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Chicago Gourmet Sat Sep 27 2008
Chicago Gourmet Numbers
So... what were the numbers at Chicago Gourmet? The official attendance hasn't been announced, so there's only what I saw today. (Update: At 9:42 PM, just seconds after I posted this entry, there came an email titled "Chicago Gourmet Exceeds Expectations with More than 3,000 Visitors the First Day." According to the Illinois Restaurant Association, which sponsors the event, "the number of visitors to Chicago Gourmet exceeded expectations for the Grand Tastings Main Event. Seminars with world-renowned chefs and Master Sommeliers filled many rooms and the Grand Cru wine tasting sold out." Cool.)
It wasn't necessarily a huge crowd, that's for sure. Between the hefty entry fee, the sluggish economy and the fact that it's the inaugural year, the perfect weather on Saturday didn't seem to be enough to bring out a Taste-of-Chicago-sized crowd to its rarefied cousin. It is not to say, though, that Millennium Park was deserted. There was a big enough crowd that the lawn under the latticework of the Pritzker Pavilion felt lively. And it would probably be a mistake to assume that Daley & Co. are looking for an attendance comparable to that of Taste of Chicago. At any rate, these are two solid numbers that I captured today:
A volunteer for the Chicago Gourmet arranged 53 wine glasses for the arriving guests in the entrance area, set up on the east side of the Bean on Saturday.
38 people lined up for chef's tasting at the Chicago Gourmet on Saturday. As to how many minutes they had to wait for their nibbles, there are conflicting reports. (Not really.)
