Time To Bite Into Chicago!
This is the Chicago River, which is unique in that it flows OUT of Lake Michigan and into the river, a nifty engineering trick!
Speaking of Lake Michigan:
That’s my wife Alex and I standing on Lakeshore drive with downtown Chicago behind us and the lake to the left…we were in town recently to celebrate our anniversary, and of course, that means food!
Our dinner that night was at NEXT, Chef Grant Achetz’s restaurant that changes their menu several times a year, creating special menus to highlight the world of food!
This is us in Tuscany in June, so we were thrilled to dine with NEXT as they took us on a culinary trip back to Tuscany!
They gave us a copy of the menu at the end of the meal, and here’s the special experience we had!
It begins this way…a variety of canapés starting with Crostini de Legato, with chicken liver mousse, caper and shallot…then “Farinata” with crispy chickpea – and lastly some lavender scented cantaloupe…
Then a trio of crudo: scallop, tuna and medai, a unique species of fish….
Then, some incredible salumi including parma ham, prosciutto, finocchiona and guanciale from the region…
Next up, a Panzanela salad with Heirloom Tomato, cucumber and burrata:
The plating is what makes this dish pop visually – it’s a poached red snapper with braised artichoke puree and a drop of 25 year old balsamic!
Then, the first of two pasta dishes arrive: yes it may be macaroni, but it’s served vertically!
This a Ravioli, with mushroom ricotta, truffle and those are specially created sheets of parmigiana reggiano on top!
That was followed by another pasta dish, this one utilizing one of the unique flavors of the region:
This is “Pappardelle al Ragu di Cinghiale” – wild boar with tomato and Sangiovese sauce…but, before these dishes were being delivered, this happened:
A Server set down a large platter and set it on fire!
After setting fire to the plate, they left this at our table for the next twenty minutes!
You see, this was the accompaniment to our main meat course: a “Suckling Porchetta” with medjool date. pecorino Romano and oregano…
They finished by taking the “Fagioli” out of the hot fire and putting it on a late ringed with a lemon, thyme and rosemary sauce and fresh flowers….
Dinner is finished with two desserts: a “Zuccotto” with milk chocolate ganache and amaretto – and a Gelato of Meyer Lemon and manna extra virgin olive oil!
We have gone to NEXT many times and each one is a magical adventure:
We went to an “Ancient Rome” feast one night, where food showed up looking like this:
Here’s a look at how the bread was served:And we were part of the cooking process that night as well, as we baked our own bread at the table, and when it was done, we also served ourselves in a very unique way:
You can see the entire meal by clicking on my original story here:
Chef Grant Achetz created NEXT to take diners on unique journeys around the world – and his Michelin 3-star restaurant Alinea is, for me, the most inventive food I’ve ever eaten!
Yes, it’s a culinary experience where bacon arrives on a high wire, and my wife Alex finished one meat by eating a balloon!
Click here to see some of his amazingly inventive dishes!
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If you like this story please share on social media – now I will say goodnight from Chicago’s iconic water tower building, one of the few in town that survived the disastrous fire of 1889…gorgeous!
Categories: Alcohol And Bars, Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Travel, Recipes, Restaurants, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
Looks like a wonderful anniversary celebration with fantastic dining!
It was fun – but the trip home the next day took 8+ hours for a two hour flight because of weather delays!
Aaaahhhh! So that was the trip!
what a magnificent celebratory meal! wow, wow, wow.
That’s a fabulous meal indeed, John. (I might skip the raw fish element though. 🙂 )
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks for the comment Pete…as a lover of raw fish, I will tell you it was heavily seasoned so you might have not minded it!