Next Releases Kyoto Teaser Video, Actually Teases

Well how's this for obscure? Next will soon wrap things up on its current Sicily menu to only then turn around and launch a Japanese kaiseki tasting menu called Next Kyoto. This new menu, which kicks off Sept. 15 and runs through Dec. 31, is being introduced in a series of videos where the team's videographer Christian Seel explores Japanese film noir.

In this first "silent" video, a woman in a white wedding dress sits at a table with a Japanese man dressed in all black who holds a deck of cards. They discuss, via text on the screen, a recurring dream about knowing the business of extraordinary people before he reveals a jack of spades and the word "bingo" appears on screen. Confused? You're not alone.

This first video really doesn't say much other than the team is having a bit of fun; hopefully future videos will offer more. Recently, however, the menu was discussed a bit by Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern who said chef Dave Beran wants to be "able to marry autumn in Japan with autumn in Chicago."

Zimmern said Beran and chef Grant Achatz will be doing a charcoal-roasted fish course, use wasabi leaves and have fish only caught in the moonlight during certain months in Japan "that are being paired with vegetables and treatments that I've never seen outside of Japan." But until we know more, watch the video...

· Watch the Trailer for Next's Sicily Menu [~EChi~]
· Andrew Zimmern on Why He Loves Chicago and Talks About Next's Upcoming Kaiseki Menu [~EChi~]