Next :: paris 1906

Last night, Brian and headed to our old stomping grounds -- Chicago -- got all dolled up and met up with the Elsmo's and Frigs for a highly anticipated dinner at Next.


Thanks to Melissa's perseverance, we scored a kitchen table for the premiere menu. In case you didn't know, you purchase tickets to Next, pay up front (including wine paring and tip), and the menu completely changes every three months. In fact, paris 1906 only has a couple more weeks running, then the curtains close until thailand 2032. I think it's such an amazing concept.

The kitchen table can only be purchased as a 6-top. In fact, it's the only table of six in the entire restaurant which is the main reason why we picked it. You also get the reserve wine paring, as well as an expanded menu. And an amazing view. Here's what we ate and drank (any items with the * appear to be the expanded menu items):

Gougere
cheese puff with mornay sauce

Hors d'Oeuvres

Left to right: leeks stuffed with mushroom duxelles, pork rillette, rabbit boudin blanc, brioche with foie gras and apricot jam, quail egg with white anchovy, smoked fish in pate brisee boat

Egg custard with lemon cream and Perigord black truffles

Vincent Carré Brut Champagne

Caviare *
bilini and creme fraiche




Potage a la Tortue Claire
turtle consomme
Jacques Puffeney 'Vin Jaune'
Arbois 2002

Puree Palestine *
sunchoke puree, fresh sunchokes, fried hazelnuts and fried parsley
Olivier Merlin 'La Roche Vineuse', Macon 2008


Filet de Sole Daumont
Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon 
Macon-Milly-Lamartine Clos du Four 2006



Supremes de Poussin
butter braised cucumbers filled with chicken - chicken in a blanquette sauce
Domain Leon Barral 'Jadis'
Faugeres 2007

Carré d'agneau *

lamb with onion rings, potatoes duchesse, rillette and fried sweetbreads

Michel & Stephanie Ogier, Cote-Rotie

Rhone 2005

Caneton Rouennais a la Presse with Gratin de Pommes de Terre a la Dauphinoise
roasted and pressed duck in a reduction of cognac, red wine and jus
Domaine Brusset 'Tradition Le Grand Montmirail'
Gigondas 2000



Salade Irma
nasturtium blossom, asparagus and radish



Sorbet Sauternes
new zealand sweet wine with liquid nitrogen to form a sorbet

Bombe Ceylan
Rum and coffee ice cream with a chocolate dome, brandied cherries

Soufflé au Chocolat *
with brandied cherries, chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream
Ramos Pinto 
10 year Tawny Port



Mignardies
beet pates de fruits, shortbread cookies, salted dark caramel, nougat and almond tuile

Five hours later we were done. And it was amazing. Honestly, it's hard to pick a favorite dish. The lamb and the sunchoke puree might be the top two. But the duck was delicious and very impressive. And Hors d'Oeuvres were incredible. The soft quail egg with anchovy. Yum. And the brioche with foie gras and apricot jam. Out of this world. Then again, the sole was divine too. See, I can't do it! Even the bilinis were awesome.

After dinner we were able to go to Aviary for a drink. Again, I've really never seen anything like it, and am really glad we made the stop. I had the Rhubarb cocktail. Brian had Ginger.



We had such a great night that we stayed up until 3:00 in the morning on the Elsmo deck, enjoying a bottle of champagne they had brought back from their recent trip out west. Such fun.