While I was at the World Science Fiction Convention, Next restaurant sneakily uploaded a video touting its new Bocuse d’Or menu, which would have begun service on August 31 had not a power outage created issues with the opening.

But Next is up and running again, and this video will surely make you want to rush over as soon as you can obtain tickets. (Yes, tickets.)

What’s Bocuse d’Or, you ask? Let the video explain …

If you weren’t hungry before, you’re probably hungry now …

Back home from my second time experiencing Next restaurant’s Vegan menu, and what do I find? A sneak peek at what the restaurant has planned for us once it switches over to Bocuse d’or, which will run from August 31 to December 31.

Jenner Tomaska, Sous Chef at Next, tweeted (and Chef Dave Beran retweeted) a pic simply captioned, “Bocuse menu testing.” In case you missed it, here it is.

I’ve only been home a couple of hours, and now I can’t wait to get back to Chicago again!

I flew to Chicago last weekend for, of all things, a Vegan meal. Those who know me, and have either accompanied me or been repulsed by me eating spicy horse tartare, will wonder … why? After all, I’m the kind of guy who’s never eaten even a vegetarian meal (which I’ve surrendered to from time to time in order to go with the flow of a group) without needing to chomp into a bloody burger on the way home.

Scott eating Vegan? Has Hell frozen over?

Not quite. But Next restaurant, the chameleon-like brainchild of Grant Achatz, Nick Kokonas, and Dave Beran, where I’ve previously eaten cuisines built around Sicily, Kyoto, and The Hunt, had this time reinvented itself as a Vegan restaurant … and so I had to be there.

What could chefs operating at the level of Achatz and Beran do with only Vegan ingredients? Would the menu rise above the unsatisfying level of vegetarian food I’d experienced up until then, meals which always left me hungering for more?

This note awaiting us at the Kitchen Table made a promise …

… and that promise was fulfilled. (more…)

I have been remiss.

I experienced The Hunt at Next restaurant seven weeks ago, and have so far failed to write about it here the way I did earlier for both the Sicily and Kyoto menus.

And I’ve run out of time—because I’m heading back to Next tomorrow night for its Vegan menu! (more…)

Next restaurant, which reinvents itself three times a year, releases a video to promote each new menu. Sometimes, as with its video for The Hunt, you get a good idea what you’ll be eating while there. But the just-released video for the new Vegan menu, which launches tonight, is a bit more … enigmatic.

Enigmatic … but hilarious.

After having watched that, I have absolutely no idea what Next will have in store for me when I sit down at my Kitchen Table at the end of the month.

One thing I do know, however—it makes me want to go on a heist with those guys!

The chameleon-like Next restaurant releases an enigmatic video with each new cuisine it serves (check out The Hunt and Kyoto, for example), so those of us who love the place wonder what we’ll see in support of the new Vegan menu, which begins May 8.

Over on Twitter, Christian Seel just shared a screen grab from that coming video, which has me wondering …

… what does that image have to do with a Vegan cuisine?

My guess? Actor Stephen Bernacki is about to strip off his work clothes, toss away that briefcase, abandon the urban lifestyle, and go back to the land.

Can’t wait to see whether I’m right. And, as usual, can’t wait to get back to Next!

The ever-changing Next restaurant is currently in the middle of its meat-heavy menu, The Hunt, which will end April 28, to be replaced by its antithesis, Vegan, beginning May 8.

Those of us who love Next are all wondering what form that new menu will take, and this week, Ulterior Epicure, at the start of The Hunt, was lucky enough to be presented with a single Vegan dish as an amuse-bouche.

And it sure was beautiful.

Wish I didn’t have to wait until my May reservation to find out how it tastes!

I’m about as non-Vegan an eater as you’re likely to find (because everything tastes better with bacon, right?), but when it comes to food cooked at the level that Next can provide—I’m counting down the days.

Yesterday, I shared with you Next restaurant’s menu for The Hunt, which was served for the first time Wednesday night.

Today, Next released a video which gives a more visceral (and I mean that both metaphorically and literally) idea of what the chefs have planned for you should you make it there before the cuisine’s final seating on April 28.

And before anyone clicks … consider this a possible trigger warning for the vegetarians out there … or for anyone who might be bothered by scenes of a guy with a shotgun walking across a snowy landscape.

As for me, the only things triggered were my salivary glands!

BTW—here’s how Next promoted its Kyoto menu, which I was privileged to experience back in November.

Last night, the ever-changing Next restaurant launched its latest cuisine, The Hunt, which will run through April 28, and Monika Cascone was one of the diners lucky enough to snag a table. Today, she shared a mouth-watering series of photos from her meal, including this one of the menu itself.

Yum!

I’ll be heading to Chicago in March to check out the real thing. How about you?

If you’re a fan of Next restaurant and aren’t already following chef David Beran on Twitter, you’re missing out—because his updates will help assuage your gnawing anticipation for the latest incarnation of his ever-changing menu, The Hunt, set to launch on January 9.

Last night, Beran tweeted a pic of the charcuterie that’ll be part of the restaurant’s upcoming cuisine, showing off both what we’ll put in our mouths and what we’ll be looking at when we do.

I don’t know about you, but as for me, I can’t wait!