Lots of news on the Next Childhood front, not least that a start date has been announced (this Saturday, October 22) and the first tickets went on sale at midnight last night, announced on the Next Facebook page. In the meantime, Team Next released a teaser video, but a reader alerted us to another video, public for several days but apparently largely unnoticed, that actually shows the Campfire course (which does, as predicted, involve S’mores) and gives some of Grant Achatz’s thinking behind it. Both videos are below.
First up, here’s the official Next video released yesterday afternoon. The theme is childhood. Achatz has two kids. Guess who’s in it. It’s cute! We’ll be totally disappointed if we don’t get an ice pencil.
Now, here’s a video which gives a somewhat more analytical view of the thinking behind this menu and how its dishes were conceived. It’s a talk that Achatz gave at the Harvard School of Applied Engineering and Social Sciences on October 3rd, on the topic “Food Texture and Mouth Feel.” At the 1 hour 10-minute mark, he begins talking about the Childhood menu, and specifically the Campfire course, which involves “logs” made of sweet potatoes dyed blue with a syrup from blue corn, and actual flames from a high-proof spirit (which Achatz is careful not to name) gelled in classic Alinea fashion with maltodextrin and tapioca:
