After recreating the smells and tastes of Paris in the year 1906, chef Grant Achatz has released new details on his next culinary destination and it’s punctuated by lemongrass, cilantro, chili and garlic.
Achatz took to Twitter this week to announce the new Thai menu at his Chicago restaurant Next, a concept restaurant that recreates a time and place in history for three months and then tears it down to make way for the next one.
After three months of gastro-porting dinner guests to Paris in the year 1906 — the year The Ritz Hotel opened with French culinary legend Auguste Escoffier helming the kitchen — Achatz and his team will transform the restaurant and pay homage to Thailand this month.
The 14-course menu starts with roasted banana with fried garlic, pickled shallots and cilantro blooms; prawn cakes; hot and sour broth with pork belly, tomato and kaffir lime, and moves on to braised beef cheek, peanut curry, nutmeg, coconut and lemongrass, and caramel sticky sauce with rice.
In a YouTube video posted Tuesday, Achatz gave fans a preview of the menu’s penultimate course, coconut, corn, egg and licorice, presented in a fresh coconut shell, speckled with licorice-infused tapioca pearls and the flavors of mango.
The social media-savvy chef also took to Twitter to live tweet images of the practice dinner, set against a purple-dominated theme with dishes presented on banana leaves and bamboo steamers.
Meanwhile, tickets, Achatz tweets, will be on sale soon, but not soon enough for many Achatz fans who began tweeting with excitement at the next culinary destination.
“My brain is reeling from the Thai menu practice photos that @GAchatz has been tweeting all night. Can only imagine how the food must taste,” tweeted MightyVanilla.
Here’s a look at the full menu:
Roasted Banana: Fried garlic, pickled shallot, cilantro blooms
Prawn cake: White pepper, coriander, lime zest
Sweet Shrimp: Raw garlic, mint, bird chili
Fermented Sausage: Peanut, galangal, grilled scallion
Steamed Bun: Beech mushroom, green curry
Hot and Sour Broth with pork belly, tomato and kaffir lime
Chili, shallot, garlic
Salted Duck Egg with green mango and white radish
Pickled fruits and vegetables with basil
White catfish braised in caramel sauce with celery and coriander root
Braised beef cheek, curry of peanut, nutmeg, coconut and lemongrass
Coconut, corn, egg, licorice
Caramel sticky rice with sesame seed