- Christian Seel
- Fermented apple and reindeer lichen
Next
953 W. Fulton Ave.Chicago, IL 60607
Fulton Market
312-226-0858
nextrestaurant.com
Hours: Dinner: Wednesday-Sunday
Closed Monday, Tuesday
Our Review
Executive chef David Beran and his crew—whose previous three-month menus at Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas's "rotating" restaurant have included Paris: 1906 (an interpretation of now-classic French dishes originated by Escoffier), Childhood (a modernist throwback to the snack packs and lunch boxes of yesteryear), and El Bulli (an ode to Spain's mecca of deconstructionist cuisine)—haven't necessarily created a menu to wow vegans. They've built one to impress meat eaters—particularly those who might revel in the challenge of finding a vegan meal that lives up to its exorbitant price tag. Sure enough, the "creamy" purees and "meatier" dishes—like the mushroom cart, which had an earthy warmth and comfort-food heartiness—could easily elicit a "No way is this vegan" reaction from a blind taste tester. But, simply put, a $225 (with wine pairings) vegan vision quest is a little too much for my beans-and-rice-vegetarian lifestyle. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. The menu's initial flurry of dishes was made up of nicely disorienting small bites, like a burned avocado puree served on a rock the size of a small child's head and meant to be scraped off with thin pieces of flatbread scattered within the decorative treelike arrangment on the table. And when the mushroom cart was rolled over to our table so that we could view the lavish array of shrooms that were to be included in our next dish—one of the night's best—it was apparent that vegetables (and, in this instance, fungi) were killing it in the lead role. It's just a bigger-budget film than what I prefer. Read the full review >>
Price: $$$$$
Payment Type: MasterCard, Visa, AmEx, Discover
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