Next Chicago: Fashion Tasting Menu, Prices and the Mood Fabrics Night

Next Chicago has turned its Fulton Market dining room into an atelier. Grant Achatz’s ticketed restaurant opened Next: Fashion on September 5, 2026, a 10-course tasting menu that treats every plate like a garment, and the collection stays on through January 10, 2027. On Wednesday, October 14, it gets its most glamorous night yet: Mood Fabrics, the New York fabric house that Project Runway made famous, takes over the room for a one-night dinner with live draping on mannequins, right in the middle of Chicago Fashion Week.

Seats for the Mood Fabrics night cost $318 per person, prepaid on Tock for parties of two to four, with seatings from 5:00 to 5:45 PM. Every other night through January, the Fashion menu starts at $270 per person in the dining room.

Ten courses cut like couture

Next reinvents its whole menu, era and cuisine a few times a year. In 2026 it has already traveled to Japan (January 24 to April 26) and to Wall Street in 1987 (May 2 to August 30), and the fall collection is billed simply as haute cuisine, haute couture. Achatz wrote on Instagram that fashion was never part of his vocabulary until a trip to Paris and a walk through the Dior museum changed the way he sees design. Now, he says, he can’t look at a garment without seeing food.

Executive chef Alan Mileykovsky and general manager Kate Lang build every Next menu with Achatz, and this one plays out like a runway show in ten looks. Each course is named for a stage in a designer’s process, from the first spark of wanting something to the scent that lingers after the show.

The meal opens with Desire, delivered inside a red jewelry box. Lift the lid and you find pleated chips filled with dry-aged New York strip tartare, pomegranate molasses gel and charred scallion vinaigrette, finished with grape leaf yogurt and minced kalamata olive. It is the thrill of unboxing something beautiful, turned into a first bite.

Gathered delicata squash over corn veloute on a red and blue striped plate at Next Chicago — Construction: delicata squash gathered like silk over corn velouté, with masa tempura and pickled peppers. Photo: @nextchicago on Instagram.

From the cutting table to the runway

Construction gathers ribbons of delicata squash like flowing silk over a rich corn velouté, with masa tempura and bright pickled peppers for crunch and snap, all on a vivid striped plate that could pass for a swatch book. Embellishment is a sheet of brocade pasta printed with the same pattern as the custom porcelain charger beneath it, hiding a wild mushroom ragù with spinach, brown butter hazelnuts and a splash of Madeira.

Round sheet of patterned brocade pasta on a white porcelain charger at Next Chicago — Embellishment: brocade pasta over wild mushroom ragù, brown butter hazelnuts and Madeira. Photo: @nextchicago on Instagram.

Course seven, Rebellion, salutes the designers who brought tattoo art to the runway, from Jean Paul Gaultier to Comme des Garçons to Ed Hardy. Poached halibut sits in sunchoke sauce with a black olive gastrique, crowned by a crisp taro chip inked with tattoo designs. Vision flips the 1937 Lobster Dress that Elsa Schiaparelli made with Salvador Dalí: a grilled langoustine rests on coconut foam as sheer as organza, over avocado emulsion, tomatillo relish and cashew granola.

Grilled langoustine under coconut foam with flowers in a glass bowl at Next Chicago — Vision: grilled langoustine on coconut foam, a riff on the Schiaparelli and Dalí Lobster Dress. Photo: @nextchicago on Instagram.

Restraint pares king crab down to its essentials, a silken crab royale in rich crab broth with charred scallion oil, sweet grilled persimmon and a dusting of shichimi togarashi. Legacy honors Hermès and the idea that true luxury is built to last. Lamb loin and confit belly arrive with glazed parsnip, gremolata and sweet and sour shallots, and a piquillo pepper panade embossed like bespoke leather. Material and Textile round out the ten, and Tock offers a wine pairing to match the menu.

Lamb loin with an embossed orange piquillo pepper panade and glazed parsnip on a dark plate at Next Chicago — Legacy: lamb loin and confit belly with an embossed piquillo pepper panade. Photo: @nextchicago on Instagram.

A finale you can smell

The last course, Memory, takes on Chanel No. 5. The kitchen interprets the structure of the perfume through flavor: champagne gel and frozen jasmine pearls, spritzed at the table with Jasmine Verte liqueur, play the bright top notes. The warm base notes come from a brioche doughnut glazed in honey and brown butter, filled with peach jam and ricotta cream and finished with candied almonds. You leave the table with jasmine still in the air.

Glazed brioche doughnut beside a perfume bottle and a dish of frozen jasmine pearls at Next Chicago — Memory, the final course: champagne gel, jasmine pearls and a honey brown butter brioche doughnut. Photo: @nextchicago on Instagram.

The night Mood Fabrics brings the atelier to Fulton Market

On October 14, Mood Fabrics owner Eric Sauma hosts the evening. Guests eat the full Fashion tasting menu while designers drape fabric on mannequins in the dining room, and Sauma joins diners for conversation about design, according to The Alinea Group. The dinner sits on the official Chicago Fashion Week schedule, which runs October 8 to 18, 2026, and the restaurant describes seats as limited.

Designer draping patterned fabric on a mannequin in front of shelves of Mood Fabrics bolts — Draping at Mood Fabrics, from the announcement of Mood Fabrics x Next: Fashion. Photo: @thealineagroup on Instagram.

Mood is one of two season partners for the Fashion menu, alongside the Chicago boutique Notre. The partnership launched on September 15 with an invitation-only preview at The Aviary, hosted with the Chicago Fashion Coalition, where five Chicago designers showed looks between custom cocktails. October 14 is the public’s chance to see that pairing of fabric and food up close.

Fashion Week keeps going through Sunday, October 18, with runway shows, markets and parties across the city. To build a whole evening around it, our Fashion Week nightlife guide covers the after-dark side of the week.

Where you’ll sit and what it costs

Next made ticketed dining famous when it opened on April 6, 2011, and every seat is still a prepaid ticket, now sold on Tock. The dining room seats parties of two to four and starts at $270 per person. The Kitchen Table, a private table with a view into the kitchen, takes parties of up to six from $342 per person, and the lower-level Private Dining Room seats six to ten from $342 per person, booked by email with the events team. Prices move with the date and seating time, so the exact figure appears when you choose a slot.

Next counts toward the Amex Resy Credit for eligible American Express cardholders, which takes a little of the sting out of the bill. Dietary needs go in through a survey Tock sends ahead of your dinner, so fill it in as soon as it arrives. Valet parking is available at the door.

The awards behind the label

Next holds one star in the 2025 MICHELIN Guide, a star the restaurant has carried since 2020. It won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2012, a year after it opened, and the Chicago Tribune rated it four stars from 2017 to 2019. Its sibling Alinea holds three Michelin stars, and The Alinea Group’s Esmero residency at Charlie Trotter’s runs through November 22 for anyone collecting the group’s fall menus.

Before you go

Address: 953 W. Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607 (Fulton Market)
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 PM
Menu: Next: Fashion, 10 courses, September 5, 2026, to January 10, 2027
Price: dining room from $270 per person; Kitchen Table and Private Dining Room from $342 per person; all prepaid
Mood Fabrics x Next: Fashion: Wednesday, October 14, 2026, seatings 5:00 to 5:45 PM, $318 per person, parties of two to four
Reservations: Tock
Parking: valet
Contact: hospitality@nextrestaurant.com

Next Chicago FAQ

What is the current menu at Next Chicago?

Next Chicago is serving Next: Fashion, a 10-course tasting menu inspired by couture, from September 5, 2026, through January 10, 2027. Courses carry names like Desire, Embellishment and Memory, with dishes such as brocade pasta over wild mushroom ragù and a grilled langoustine that riffs on Schiaparelli’s Lobster Dress.

How much does dinner at Next Chicago cost?

Dinner at Next Chicago starts at $270 per person in the dining room and $342 per person at the Kitchen Table or in the Private Dining Room, all prepaid on Tock. Prices vary by date and seating time. The one-night Mood Fabrics dinner on October 14, 2026, costs $318 per person.

What is Mood Fabrics x Next: Fashion?

Mood Fabrics x Next: Fashion is a one-night dinner at Next Chicago on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, during Chicago Fashion Week. Mood owner Eric Sauma hosts, designers drape fabric on mannequins in the dining room, and guests eat the full Fashion tasting menu. Seats cost $318 per person for parties of two to four.

How do I book a table at Next Chicago?

Book Next Chicago on Tock, where every seat is a prepaid ticket. The dining room takes parties of two to four, the Kitchen Table up to six, and the Private Dining Room six to ten through the events team. Next is open Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 PM, at 953 W. Fulton Market.

Does Next Chicago have a Michelin star?

Yes. Next Chicago holds one star in the 2025 MICHELIN Guide, a star it has carried since 2020. The Fulton Market restaurant also won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2012, and the Chicago Tribune rated it four stars from 2017 to 2019.

Next Chicago: Grant Achatz’s Fashion Menu and a One-Night Mood Fabrics Dinner