Next Restaurant - Childhood Menu

November 20, 2011, 10:00 pm seating

Fish-n-Chips

Autumn

Hamburger

Campfire

Following "Paris, 1906" and "A Tour of Thailand," Childhood is the current menu at celebrated Chef Grant Achatz's latest concept, Next Restaurant. Across 10 courses, Chef Dave Beran weaves childhood favorites, like mac & cheese, PB&J, and chicken noodle soup with more conceptually nostalgic dishes, like Autumn and Campfire. Overall, the experience was incredible, enough to warrant going twice (which I did - and I was pleased to find that elements of the menu had been subtly adjusted, and in my mind, improved).

Though broadly titled "Childhood," the menu itself is influenced by Beran's and Achatz's childhoods in Michigan, circa the 1970s and 80s. The menu was successfully engaging, triggering me to open a present, to dive into a lunchbox, and to lick frosting (or 'foie'sting) from my fingers. It also included a lot of playful interpretations of classics: chicken noodle soup where the noodle is made out of chicken; a lunchbox complete with a truffle oreo cookie; and doughnuts complemented by foie gras frosting.

While the 'foie'sting was my favorite by taste, the Autumn course (a mix of polenta, maitake, and broccoli) was my favorite conceptually, as it incorporated the scent of burning leaves, the imagery of a walk in the forest, and the warming flavors of a fall meal. While the menu was certainly playful and novel, it was in many ways disappointing. The food was surprisingly salty the second time around. The interpretations, though cute, became gimmicky and repetitive more so than inventive and fresh. Despite these drawbacks, the imaginativeness created an experience that was on the whole fun, evocative, and nostalgic.