So, those of you who are familiar with Grant Achatz might have heard that he is opening a new restaurant, called Next. He plans a number of innovative ideas: changing the menu 4 times a year, each of which will be of a specific time and place; charging different prices for different days of the week and time; and having people pay a subscription ticket (pay ahead and he can distribute the proceeds anyway he wishes to his staff -- kitchen staff included). What do you think of his ideas? And if you could choose to eat a meal based on a place and era, what would it be and why?
I do like his idea of distributing the proceeds to his staff, especially the kitchen staff, because sometimes they do get overlooked in all that they do. However, I think that there should be some sort of system in place to ensure that the proceeds are distributed equally over time, and not one group of people is continuously receiving money. I think his idea of having the menu be from a specific time and place is very ingenious. If I could choose a meal from a certain place and era, I think it would be 1950s homestyle cooking. I really love a good, simple meal, such as meatloaf and mashed potatoes, which is synonymous with that time. When I think of a meal, such as that, I think of being at home with family.
ReplyDeletethis guy is a genius! food lovers EVERYWHERE are looking for something new and innovative. People pay hundreds just to have a "mystery" party on a train or in a bed and breakfast. The culinary world is extremely fast paced and there isnt a moment to not be on your feet thinking of ways to get business. The theme idea is the way to go. Americans have a sense of adventure and are always on the look out for the next hot thing. In addition to the theme idea being "boss" the idea of exclusivity is ridiculously brilliant. There is nothing more powerful than the bouncer at the club or the maitre d' at the hot new restaurant that CANT seat you. We, as a culture, are obsessed with exclusivity. The harder it is to obtain, the more persistent we become.Because each day will be different from the last more people will feel inclined to try it out more than once. i could continue on this subject for an entire page, but to save space for my fellow students, I'll move on.
ReplyDeleteIf i had to choose a meal based on a time and era I would definitely choose to eat with King Henry VIII. I LOVE eating with my fingers. I love fruit. I love meat. That, essentially, is what he ate. I love the outfits, the formality, the rustic-ness. I would really enjoy watching someone joust from the window too. People dont joust anymore.
ES625902
This idea possesses many positive aspects that can place a great new spin on the way the entire industry operates but at the same time I feel like I must point out some flaws in the system. The idea of ordering a ticket for a restaurant takes away some of the freedoms a person has as a patron. By paying for a meal in advance the patron looses his power to complain if something is wrong with the meal. Secondly by purchasing the meal in advance the patron is obligated to be their at a certain time on a certain day, so if something were to arise that would delay or prevent the person from getting to the restaurant he or she would be out of luck and out of money and would have to go threw the process of requesting their money back, instead of just calling ahead and canceling a reservation.
ReplyDeleteI think Achatz has created a game-changer. This restaurant idea is completely novel. The idea of rationing employee wages/salaries, at least sounds like a good idea. Although chefs, and cooks have gained more prestige than they've had in the past, I think a move like this will bump up the profession even further and like he said attract and motivate more "shinning chefs". Its true that many consumers may have a problem with peak and off-peak dinning prices but its relatively similar to the idea of happy hour where food and drinks are cheaper than usual. Lastly, since all the transactions take place before stepping foot in the restaurant, couples in groups can avoid the awkward end of the meal bill arbitrations. If I could choose a meal from a certain place and era I think I would pick Lower Manhattan sometime in the 1880's when millions of immigrants were coming through Ellis Island and the cultures from the entire world were within a couple mile radius of each other.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is the most innovative thing a restaurateur can do in this industry. Think about it, a diner can come in no hassle of waiting for a table; you sit, eat, enjoy, and move on. It's a sense of fast food to an extent. Even thought you are being severed normally. It's great the he can control where the proceeds are going. He can bring in the best of the best and serve the public what they want. Also I think the kitchen staff can now be giving what they deserve for working so hard to make the public happy.
ReplyDeleteNow if I could eat from a specific time, I would like to eat like the renaissance kings and queens. Just to eat with my hands. Can you imagine that, customers and Next all dressed up eating with only there hands. I’d get a kick out of that.
This is trully a fascinating idea. I would have to pick Italy: pre-the great exchange. All I think about when I think Italy is Tomatoes and I am sure that they ate well pre-great exchange, because, I mean--they're italian--look at their culture and all they had to gleen from. But yeah, Italian food without tomatoes that would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteHospitality appears to be the main focus behind Grant Achatz's new restaurant NEXT. Paying in advance may seem like a risk, however, there are so many benefits that outweigh a pre-paid bill. 1) Once dinner is complete, the customer is not left doing math or wondering whether or not the service was adequate enough to require a tip. Chef Achatz not only cooks the food but manages your money too!
ReplyDelete2) The restaurant itself is a modern museum, meaning you are not just being fed food, you are being fed art, history, and food from an era (some in the past and some in the future). Eating in futuristic China is not so far off from watching a sci-fi future thriller AKA Star Wars or Blade Runner. Chef Achatz is offering history courses or let's say fine dining dinner and a movie.
The idea of a historically themed menu is a plus for the kitchen staff too! Recipes are no longer just ingredients, they are historical manuscripts that show us time and space whether it be pre-WW1 France, post WW2 Spain or distant future China. The list of innovation goes on and on with this restaurant. It will be a thrill to watch its progress and (hopefully) success.
Achatz already has one of the most creative menus in the business. The fact that he is going to not only change the menu, but also the time period, is what really impresses me. Being a history fanatic, I can't wait to see some of the menu items from the past. If I were to choose an era to experience at his restaurant it would have to be France during the late 1800's to the early 1900's. There are so many different regions, that it would be quite a challenge to capture so much diversity during a single dining experience.
ReplyDeleteTS72496- Achatz is truly an inspiration to us all. But when you deconstuct what he is really doing, is it what it is. The mind plays with your senses,then it looks like a grape but is it really a grape, lets find out. He is the best and "Next" will be the turning point in culture as we know it. Is talent comming back, well we will find that out soon. Who knows we might go to a Jetson life style and have a machine make the whole thing for us out of what you might say, GMO's of course. Why because with artificial flavoring and GMO's anything can be formed into whatever you want. Will it sustain you, yes it will, so untill we get there eat local and support your fellow student to be the best.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that he isn`t setting a tone for the restaurant. It can be whatever he feels like for that amount of time. Everyone knows that sometimes you want to play around with something different but if you have say an Italian restaurant and everyone knows it is an Italian restaurant you can`t have chicken chow mein on your menu. Achatz can make the restaurant be anything and then change it a few months later. If I were to choose a time and place I think I would pick 1500-1650`s North America. I would pick this time and area because we don`t ever see this theme in restaurants. Before this time everything would have been purely native and much after this time would start to become more and more European. During this period with the fur trade beginning there would have been trading going on between the two groups and I would be interested to see how that would have effected the food that would have been eaten. I would also be interested to see how natives preserved food and if some of the ways were different than European ways.
ReplyDeleteI believe that looking through the time-line of chefs this could be the future of cooking. Chef Achatz and his Wonka-esque ideals are proof that post-modern chefs are thinking outside the box, and not just a fad, this restaurant could shake up the world of cooking as we know it. If I could pick a time and place to eat it would be early 20th century New York City, during the immigration boom.
ReplyDeleteShaye Kwiecinski wrties...
ReplyDeleteI think this new restaurant by Achatz is an amazing idea! It's more than just an ordinary dining experience, but it gives people the feel of more of a new mindset on eating. And people shouldn't be angry about the ticket set up.. thats what the exciting part about it. Once you get the ticket, it will be like opening a gift!
I think his idea is great because it's something that has not been done yet. selling tickets for a restaurant is a good marketing strategy, and I'm sure that tickets are going to sell like crazy for this. I would want a meal from Escoffier the whole 32 course meal and piece montee...everything symmetrical of course.I also think it would be cool if you had to dress up in clothes from the time period in which you are eating so you can truly feel like you have been transported there. NEXT is going to be a hit! I wonder how long until we see copycat restaurants pop up everywhere
ReplyDeleteI believe this is a great idea, with the constant changing menu customers will always be interested in coming to the restaurant. I also feel that the subscription is a good idea because it assures that there will be customers coming and also gives the chef the option to pay people who work harder more money when they deserve it, perhaps making everyone work harder to get a little extra money. As for an era of food I think i would like to go back to the beginning with the original indians and taste all of the pure natural foods and experience the whole tribe eating together as a family.
ReplyDeleteThis is a truly fascinating concept. While its a relatively small new concept, it changes the whole dynamics of eating out. Not only for the customers, but for staff and investors/partners. It seems like a process that will make things run a lot smoother, both for customers and kitchen staff... It does however leave me with plenty of questions and thirst for answers... It seems to me like this could easily affect food cost and purchasing procedures... Perhaps it will take sometime before we see any figure or hear any tales about this, but i certainly would like to see them... I also wonder what will happen to walk-ins? I know they are unsual at this type of establishment, but they do happen... specially during slow hours... Seems to me that this system might anger some people, if they are denied entry and not even assisted to a reservation... Turning them away with a website to go to, seems low and undignitary...
ReplyDeleteRegardless of all the new trends in the culinary world today I have always been facinated with the cuisines of old. I would absolutley enjoy experiencing a banquet prepared by Escoffier or Careme. They did after all lay the foundation for western haute cuisine as we know it. However, I would also love to see the future of haute cuisine. It seems that hydrocolloids, subzero temperatures, and sous-vide cookery have left little for our imaginations to even fathom what could be next for food. Like Professor mentioned, a period refinement maybe. Or perhaps we'll just start all over again, with good old regional, seasonal,"farm to table cuisine", a movement already in full effect.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Lipson
ReplyDeleteThis idea is revolutionary and i think he is a Grant Achatz is a genius.He is going to make a massive amount of money primarily because Next is going to be a huge attraction. If i could choose to eat any food in anytime period it would have to be Japanese food in 2050 in Tokyo japan. I think that the food would be extremely high tech. I believe the Japanese will change the way food is eaten and served in all aspects.
I think its always interesting to see what Grant Achatez's next idea or concept will be. I feel like his idea's have and will have a severe impact on the culinary world as a hole. I believe to date the way he has designed his menu is the most influential of his ideas. He has taken the idea of having pictures in menu's to show the size of the dish, and turned it into something classy and elegant by providing circles to represent the size of the dish.
ReplyDeleteHe new restaurant Next is one of the most interesting idea's to date. The idea of changing the menu and restaurant to reflect a different area and era. I think many chefs might think he is crazy for doing this, but I see that this is the way the industry is going. Many people go to restaurants now not only for the food but for the overall dining experience, one way to fully secure this is treating the dining experience as a show. If I was to eat in a different area and era I would be interested in seeing how he would replicate New York City now as it is such a melting pot of cultures and food.
800286- I like the idea of giving his proceeds to his staff any way he likes. I believe it shows some sort of respect for his employees that other restaurant owners lack. Hopefully it will become a trend and catch on quickly.
ReplyDeleteChanging the menu 4 times a year keeps everything exciting and fresh. It pulls people into the establishment.
A meal based on a place and era that i would choose would be early Indian cuisine. Id love to taste the different spices they used back then, and compare them to the tastes and spices from now.
I find Achatz’s plans with Next to be refreshing, concerning the food service/hospitality industry. Despite the countless dedicated restaurateurs and chefs since Carême’s time, and even earlier, there is nothing set in stone and things are constantly changing. I’m excited to see what new ideas come to fruition and it starts with Next. The concept of changing a menu 4 times a year with a era and place as a theme is the most fascinating, it will be one step short of opening a entirely new restaurant 4 times a year in the same location. I can’t imagine diners not being ecstatic and busting down the doors every time the new menu rolls around. The online ticket system also sounds promising as far as the payment distribution for the staff is concerned, and I could certainly see why this would give Next a leg up in acquiring the most talented cooks, and as one myself I hope that this spreads.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to eat a meal that was themed on a place and era it would be the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia. I would love to experience a talented chef’s interpretation on the simple yet innovative foods of this era. This meal could be like stepping in a fractional time machine to experience some food from some of the earliest settled agriculturist.
i think these ideas are amazing and refreshingly different. i appreciate the idea that the back of the house may be paid more then the front of the house employees.
ReplyDeleteif i could choose any time and place to eat i would choose Naples Italy in the early twentieth century. i chose this time and place because i am Italian and some of my family lived and still lives in Naples and from experience they have some of the best "peasant" cuisine that i have tasted.
ai791498
In this article, you could distinguish the conflict of tradition versus evolvement. Of course it's good to evolve and move forward with ideas but in certain situations, we can lose the things that share our memories and passion. In my opinion, i would not like to have such a convenience when it comes to going out to eat. The simple things that i enjoy at restaurants would be lost. The expected question of how many guests will be seated. The mystery of what table you will be seated. And the timid nervousness of who will pay the check at a date. A sort of romance can be lost if our society moves far deep into convenience. With that being said, more avant-garde styles of restaurants are very well to move forward, but i hope they still maintain a sense of emotion.
ReplyDeleteJk802009
CF758126
ReplyDeleteThe payment of tickets before dining is a great concept! Chefs deserve extra money because of the hard work and long hours spent in the kitchen. Also, the customer knows the price of his or her meal before eating. After the guest completed his or her service, he or she does not have to worry about paying the check. I think Achatz is the beginning of a new era in the restaurant industry. His ideas are fresh and new which I believe are going to work. If I could choose to eat a meal based on a place and era, it would be the mid 20th century because nothing compared to a good home cooked meal.
I think this concept of a restaurant is very interesting and innovative. I like the idea of a constantly changing menu because it is extremely entertaining to see what he will make from a certain and place, and I believe that the idea of selling tickets is safe as well as a good marketing strategy. Selling the tickets will allow Achatz to have an easier time in running his business.
ReplyDeleteIf I could eat from a certain time and place, I would want it to be futuristic Japan, specifically around 2100. Japanese cuisine is one of my favorite cuisines, and I feel like in 90 years, so much new technology will have developed to help the foods taste better. I would especially love to try sushi from that time. Before I came to college, I ate sushi at least three times a week. It is most definitely my favorite food. I'm curious to see how things have changed in 90 years.
-David Mammina
I am taken away by this idea. I believe that the element of surprise is an exceptional way in the delivery of a dining experience. It seems to me that most restaurants lack in astounding their customers. We may visit a restaurant and when the food enters our mouth think that it is the most fantastic thing that has ever touched our taste buds, but what is different about the whole experience? I have a vivid imagination, but I envision walking into history.
ReplyDeleteParis 1912, Escoffier turned inside out, encounter a legend who specialized in French cuisine, of which is recreated to something entirely new. Famous stunning dishes transformed to dazzle our senses in modernized form of cooking. Or even teleporting to Hong Kong in 2036, oh what a ride! Curiosity and excitement, not only am I entirely inquisitive about the food, but the experience in itself I'm anticipating it to be fresh and creative. I will most definitely be trying to purchase a ticket to this show!
I also like the idea that Achatz is changing up the norm in more ways than just the adventure. Since he is charging a "ticket price" and will know in advance how many people will be attending the dinner, it allows him to have little waste. He knows exactly how much food he needs and can be precise with the amount of products purchases. Also because the payment is in the form of a ticket he is allowed to distribute the funds as he sees fit. He will be paying his kitchen staff more than his wait staff, which in my opinion makes complete sense. You want and need incredibly talents chefs to pull off such an affair, why not reward them for their genius?
As far as where I would venture in time, well that is a very difficult choice. I would have to do an incredible amount of research to know what would be perfect for my taste. However, just one off the top of my head would be Florence, Italy in the 14th century, the time of the Renaissance. Between the roasts, pasta, and pastries, I think I would be pleased.
I now have a goal to enter Willy Wonka’s glass elevator, or shall I say Grant Achatz’s, and enter a world of wonder.
Andrea Locorini
I think that there is no doubt that Grant Achatz is amazingly innovative, creative, and pays incredible attention to detail. Given the success of his other restaurants and culinary career, 'Next' should be a hit. I love the idea of the kitchen staff making as much as the wait staff, sometimes it feels like a thankless job behind the line; but we do it because we love it!
ReplyDeleteAlthough the idea of dining according to a specific place and era has already been done, (like 'Excalibur' in Las Vegas, guests dine as if it were the Middle Ages)the idea seems to be profitable. If I could choose any place and era, I would love to go to 20 years from now and see where Achatz thinks food will be in the future.
LZ822960
DS785817 said,
ReplyDeleteI think this whole concept with the tickets is great. Just as Professor Forrest said in class, with the whole ticket concept. This will allow customers to know what they pay even before they enter the building.
With no doubt I would chose to eat at the Escoffier menu. It would be great to see how Achatz interprets his way of cooking, while adding a molecular twist.
This is a phenomenal idea. Grant Achatz is one of the most creative chefs in this industry today.
ReplyDeleteIt will be very interesting for people who have never been to the Fulton Market area to arrive at Next and be transported to Paris 1906 when they walk in the door.
If I were to choose an era to experience at this restaurant it would most probably have to be France in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
CM790160
This idea is genius he is taking the idea of "dinner theater" and making it literal. When one goes to a restaurant of this caliber one is going to be amazed not simply have a meal or have a place to discuss business. We go to places of avant garde cuisine solely to be blown away by flavors, technique, and creativity. Achatz is changing the business model to better accommodate his food. Perhaps I have a bias opinion but sometimes it is frustrating that we cooks and chefs earn less money than the service staff especially in the case of preparing food like Achatz cooks do, food that brings in customers. Let’s face facts no one goes to Alinea just for the service. Also I concur completely with his idea of no transactions in the restaurant. You come in enjoy what you paid for and leave. No dreading the bill or wondering what you think is a fair tip based on service and the number at the bottom of the bill. There is no pressure what so ever on what is coming at the end one can fully enjoy the now which in my opinion is what Achatz wants anyway. I love the idea of dining in Paris 1912, it would be great to see and eat what started all this in the first place. It is so important to never forget where we came from. History is a great place to learn about the future as well.
ReplyDeleteFerran Adria said that being original was not coping someone. Grant Achatz new restaurant is so original and so simple that it blows my mind away. He took food to a whole new level. At next, food isnt only about human necessity or pleasure. It is about entertaining and creating new experiences for people. If I had to pick any time or place to eat, I would pick with the aztecs before the arrival of Cortez. I am very interested in seeing how the food was in America before all the European influence changed it.
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