Grant Achtaz. It’s made with an avocado coriander sorbet for a slightly creamy texture with perfect notes of acidity. It’s a sublime showstopper. The menu will last through December at Next." - Naomi Waxman, Ashok Selvam

"Next Restaurant, run by the Alinea Group, is celebrating Bobby Flay’s first restaurant and the '90s spirit that made Mesa Grill a hit in New York City. The restaurant is currently embracing the Mesa Grill motif until September 1 and has brought significant attention, with fans flying into Chicago for another taste of Mesa Grill. The venue allows fans to enjoy nostalgia and gives younger diners a chance to see what made chefs like Flay household names." - Ashok Selvam

"It took a while for the Alinea Group’s experimental restaurant to get its Michelin star: while it’s common for restaurants to change their menus, very few change their entire theme and design multiple times a year, which means that the restaurant the Michelin inspectors visit is not necessarily the same as the one diners will experience. But the quality is always high, whether the theme is the 1893 World’s Fair, Toyko, or French Nouvelle Cuisine." - Naomi Waxman, Eater Staff

"Whether you come to experience the cuisine of ancient Rome or Hollywood, a meal here is pure dinner theater. These culinary themes are unique and thoughtful, leaving diners wondering what's "next."While an earlier Italia menu showcased complex ingredients and flawless flavors and textures (think cacio e pepe and guanciale-wrapped branzino), the most recent "Paris 1906" culinary theme showcased celebrated French chef Auguste Escoffier's classic cuisine. Highlights included carrè d’agneau avec sauce choron, a well-executed plate of lamb and crispy sweetbreads with a vibrant sauce choron. The theme ran through to dessert, with a bombe Ceylan, a half-sphere of ice cream, rum and coffee with a delicate chocolate shell, served with griottine cherries and sauce anglaise." - Michelin Inspector

"The Seafood tasting menu at Next featured standout plates like the sando with Japanese milk bread, uni, and caviar, inventive and creamy clam chowder, and amazing, just-smoky-enough turbot." - Ashok Selvam