Want Next Season Tickets? You Have to Wait a Bit Longer

For those of you champing at the bit to get your hands on a set of Next season tickets, you'll have to wait a bit longer. "We can't start selling tickets until we have the days locked down, for obvious reasons," said co-owner Nick Kokonas. "As soon as I get the word they are confident and ready to go, we'll start selling the season tickets."

Kokonas said season tickets will go on sale before the start of the elBulli menu, which is the restaurant's next iteration that honors Spanish chef Ferran Adria's now-closed restaurant; the menu is projected to start the second week of February. When season tickets are eventually released, pricing will be based on day of the week instead of specific times, similar to how regular Next tickets are priced. So season tickets for a Wednesday series will be less than a Saturday series.

The exception will be for elBulli, which will have a fixed cost of approximately $365 for food and drink pairings for everyone regardless of the day or time you dine. That cost can change based on the number of courses offered, the type of serviceware and equipment they'll need, etc., which will all be figured out once Grant Achatz and Dave Beran have finalized the menu, for which they're starting recipe testing this week.

During elBulli, which will only have one seating a night for the approximately 20-course dinner, the restaurant will only sell about 62 tickets per night, 50 of which will go to season ticket holders and the remainder will be sold as day-of tickets. Two tickets per night will be held and auctioned off to the highest bidder, Kokonas said, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting the University of Chicago Cancer Center, where Achatz underwent his life-saving treatment for tongue cancer. So while you have to wait a bit longer, it won't be too much longer. Sit tight.

UPDATE: Ticket cost for elBulli didn't take into account tax and tip, which would bring the price up to approximately $473 per person.