Next Restaurant - The Hunt

Next Restaurant tickets are probably the most sort after reservation in the states and I've gotten incredibly lucky to get the season ticket for 2013. The 2013 series begin with the Hunt, then Vegan, and end with Bocuse D'or. The Hunt, as the title, is centered on game meat and I've been so excited to check out what the crew at Next can do.

The table setting, totally fits in with the theme.

Hen of the Woods - Mushroom, Garlic, Onion

Maitake Mushroom Consume

The soup has a robust mushroom flavor. Yet, it's light at the same time.

Catch of the Great Lakes - Smoked Trout, Walleyes Rillettes, Pickled kohlrabi

The trout displays a nice smokiness while the texture of the fish is nice and smooth. But the most impressive portion in this dish is the Rillettes. It has a nice and consistent creaminess that would get you crave for more. This dish definitely display a nice "catch of the wild" sense to it.

Charcu - Tree - Rabbit Pate, Elk jerky, Boar Salami, Antelope Heart Tartare, Blood Sausage

Rabbit Pate

Elk jerky

Boar Salami

Antelope Heart Tartare

Blood Sausage

Cellar Aged Carrots & Onions

Duck Tongue, Cider Vinegar, Scrambled Duck Egg

The Duck Tongue is actually quite crunchy, along with the vinegar, becomes a nice little bite. The scrambled Duck Egg is obviously salty. However, it is so light that as if you're eating air at times.

Sturgeon & Caviar - crispy potato skin

This perfectly cooked sturgeon is accompanied by a creamy sauce with caviar. This is probably the best version I've had thus far as all components compliments very well each other. The creaminess is balanced by the lightness of the sturgeon while the potato skin add that extra element of heaviness into the dish. Bravo indeed!

Woodcock Jolie - Huckleberries, Shaved Black Truffle, White Chocolate

Pressed Squab - The breast, Heads & Leg

The breast is juicy, flavorful and tender. The flavor definitely highlights the bird and doing it justice.

Pressed Squab - The body

Foie Gras Steel Cut Oats

Fallen Leaves & Kidney - Parsnip, Seaweed, Pumpkin Seeds, Edible Bark, and Grated Purple Cauliflower

Bison & Bearnaise - Bison Rib eyes

The last of our savory consist of cooking the bison rib eyes on a very hot rock. Pushing the theme even further. The bison rib eyes is actually quite tasty and tender. I'm actually surprised by the tenderness of the bison, as I thought I was eating a beef tenderloin. As such, the two thin slices get consumed rather quickly.

Marrow Cream Brulee

The first of our dessert. At first, I thought it was bone marrow. However, it turns out to be creme brulee. The custard is creamy, sweet, but light. Perfect way to start our first dessert course. I actually considered luging, but that idea was quickly shot down by my friend, unfortunately.

Maris Otter - Pearl Barley with various condiments

Tire D'erable - Maple Syrup

The Maple Syrup is poured on top of an ice tray and you wrap/pick it up with a stick, eating the dessert hunter status. It's definitely a very creative way for us to wrap up our last course.

I have to say the game meat genre has definitely been conquered by Chef Achatz and the Next crew. The display of the game meat, the presentation and the taste of it is incredible. As always, I'm looking forward to my return for the Vegan and see what they can come up with.

GooseFoot

Recently, Chicago Tribune named Chris Nugent as their chef of the year in 2012. Lucky for me, my reservation at Goosefoot comes a few days after that was announced. Hence, I was definitely excited to try Chef Nugent's creation.

One of the best thing at Goosefoot is their BYOB policy. Most restaurants at this level would have wine pairing and charge you if you bring your own alcohol, but not at Goosefoot as there's no wine pairing at the moment. Funny fact though, they can open the bottle, but they can't pour the alcohol for you. So it's straight up a Pour Your Own Bottle type of restaurant! 

Now onto the food....

Golden Beet/ Goat Cheese/ Parmigiano Reggiano

Lobster/ Scallop/ Licorice Root/ Curry

Start off nicely is this beautifully cooked scallop combined with the robust lobster bisque curry. The curry is simple, light but rich in flavor. A great start.

Shrimp/ Preserved garlic/ Rosemary/ Parmigiano Reggiano

Chestnut soup/Alba Mushroom/Potato/Truffle Essence

The chestnut soup brings upon a rich and creamy texture, combined with the earthly truffle foam, creates a nice orchestra of warmth and homey feeling. The potato and mushroom provides a nice munch, which enhances the experience.

Loup De Mer/ Leek/ Yuzu

Duck Braest/ Spiced Beluga Lentils/ Ginger/ Compressed apple

Angus Beef/ Heirloom carrots/ Goosefoot/ Cumin/ Shallot jus

This beef is beautifully cooked: Tender and juicy. Combined with the mild sweetness of the carrot puree, the beef's saltiness is balanced out. Surprisingly, the savoriness of the beef becomes lighter as well. 

Crispy Goats Milk Cheese/ Lemon Balm/ Red Pepper/ Balsamic Vinaigrette

The light crispy crust of the goat cheese combined with the vinaigrette provides a light, yet delicious, cheese course. The goat cheese is so light and airy, it makes gorging this cheese a guilt free pleasure.

Pomegranate & Olive Shooter

Pear/ Armagnac/ Cassia/ Pine

At times, you're at a loss of words to describe a course. This course is exactly that: it's just delicious. The pairing of mousse of Pear, Armagnac and Cassia creates a simple delicious course. 

A little espresso before our final dessert.

Chocolate/ Passion Fruit/ Coconut/ Ice Wine

To the final dessert, this chocolate course provides a nice chocolate flavor with a mild sweet passion fruit mousse, along with the light coconut cream becomes a symphony of gastro-music. Mmm-Mmm-Good.

A little gooseberry as our parting gift.

I came into Goosefoot with a lot of excitement and expectation. But this meal total blows me away. I was intrigued by the depth of this meal: The creativity, the blend of flavors, the correct balance of savory to light and the warm and depth of the food. I'd have to say that it's refreshing to have a chef who can create this kind of meal. Chef of the year? Chef Chris Nugent definitely deserves it.

El Ideas - The NYE white trash dinner

El Ideas, a chicago restaurant lies in the back alley street south west of Chicago downtown, is probably one of the most innovative and interesting in Chicago's culinary scene. They were actually mentioned in the Chicago food film festival and has a winning video featuring Chef Phillip Foss's fries and ice cream.

I was lucky enough to snatch one of the reservations for this unique NYE dinner, with chef Foss developing a "White Trash" Dinner featuring typical trailer food but with a twist. This dinner isn't for the faint of heart from the sound of it, but it does create tons of interest.

Tuna Casserole - cream of mushroom, Big eye Tuna Tartar, blue truffle pudding, egg yolk aioli

Hot picket - surryano, perigord, gouda, black truffle

Scrapple - Foie Gras, quail egg, butter

Pulled Pork - white bread, mustard, bbq sauce

Mac & Cheez - fontina, chorizo, brioche

Mountain Dew & Cool Ranch Dorito

TV dinner - wagyu pot roast, twice baked potato, Brussels sprouts

Grape Soda - tang and donut

Pop Tart S'more - chocolate filling

Mignardises - twinkies & Coconut Snowballs

Overall, the food is creative and delicious. It's always fun for me to go to El Ideas as Chef Foss has a way to bring new perspective to food. Since El Ideas has just expanded the restaurant, I can see more people will be able to try Foss' dishes and I, personally, am looking forward to my next visit to El Ideas

Alinea

Alinea, one of the most celebrated restaurants in the US for its cutting edge culinary technique, flavor and creativity, has been on my radar for a long time. Reservation is hard to come by at times but, being a local now, isn't too hard if you're flexible.

If you haven't heard, Alinea goes by a ticket system as it's treated more like a show than a dinning event, which I agree since it makes reservation much easier.

Butternut Soup - muscovado, finger lime, West Indies

Left to Right: 1) Oyster Leaf Mignonette, 2) Lobster Trinity, sherry Chervil 3) Top Neck Clam, shiso, soy, daikon 4) Sea Urchin, white chocolate foam, yuzu, wasabi

This dish is probably one of the most interesting combination of seafood I've had in chitown. The oyster leaf, although you only eat the leaf, provides a nice brine as if you're eating the oyster. My favorite here is definitely the sea urchin. The uni is excellent by itself - rich and smooth. However, the foam underneath is the real treasure. It's mild sweetness, paired with the yuzu and the oyster brine, mingle into a light foam create the perfect combination of sweet and brine. 

Otoro - thai banana, sea salt, kaffir lime

Corn - huitlacoche, sour cherry,silk

Arctic Char - sage, bourbon, upland crest

Hot Potato soup - cold potato, black truffle

It might look simple, but there's a trick to this. First, you have a hot soup at the base (which is held by a wax substance). Then you drop the potato and truffle into the soup and slurp. This way of eating maximizes the truffle, it also enhances the potato soup's flavor. The soup is rich, which provides a hearty yet earthy bite when combined with the black truffle.

Matsutake mushroom - pork, huckleberry, pine

Black Truffle Explosion - romaine, parmesan

The second black truffle course of the night. This ravioli is infused with an earthly soup. You obviously pop the whole thing in your mouth. Once you bite into it, soup explodes with earthiness coming from the black truffle. Think of black truffle soup and that's probably the closest description you can put on it.

Lamb 3 ways (braised, belly and sirloin) with condiments assortments

Woodcock Tempura - lingonberry, shallot, oak leaves

Ginger 5 ways

Carrot, Coconut Sorbet - white sesame, caramelized honey

Balloon - helium, green apple

One of the most famous dish coming from Alinea. You literally inhale helium when eating this green apple treats. Too bad my voice didn't change as much as I would've liked. But it's definitely a fun experience.

Dark Chocolate - rye, birch syrup, brownies

At long last, the finale. The chocolate milk shake is quickly frozen by liquid nitrogen and is then smashed onto the table, creating an artistic look of the dessert. It reminds me of eating dipping dots but with milk chocolate rye flavor.

I find my visit to Alinea fun yet tastes very good. I can see why this is one of the most popular places for chefs to visit, then go back to their drawing board to create something at Alinea's scale. The most exceptional part of this meal is the fact that it's fun, yet, the flavor is still there. That's particular hard to do. However, maybe it's just me, but I wanted something extra, maybe another dessert course/chocolate-to-go to end the night on a higher note. I walked away from Alinea yearning for something. But all in all, I did have a good time here and I'm looking to come back again for another show.