Upscale, themed restaurant will sell seating by the ticket

Earlier this year we covered Destination Dinners and its meal kits designed to replicate dining experiences from around the world. Now a group of Chicago restaurateurs is planning to implement a similar concept in a sit-down restaurant that sells seating by the ticket and offers four menus per year. Currently in development by the team behind Chicago’s Alinea restaurant, Next Restaurant will select its menus “from great moments in culinary history – or the future,” as it’s put on the site. “Our chefs will investigate, test, refine, and present authentic menu interpretations from cultures, places and times,” the team explains. Depending on the cuisine, meals will include five or six courses of food, beverage pairings and service. Perhaps even more interesting is that instead of reservations, bookings will be made more like a theater or a sporting event, via online ticketing. Tickets will be fully inclusive of all charges, including service, with pricing depending on the particular seating—Saturday at 8 pm will be more expensive than Wednesday at 9:30 pm, for example. In general, food will range from USD 40 to USD 75 for the entire prix fixe menu; wine and beverage pairings will begin at a USD 25 supplement. Two walk-in tables will be made available every evening, while subscriptions covering all four menus over the course of a year will offer both discount pricing and preferred seating. The team behind Next Restaurant is also building The Aviary, a “bar without a bar or bartenders” that will be situated right next door on Chicago’s West Fulton Market. Both are planned to open this fall. Similar in many ways to some of the “anti-restaurants” and supper clubs we’ve seen—the Stolen Supper Club, for example—Next Restaurant is notable for its explicit recognition that dining out isn’t always just about food; often it’s more about the experience. And by embracing its ticket-based model, it hopes to be able “to serve 4-star food at 3-star prices.” Spotted by: Cagla Pakel