Ready for Next to Open? You Have to Wait a Little Bit Longer

Well it certainly isn't "fall 2010" as we first were told, but the opening of Next is truly within grasp. Most recently, Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas have said April 1, but that date has been bumped a bit and hopefully Next will, in fact, open next week. But even that is not certain.

Newspapers and magazines (the Times being the most recent) have already touted Next and Aviary as the hottest openings of 2011 and fans of the Alinea team are champing at the bit for that day to come. Kokonas posted on Facebook on Sunday a response to someone asking about how the ticketing process would work.

In his response, Kokonas said:

Next tickets will become available in the following order:
1. Staff & Family
2. Numerical position on the "Notify Me" list in order that people signed up beginning last May -- 500 emails every hour... so really depends on who checks their email when... still this seemed a fair way to do it.
3. Open ticketing to anyone.

So if you signed up for the newsletter on the Next website, keep your eyes peeled for an email. And if you signed up early, well, feel free to take us to dinner. (Thanks to our friends at The Feast for the heads up on the Facebook post.)
· Next Restaurant [Facebook]
· Grant Achatz Gives Update on Next & Aviary; Late March Now Target Opening [~EChi~]
· All Grant Achatz Coverage on Eater Chicago [~EChi~]
· All Next Restaurant Coverage on Eater Chicago [~EChi~]