Next Gearing Up for Thai Concept, Achatz Releases Menu

In the ever-morphing world of Next, the restaurant is about to experience its first change, hopping from Paris 1906 to Thailand, for which the new menu kicks off July 8. Chef/owner Grant Achatz just tweeted out the menu and it looks very interesting.

In an interview with the Sun-Times, Achatz said the experience is meant to mimic a visit to Thailand, where people may get some street food and then go out for a more formal meal. The street food, which includes dishes like roasted banana with fried garlic and pickled shallot; prawn cake with white pepper and coriander; and steamed bun with Beech mushroom and green curry, will be served on banana leaves.

Other dishes in the multi-course meal include hot and sour broth with pork belly, tomato and kaffir lime; salted duck egg with green mango and white radish; wild catfish braised in caramel sauce; braised beef cheek with curry of peanut, nutmeg, coconut and lemongrass; and caramel sticky rice with sesame seed.

To create the vibe, the restaurant ordered mounds of Thai newspapers to cover tables during the street food portion of the meal. Then for the more formal part, the newspapers get removed and replaced with Thai silk runners. "We wanted to give that theatrical feel to it, the same way we served some of the Escoffier food on antique stuff," Achatz told the paper.

Achatz said tickets will go on sale soon and that the meal will likely be less expensive than the Escoffier menu. Get your refresh button ready and watch Facebook for the announcement. And there's apparently going to be a promo video for the new menu so watch for that, but in the meantime, check out the menu.

Next's Thai Menu

· Next Thai menu [Twitter]
· Tour of Thailand: What that Means at the next Next [Sun-Times]