NEXT dish among James Beard Foundation’s 2014 favorites

The James Beard Foundation recently posted a list of its favorite restaurant dishes of 2014. Not surprisingly, Chicago’s NEXT restaurant — overseen by celebrated Alinea chef Grant Achatz — makes the elite cut for its duck and foie gras ragout with duck egg and plum jus. The Beard folks call it “elegant, cerebral, playful and over-the-top indulgent” and liken its presentation to “glittering gemstones on a custom-designed piece that warmed the canapés and held them upright.”

As the dish’s Beard Award-winning creator Dave Beran explains, “We wanted to focus on utilizing the whole bird. Our sauce incorporated the bodies and innards, rillettes of leg meat, and scrambled duck eggs with foie gras and plums, all tucked inside the eggshell.”

For the whole list, go to jamesbeard.org.