Next Announces 2014 Menus

Grant Achatz has already provided us with a teaser for the Next: Chicago Steakhouse, following the Chicago restaurant's Bocuse d'Or menu, and now the rest of the Next 2014 lineup has been announced.

First up: Next: Chicago Steakhouse, running from January to April 2014, where Achatz and company will pay homage to a full-on steakhouse meal. Think dry-aged beef, lobster thermidor, shrimp cocktail, bisque, potatoes, vegetables, red wines, and a digestif with dessert. "Expect a party," their email says.

Following Steakhouse, Chinese: Modern will be served from May to August 2014. "What happens when a 1,000-year-old cuisine collides with the mind-set of culinary innovation? ... Noodles, buns, dumplings, seafood, poultry, pork — all the basics could be covered. ... Recognizably Chinese.... recognizably Next. Chinese takeout anyone? You never know...."

The last menu of the year will focus on the 10-year anniversary of Alinea, coming up in 2015. Titled "Trio, January 20, 2004," the Next version will "revisit the Tour de Force menu," which Achatz served Jan. 20, 2004, plus a couple of "classics" that were shelved. Tickets will go on sale soon.