Next (Alinea Year 1 Menu) ⭐, Chicago, May 2025

Broccoli Stem: Tasted like a spring roll with ikura. Very boring and didn’t have a great taste, nor much taste at all. 14/20

Hearts of Palm: Filled hearts of palm with three different creamy fillings. Each section was rich and creamy, but again, severely lacking in the flavor department, so all three bites tasted pretty much the same. 15/20

Shrimp: The first truly delicious bite of the evening, but it was no different than the shrimp tempura you could get at any nice Japanese restaurant. 18/20

Lobster: The lobster was perfectly cooked and the crunchy topping on top added a nice textural element, but the sauce was very strange, like a completely non-simmered balti curry. 16/20

Tomato: Tbh I have no clue what to rate this. It tasted good, but eat a fresh cherry tomato with a bit of cheese atop a bruschetta cracker and that is exactly what this dish was. I have no clue why this dish was served at a place like Alinea, nor why it’s somewhat of a signature.

Pork Belly: A very tasty bite, with great textures and flavors, but the sauce was a bit too spicy, and overpowered all the add-ons. 17/20

“Hot Potato, Cold Potato”: A Grant Achatz signature, and I’ve always found it overrated. For me, the cold potato isn’t cold enough, and the potato soup isn’t hot enough for this dish to really be playing with temperature. The “cold” potato and “hot” soup concept isn’t bad, but it could use a lot more richness, and the truffle flavor was beyond excessive. I’ve had practically the same dish (don’t know if it was purposeful) at Bottiglieria 1881, and I thought it was significantly better there. 14/20

Frog Legs: The one true standout dish of the night. The frog legs were perfectly cooked, and the sauce was rich, flavorful, and delicious! The mushrooms and mushroom foam complemented the dish superbly 19/20

Lamb Neck: The lamb neck was cooked very well, and the sauce was nice, but the topping and sides didn’t add anything and tasted very strange. 16/20

“Black Truffle Explosion”: Another overrated signature IMO. The truffle filling is for to thin, for me, and the truffle flavor is similar to a low-quality truffle oil. Again, not a bad concept, but it absolutely needs some changes. I’ve also had pasta with a truffle filling several times at various 2/3-star restaurants, and they were all better renditions. 14/20

Matsutake: A very nice pre-dessert. The rich and earthy mushroom flavor went well with the dark caramel, sherry, and the creamy sauce they drizzled on top. The cake/pudding could have been a little less dense though. 18/20

Spiral: A bad dessert/final course. The chocolate spiral was the texture of untempered chocolate, and while the textures besides the spiral were good, the dish as a whole was completely flavorless. 13/20

I got the reserve wine pairing, and besides the starting champagne, it was extremely meh. Given the portion sizes, I actually thought their pours were too generous. I have a very high tolerance, and even I ended the meal far more tipsy than I’d have liked. I can’t remember the last time I felt stressed eating at a restaurant, but I absolutely did here. We finished all 12 courses in about 1.5 hours, and we were always rushing to finish the last course’s wine. Since we had the first reservation at 5 pm, I definitely felt they were rushing us so they could seat the “primetime” reservation after us. The service overall was very curt and sterile, and the three different people they had pouring wine for us weren’t great. All in all, this experience was shocking. I’ve been to Alinea several times and have always loved it. This was my first time at Next, and for this particular menu, which literally was that of Alinea when they started, practically nothing worked. If these truly were the dishes Alinea served 20 years ago, I have no clue what all the hype was about.