Come out to the LooseLeaf Lounge on Friday, November 20 at 7pm to 9:30pm for the Cob Connection Benefit -- don't miss this opportunity to support urban farming and a locally-owned business! The Cob Connection explores systematic quality of housing and food by integrating community involvement, social responsibility, and environmentalism into training programs in urban agriculture.
A ticket will give you your choice of sandwich (with a side of chips or veggies), salad, tea or coffee, dessert, plus one raffle ticket. All fresh greens are supplied by Cob Connection and dessert is provided by The Chicago Diner. Additional raffle tickets will be available for purchase.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. To purchase tickets in advance email Lester@LooseLeafLounge.com or call (773) 809-5371. Better yet, why not swing by the LooseLeaf Lounge at 2915 North Broadway in Lakeview to register in person --and grab a cup of tea while you're at it!
City Provisions, Chicago's green, locally-focused catering company, is kicking off the return of its monthly Supper Club on Nov. 16 at 7pm with Koval Distillery, the first boutique distillery located in Chicago.
The dinner will consist of five courses, paired with cocktails mixed by Ultimate Elixir's mixologist, Anige Jackson, and will be held at West Loop Studio, a historic top-floor loft at 17 N. Elizabeth St.
The dinner will consist of five courses, paired with cocktails featuring Koval's spirits. The price is an all-inclusive $75 per person.
I had the opportunity to attend one of the monthly Supper Club events and can assure you it's something you won't want to miss. What more can you want than good drinks, good company and extraordinary food?
I'm the kind of person that doesn't mind a bit of seasonality in my drinks. A little pumpkin in my beer, a little mulled spice in my wine...but easy on the apple pie, okay Leinenkugels? So I gladly accepted an invitation to Stoli's new Gala Applik launch party, the Moscova Affair, earlier this fall at Manor. I am not generally a vodka-drinker, nor a club-goer, so arrived thirsty, slightly early, and with all the scattered nervousness of a kid on the first day of class. With corset- and leather-clad servers and an Adam and Eve-themed silent circus tableau by San Francisco's Vau de Vire Society that more than lived up to the smoke-swilling lush-lipped ad campaign Stoli has plastered over CTA bus stops for months, I felt appropriately out of my element. At least the place was lousy with vodka, featuring at least five different suggested mixers for the new apple-infused Stoli blend, which I was expecting to taste more like Apple Pucker but has actually a mild, almost perfumey character. Applik and ginger ale was probably the best of the combinations I tried, though the signature "Applik Temptress" featured sour mix and a dash of bitters. Vanity Fair suggests a sangria-like white wine and fruit cocktail called, appropriately or not, the Rio 2016. Ouch. And, mmmmm!
I don't know that there's anything particularly seasonal about champagne, unless you feel the end of Daylight Savings Time should be celebrated with bubbles. But I still stopped by Pol Roger's Jazz Celebration last night at Pops for Champagne, an institution that I've been meaning to try for years. The White Foil Reserve Brut was the drink of the night, comprised of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes and fermented early in its life to a precise 46 F degrees, a process apparently distinctive to Pol Roger. A bottle of the White Foil retails for about $60, according to our pourer, though Pops has several other Pol Roger varieties on their menu as well, starting in more like the $115 range and rising steadily from there. The Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1998 is aged in the deepest, coldest cellars in Pol Roger's operation, and has a dense, almost edible quality to it, with bubbles so fine you barely notice them and a mouth-feel much more like wine than champagne. My favorite was the Brut Blanc de Blancs 1999, which was both demi-sec and a bit tart, I thought the most interesting in terms of flavor of the bunch.
In other drinking news, C-House, in the Affinia Hotel, continues its prix-fixe Goose Island beer menu through the end of this week, and more paper seems to peel back every day from the windows of Lush Wine and Spirits' new location on Chicago Avenue. Whatever causes you to raise a glass this fall, be it circus folks, or grain alcohol, or the pleasing pop of a champagne cork, there are plenty of places and things to drink this time of year.
Join Today's Chicago Woman (TCW) magazine at The Chopping Block in the Merchandise Mart on Wednesday, Oct. 28 from 6pm to 9pm for "The Taste of TCW" cooking competition. This cuisine and culinary challenge won't only be tasty, all the proceeds will benefit the TCW Foundation, a charity that raises money for varies organizations dedicated to helping women and children.
The challengers are Radhika Desai, Season 5 contestant on Bravo TV's "Top Chef"; Elaina Vazquez, owner of Boutique Bites; and Jennifer Gavin from Fox TV's "Hell's Kitchen" and owner of Catered Excellence. Rocking the judge's panel will be Shelley Young of the Chopping Block and Chef Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass and Prairie Fire. The emcee for this delightful evening will be Steve Dolinksky, "The Hungry Hound" from ABC 7.
Tickets are $75, which includes the cuisine and culinary challenge plus hors d'oeuvres from the participating chef's favorite recipes, beer and wine, and signature cocktails from Sundas's mixologist, Sherrie Geslack. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase. Visit Today's Chicago Woman magazine to reserve your tickets.
Food chat site LTHForum's annual Great Neighborhood Restaurant awards were presented Monday night in a ceremony at past winner Marie's Pizza & Liquors, adding 23 new venues to its excellent list of winners. For the first time the awards have been expanded to include non-restaurants (referred to as Great Neighborhood Resources), in acknowledgment that there are so many important places in Chicagoland that don't necessarily serve food but provide ingredients, equipment or otherwise support restaurants and home cooks.
The GNR awards have always been an excellent avenue for recognition of restaurants that aren't necessarily new or trendy, places that are simply making great food and contributing to the culinary wealth of the city. For smaller spots, the awards provide a much-appreciated boost. Winner Juan Zaragoza of Birrieria Zaragoza said, "Sometimes you're about to hang the towel, and somebody comes in and says 'Hey, we like your food.' And we say 'You do?' And that keeps us going."
Several of the nominees attended the ceremony, including Delightful Pastries owners Dobra Bielinski and Stasia Hawyrszczuk, who took the opportunity to announce that they will soon be opening a new store at 1710 Wells St., in addition to being part of the French Market, which officially opens Nov. 17. "I think it's an excellent idea to have farmers markets like they do in France: all year round, not just three months out of the year," Bielinksi said.
As a surprise, the owners of Marie's Pizza turned the tables on LTHForum and awarded the site its own "Favorite Foodies Award." Said Marie's' Nadine Karavides, "You can pass it amongst yourselves like the Stanley Cup."
Below are the 2009 award winners, in alphabetical order, with links to either the business' website or the LTH Forum nomination thread.
Looking for something to do with the kiddies during the daylight hours of Halloween? Green City Market is hosting at Halloween Party during their last outdoor market of the season on Saturday, Oct. 31. The market will then move indoors at the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum Wednesdays and Saturdays from Nov. 7 through Dec. 23, followed by twice monthly markets during the winter.
Just because it's cold out doesn't mean you can't smoke a mean rack of ribs. Gary Wiviott, LTH Forum founder and author of Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons, is teaching a rib class at Backyard Barbecue Store, 1147 Greenleaf Ave. in Wilmette, this Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1pm. Learn how to do ribs the right way on both a Weber smoker and a Big Green Egg, and how to make his basic Wiviott Rub (which is also now available at the Spice House), Tangy 7-Pepper Barbecue Sauce and Lexington Red Slaw. The class costs $50; call 847-251-2272 to sign up.
And if you're really ambitious, you can test your newfound skills in the Backyard Barbecue Store's third annual Ribfest on Sunday, Oct. 18.
On any given day, you never know what you'll find when you open up your inbox. Color me surprised, then, when I opened my e-mail to discover an invitation to represent Gapers Block as a judge in a semi-final for DeKuyper's Mix Master Bartender Contest.
Not one to say no to the difficult task of judging cocktails, I joined the judges panel, and on September 30th at Martini Park, we sent one lucky bartender on his way to the Chicago final.
Contestants had to create a shot or drink that had no more than three ingredients, one of which had to be a DeKuyper product. It had to be a drink that was fairly simple to prepare, so no mashing or muddling, and no energy drinks. We judged the entries on taste, appearance, creativity of name, simplicity, and originality.
This year, 35 percent more Chicagoans are turning to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and its network of pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Now, more than ever, it's important to support this incredible organization so they can help feed those in need.
Beginning Oct. 21, six local restaurants will play host to the Food Depository's inaugural "86 Hunger" dinner series, an event that will unite chefs and guests together in an effort to ending hunger in out community. Each dinner in the series will provide guests with an intimate dining experience at some of the most prominent restaurants in Chicago.
Tickets for individual dinners (schedule below) are $150, and all proceeds benefit the Food Depository. Information and tickets are available here.
Oct. 21: Frontera Grill, Chef Rick Bayless
Oct. 26: Red Light, Chef Jackie Shen
Oct. 28: Custom House, Chef Aaron Deal
Nov. 8: West Town Tavern, Chef Susan and Drew Goss
Nov. 10: BOKA, Chef Giuseppe Tentori
Nov. 18: Restaurant Michael, Chef Michael Lachowicz
The Frontera Grill dinner includes a visit to Chef Rick Bayless' home garden, as well as a live cooking demonstration in the restaurant's test kitchen. VIP tickets for the Frontera Grill dinner are $1,250 and include entry to four other dinners. Chefs and restaurants are donating their time and labor for the dinners, which will include approximately 100 attendees each.
On Saturday Chicago gets an opportunity to look a little deeper into the vegan world. A new festival called VeganMania brings local vegan-friendly restaurants together with animal-free clothing vendors, no-kill animal shelters, live music, and makers of meat and cheese alternatives just in time to help with Thanksgiving plans with any vegan friends. The famed Soul Vegetarian and Chicago Diner will serve food alongside newer restaurants like Delicious Cafe. I'm particularly curious about the high fashion vegan winter coats expected from Vaute Couture. The day also includes live music and speakers, including Dr. Michael Greger of the Human Society of the United States.
In a prepared statement, organizer John Beske said, "We're excited to prove to the world that Chicago's reputation as Hog Butcher To The World no longer accurately describes our progressive and compassionate city."
The festival runs from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m at Pulaski Park Fieldhouse, 1419 W. Blackhawk. Free admission and free samples. El: Blue Line to Division. Bus: Ashland 9, Milwaukee 56, Division 70, North 72.
Andrea, of local food blog Forkable, just launched a redesigned of her site. She is celebrating in style by throwing a launch party this Thursday, October 8 from 7 pm to 10 pm at Archie's Tavern (2600 W. Iowa). Sip a $2 whiskey or beer and enjoy some free, homemade Forkable favorites like jalapeno poppers, cheesy onion casserole and bbq seitan while you meet the author.
Last spring one of Chicago's favorite culinary landmarks, Club Lago, was forced to close after a 50-foot chimney collapsed onto its building. Tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 7 the family-owned restaurant will host a grand re-opening party after being closed for six months.
The party will begin at 5 p.m., reservations are recommended.
Club Lago
331 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60610
312.951.2849
On Sunday, October 11th the Andersonville Development Corporation is hosting its 4th Annual Dessert Crawl. Participants will pick up their Dessert Crawl Passport at the Swedish American Museum (5211 N. Clark) and will be allowed to sample tasting portions at over two dozen participating restaurants. Participating restaurants include: Ann Sather, Big Jones, Fireside, La Cocina de Frida and many more. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $25 online for each of the routes (decide between sweet or savory) or $40 for both. For more information call 773-728-7552.
When I first heard about Taste of Chicago many years ago, I envisioned it as big block party where you could just meander from fancy restaurant to restaurant and sample their best dishes. Probably on tiny forks. And that it would all be free. Obviously, neither the real Taste or its younger, more upscale cousin Chicago Gourmet quite achieve that dream. But in its second year, Chicago Gourmet seems to better evoke the feeling of that festival in my head than the Taste has ever managed. With an improved lay-out and better selection of food (even though drink was still more heavily represented), the Pritzker Pavilion was transformed into an open pasture for gourmet grazing, from the tone set by the complimentary wine glass at the door to the security check for pilfered booze on the way out.
More thoughts on this year's event after the jump.
The new season of Chicago Public Radio Presents kicked off Saturday night at Catalyst Ranch, a roomy, eclectic space on Randolph filled with 50's collectible kitsch and decorations from as far away as Haiti, Thailand, and Pier 1 Imports. This month's event featured Chef Jill Barron of Mana Food Bar, Chef Ben Sheagren of Hopleaf, and Chef Jared Van Camp of Old Town Social.
Hosting the event was Studio 312's Jimmy Carrane, whose running commentary kept the evening moving at a fast pace. Goose Island Brewery is sponsoring this year's series, and their 2009 Matilda was used by each of the three competing chefs; if this had been an episode of Iron Chef it would have been the "theme ingredient."
For its Fourth Annual Author Event, the Women's Board of the Chicago Regional Office of the American Cancer Society, has delved into the world of food by presenting an evening with celebrated Chicago pastry chef and Food Network star Gale Gand. Gand will be demonstrating from and signing her latest book Gale Gand's Brunch! at a special event on October 28.
The event will take place at Macy's Narcissus Room (111 S. State St., 7th floor) beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and book signing. At 6:30 Gand will conduct a demonstration and tasting in Macy's Culinary Studio.
Tickets for the event cost $95, with a limit of 150 guests. For more information or to make reservations contact Dawn.Kobel@cancer.org, or call at 312-279-7264
Although whisky and whiskey fans may not get a catchy tune like the po-ta-to/po-tah-to people, they do have a chance to debate the proper spelling tomorrow night at The Great Whisk(e)y Debate. This free event (for ages 21+) features whisk(e)y professors from Canadian Club, Knob Creek, and Laphroig who will talk about the merits of each of their whiskies during this interactive (i.e.--tasting) event. Even if you're not the biggest whisky buff, I'd recommend going--these are three really good and varied whiskies, and this is a good opportunity to learn about and taste the differences to see what style (or styles) you like best.
You can now purchase your tickets for Baconfest Chicago's Pro Bacon Cookoff at Publican next month. The event features 10 chefs, each cooking one bacon-filled dish, each paired with a beer by Chef Paul Kahan and Beverage Director Michael McAvena. Attendees will also receive a bacon gift bag, and a portion of the $75 ticket price goes to charity.
The event will be held from noon to 2pm Oct. 24 The Publican, 837 W. Fulton Market. Baconfest itself is still on, but is postponed until April... something. Stay tuned for more details about that.
A few weeks ago, I made it over the Chicago Luxury Ice Cream festival. Normally I reserve the word for luxury when it involves Donald Trump and fur rugs, and it seems odd to think of luxurious ice cream, but whatever it was, it was great. The event has plans to return next year as a multi-day event. A range of local and regional ice cream makers, among them Black Dog Gelato (pictured) and Nice Cream (excellent stuff) served up flavors like red pepper, chocolate sheep's milk, and blackberry pie (not together, ech) and to the hundreds of attendees. The lines were long, but spirits and glucose levels were high. Just where they should always be.
Looking for something to do on Saturday afternoon? Have a friend with celiac disease but want to make her a batch of cookies? You are in luck. This Saturday at 1PM, the Whole Foods at Halsted/Waveland is hosting a free gluten-free cookies baking class. Chef Susan of Cardamon Kitchen is going to demonstrate how to bake chocolate chip and sugar cookies, gluten-free. You need to register in advance to reserve your spot by calling 773-472-0400 or online.
Any plans for Mexican Independence Day? Head to Pilsen to take part in the second annual Buen Provecho restaurant tour. Over 25 local restaurants, cafes and bakeries will be sharing their favorite dishes as they celebrate the vibrant Pilsen community. Participating restaurants include old favorites like Neuvo Leon, Los Comales and Birreria Reyes de Ocotlan as well as newer additions to the neighborhood like Nightwood, Ristorante al Teatro and Simone's. The event runs from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm and tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the day of the event. All proceeds benefit the Eighteenth Street Development Corporation, a a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. For a complete list of restaurants and to buy tickets online, visit the ESDC website.
The 7th Annual Old Town Wine Crush is this Saturday and Sunday on Wells between North and Schiller. The Wine Crush features live music, the opportunity to sample over 50 wines from around the world, food vendors and a Grape Stomping Competition. The festival runs from 11AM to 10PM on Saturday, 11AM to 6PM on Sunday and tickets are between $30 and $45 depending on the amount of wine that you want to sample.
If you love food and don't have plans this Sunday, whip up your favorite dish and bring it to LTH Forum's Picnic, which will be going on at Labagh Woods (near Foster and Cicero). Eating begins mid-morning and runs until early evening; please RSVP on the LTH site (and indicate your type of dish). You. Should. Go.
Even though Labor Day has come and gone, marking the (unofficial) end of summer, the stands at many of Chicago's farmers markets are looking more lush than they have all season. Squash and apples are starting to appear, and the peaches and berries are still abundant. The Andersonville Farmer's Market, which started just this year, has been so successful than it has extended its run through October 7th. Today's market will be held, as usual, from 4 to 8 pm. Starting next week, the market will run from 3 to 7 pm. Come on up to Clark & Berwyn to take advantage of the early fall harvest.
Trying to incorporate more local foods into your diet but you just can't give up avocados, bananas and lemons? Enjoy shopping at the farmer's markets but don't know what to make with that random vegetable you threw in your basket? Have you heard about "eating local" but don't really know what that means? Well, you are in luck. Green City Market's annual localvore challenge is fast approaching. This year's challenge will be from September 9th through the 23rd. Visit GCM's webpage here or go to the informational tent at the market on Wednesday or Saturday to learn more about the challenge and to sign up to participate. GCM has prepared a "localvore kit" to help you with the challenge. There is also a list of the many Chicago area restaurants which will be participating in the challenge.
Mangi's Fast Foods in North Center was one of the 44 Chicagoland restaurants participating in Kronos Foods' Free Gyros Day today. It happens to be the closest one to the Gapers Block office, so I printed out my coupon and headed down.
I was a little worried about whether I'd score free gyros after reading on Twitter about at least one Loop location running out before noon. Fortunately, Mangi's is remote enough that I needn't worry; I only waited about 20 minutes for my order. Still, at 12:30pm the line stretched out the door and to the alley, prompting more than one person to compare it to Hot Doug's -- probably the only time in Mangi's existence that's happened. I asked the cashier if they'd gotten many orders for anything other than gyros today. "Not much," she replied. "We've sold a lot of fries and drinks!"
The gyros were as good as ever, though not quite as crispy as I personally like. I figure that's a symptom of how quickly Mangi's was going through cones to gyro meat.
Did you manage to get a free gyros? What was the scene like where you went?
On Thursday evening, the National Honey Board invited a group of writers to look "Beyond the Bottle and Explore the Bounty of Honey" with a honey tasting and specially-created dinner by Chef Randy Zweiban at Province. It was an enjoyable evening that combined education about honey production, varieties and environmental concerns with an interesting and inspiring range of cocktails, appetizers and dinner courses that highlighted the wide range of uses for honey in cooking.
The weekly Re-Thinking Soup series starts up again today (not exactly soup season, but "Late Summer Minestrone" is on the menu) at UIC's Jane Addams Hull-House Dining Hall (800 S. Halsted) from noon to 1:30pm. Kicking off this year's series is a lecture and discussion facilitated by Joshua Viertel, Slow Food USA's newly (and first-ever) elected President.
Last Saturday I participated in the Active Transportation Alliance and Neighbor Space's Veggie Bike and Dine, an all-day ride that took me and 50 other riders through a heap of northside neighborhoods starting from Rogers Park and ending in Old Town and studded with food stops from a range of restaurants and visits to a few community gardens. Along the way I gathered some new restaurant recommendations.
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to watch 25 talented high school seniors compete in the 16th annual Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) Chicago Cooking Competition for Scholarships. C-CAP was founded in 1990 and works with public schools across the country to prepare underserved high school students for college and career opportunities in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
A new documentary on the C-CAP program will be screening this weekend in Chicago. Pressure Cooker is an award-winning film that follows three seniors at Philadelphia's Frankford High School who find inspiration and professional skills through C-CAP.
The film screens at the Gene Siskel Film Center starting this weekend:
Friday, August 21, 6:00 pm
Saturday, August 22, 3:00 pm
Tuesday, August 25, 6:15 pm.
Chicago representatives of Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) Nicola Copeland and Anthony McPhee -- along with mentor and instructor Wilma Stephenson, featured in the film, will be present on Friday for audience discussion.
Seventeen new cheftestants roll the dice on culinary fame in Las Vegas as the new season of Top Chef starts tonight (8pm on Bravo). And with the success of our fair city's chefs in recent seasons, as well as in this summer's amuse bouche show Top Chef Masters, one would expect a strong showing from Chicago again this season. In reality, one would be dead wrong. Nary a Chicagoan in sight. Not even an Illinois resident. The closest we get is Eve Aronoff from Ann Arbor, Michigan. She's the sole representative of the entire Midwest region! The hell?!
If lack of a home team doesn't dissuade you from watching, you might want to check out the weekly viewing party at the Kit Kat Club, hosted by former cheftestant Radhika Desai. No cover, and each week will start with a cocktail demonstration and end with a Q and A session.
Registration starts next Wednesday for the fall session of the city-sponsored World Kitchen cooking class series. Among the lineup are Cardamon Kitchen (Sep 12), which will teach you how to cook with Indian spices; Freeze with Ease (Sep 19), which will help you figure out the best way to not turn your freezer into a graveyard of ice-coated chunks of something-or-another; and Curds and Whey (Oct 3), where you'll learn how to make cheese. All classes are held at the Gallery 37 Center for Arts at 66 East Randolph, admission is $30, and registration is required.
Tonight's Taste of the Nation charity event brings together names from Chicago's culinary top shelf (Shawn McClain, Mindy Segal, Paul Kahan) to benefit anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength. Event runs 6-10pm at Ravenswood Billboard Factory, 4025 North Ravenswood. Tickets $175-250.
NeighborSpace, an urban land trust, held an online vote earlier this year to pick out one plant to celebrate for the season. The program, One Seed Chicago, then gave out seeds of the winner, the Blue Lake Pole green bean. Now that the growing season is well under way, One Seed Chicago is asking you for your beanstalk photos - a show and tell, if you will.
When the cattle call went out soliciting interest in covering this event, it spoke to me. Déjà chef if you will. The comparisons with my professional life were too many to say no to and is how I found myself at the Country Chef's Challenge at Daley Plaza this Thursday, Aug. 6.
The three chef contestants had 30 minutes and $50 to shop the Farmers Market, with an additional 30 minutes to create a dish with their selected ingredients. The results were scored by a panel of judges, the winner claiming bragging rights as "Master of the Market."
Having competed in (and won) numerous similar events, I was intrigued by seeing it as an observer instead of a participant. Highly skilled chef's going "mano a mano" in public, preparing mystery food against the clock, "Iron Chef" style. A daunting task under the best of circumstances and these are not the best of circumstances.
NYT writer and food journalist Jennifer 8. Lee will be in town August 16, talking about her new book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles at St. Therese School, 247 W. 23rd St from 1-3pm. Lecture is free but reservations are required; email or call (312) 949-1000.
In fact, even Child's alma mater, Le Cordon Bleu, is getting in on the act: tomorrow, Aug. 6, at 1pm Chicago time, "Top Chef" winner and Cordon Bleu grad Stephanie Izard will be demonstrating how to make beef Bourguignon and chocolate chiffon pie on live streaming video. You're invited to follow @LCBSchools on Twitter and use the hashtag #LCBJulia to participate in the conversation.
Veggie Fest hits Naperville this weekend with live music and a schedule packed full of food demonstrations like those from Karyn's and Chicago Diner. The food court includes Upton's Naturals and Dakshin Indian - among many other veg-friendly vendors. Shuttles ($3) run to and from the Lisle Metra station, paired with two outbound trains and two inbounds later in the day to get those from the city back. Free admission. Saturday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 4S175 N Naperville Wheaton Rd, Naperville.
On Sunday (August 9th), Carrotmob Chicago, a group of consumers who band together to spend money at socially responisble businesses, is putting its buying power behind Fox & Obel. The mob (along with a colossal carrot, according to the web site) plans a "buycott" or reverse boycott from noon until 6pm. They're encouraging local consumers to visit Fox & Obel for their food needs, and the store, in return, will use part of the proceeds to continue to reduce its carbon footprint (going above and beyond the organics, recycling and LED lights they already have in place). If helping the environment doesn't satisfy your good-deed need, the Greater Chicago Food Depository will also be on site collecting food donations.
Last summer was all about the vertical garden. This summer, vegetables are dancing on the ceiling. Or pretending to. The Lay's Potato Chip "Closer than You Think" campaign, which aims to convince us that Lay's makes chips from potatoes grown on local farms, has hit the streets of Chicago, with a display of spuds growing from the ceiling in the CTA tunnel under Jackson Street. The potato patch will be on display through Sunday.
You may have passed City Farm, the vegetable farm near the edge of Cabrini-Green at Division and Clybourn. This Sunday, August 2, you'll be able to tour the farm and chat with grower Tim Wilson. It is part of an urban agriculture field day promoted by Angelic Organics Learning Center. The event runs 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and also includes a tour of Chicago Honey Co-op, where the tours kick off. You'd provide your own transportation to both locations. Free to members of the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT); $10 for non-members payable the day of. RSVP required to craft (at) learngrowconnect.org.
On Chicago Public Radio's eight-forty-eight, South Side reporter Natalie Moore reports on this past weekend's "farmers market," held by Wal-Mart in Chatham. According to her report, the retail giant sold an impressive four days' worth of produce in just three hours. I briefly considered going to the Saturday event to see what it's like, but instead visited my sister-in-law (the allure of their new cats were too big). Thank God CPR was there.
Moore also interviews Rhymefest, a Chicago-based hiphop musician on the possible role of Wal-Mart in the South Side. His take on the proposed Wal-Mart, as a savior in food desert, is an interesting contrast to that of a woman quoted in the earlier piece, who says the characterization of the neighborhood as food desert is an offensive misnomer.
WTTW is sponsoring a free showing of the upcoming movie Julie and Julia on Thursday, August 6 at the AMC Loews Theater, 600 North Michigan. Tickets (obtained from WTTW) are required for admission to avoid the herds of food historians and Meryl Streep fans who will be all over this like lemon on chicken.
Summer drinking usually conjures Pinot Grigios and piña coladas, or mint juleps and margaritas. Good drinks to sip standing on dry grass, or out of plastic cups pintucked after multiple pours. Drinks that might look good sporting thick sprigs of herbs or little paper umbrellas. Throwing its hat into the summer drinking ring this past week is Rosangel, Gran Centenario's venture into flavored tequila. The company unveiled the blend of award-winning Resposado and hibiscus flowers at Nacional 27 last week, accompanied by vegetable empanadas, plantain croquettes, and a watermelon and tuna ceviche that paired wonderfully with the strong, sweet tequila. Rosangel is aged in barrels previously used for port, which gives the liquor the pink hue so nicely accentuated in its packaging, an art deco design that recalls a vintage perfume bottle--an effect heightened by the floral notes of the hisbiscus addition. One whiff of the fumes coming off the drink will dispel any notions that it could be a girly tequila, however. This stuff will put hair on your dainty, effeminate chest.
On hand to help guide the tasting were Nacional's own Adam Seger and Jane Lopes, sometime bartendress at the Violet Hour. Jane's drink recipe for a Jalisco Blinker is below. Sweet, tart, and flowery, it could be the perfect new addition to your summer drinking palette (and presumably would work with any sweeter tequila as well).
If you're heading to the Pierogi Fest in Whiting, IN this weekend, why not make that 20 mile journey on a bike with fellow food lovers? Meet at Buckingham Fountain Saturday at 9am for a leisurely-paced trek; details here.
(20 wine samples/$20) + commentary by Alpana Singh + tray-passed h'ors d'oeuvres = A DEAL
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this equation, but it seems to be completely valid. Osteria Via Stato's hosting a wine-tasting event called "20 Wines for $20" on Wednesday, August 12, from 5:30-7 PM. During this event, Chicago's well-known Master Sommelier and host of Check Please! Alpana Singh will talk about the 20 fruit-forward Italian wines available for sampling. H'ors d'oeuvres by Executive Chef David DiGregorio will complement the wine, and other wine experts and importers will be on hand to discuss the evening's offerings.
Not surprisingly, space is limited, so if you want to get in on this deal, call Allison Gallese at 312-642-8450 to make a reservation.
Tribune reports that Wal-Mart is bringing a "farmers market" to Southside neighborhood of Chatham, with the hope that the gesture will create more favorable climate to the recently stalled plan for the second store within the city limits.
The "farmers market" will be held this Saturday, July 25, from 10 am to 2 pm, at 83rd and Stewart, where the new store is proposed. Interestingly, neither the Trib story nor the chain's flyer for the event lists any details on who is going to be selling what, come Saturday. A "farmers market" without any identifiable farmers??? I briefly tried to get an answer for this, but quickly gave up when the only phone number provided turned out to be a generic customer service phone number. (This is why I'm not making my living as a journalist.)
Although this show is less about food and more about successfully overcoming Gordon Ramsay's endless stream of verbal abuse, a new season of Hell's Kitchen will premiere tonight at 7pm on Fox, with two contestants hailing from Chicago: Lovely, an executive chef of a children's camp, and Tony, the culinary store manager. Good f**ing luck to you.
Perhaps milking the PR boost of being crowned one of America's healthiest fast-food restaurants, Chipotle is sponsoring a free showing of Food, Inc. this Thursday at Landmark Century Centre theater (Diversey and Clark) at 7:30pm. Get there early for a seat, and please...skip the popcorn.
Didn't get your fill of inebriation and nationalism last weekend? Well, thank goodness for France, as you can try again with a couple of Bastille Day celebrations this weekend. On Saturday the 11th, Pops for Champagne is holding their Bastille Day Celebration (details in Slowdown). For members of the Third Estate who don't feel like spending money to celebrate La Fête Nationale, Lush Wine & Spirits will be holding free tastings at both of their locations. On Saturday, they'll be sampling various French wines and cider all day, with more wine tastings from 2-5 on Saturday; on Tuesday the 14th (Bastille Day proper) from 5-8, you can taste French wines from regions other than Bordeaux and Burgundy.
This Saturday, July 11, your bicycle is your best drinking buddy. The day kicks off at 9am with the Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewery's annual Fat Tire-fueled day of bikes and the brewer's art, over in Palmer Square Park. $5 Fat Tires and plenty of bike- and environment-related fun should keep you busy for most of the morning.
From there, ride north on Kedzie and then east a bit on Belmont to Kuma's Corner, which is celebrating its fourth anniversary with a block party featuring free food and a performance by awesome Baltimore band CLUTCH. It starts at noon, but you may actually want to hold off till after this next stop if you want to catch the band.
Down at Soldier Field, Alefest gives you the opportunity to sample up to 20 beers from the dozens offered by more than 50 craft breweries for just $40 -- and you get to keep the glass! Afterward you can take a nice, leisurely ride on the Lakefront Path toward wherever home is... or to wherever food to sober you up might be.
Beer dinners, where restauranteurs bring in a microbrewer to put together a multi-course meal to go especially with a list of beers, have become quite the popular event in Chicacgo--so popular, you might not be able to get a place at the table for some of them.
However, this is your lucky week. Hopleaf's still got space at their beer dinner taking place tomorrow night. For $75 you can get a 7-course meal designed by Chef Ben Sheagren, which will feature beer from Lost Abbey out of San Marcos, California. Tomme Arthur, brewmaster from Lost Abbey will be on hand to talk you through their Belgian-style beers.
The event kicks off with a reception at 6:30, followed by dinner at 7:00. E-mail Louise at Hopleaf to reserve your spot.
Many people celebrate Independence Day with cold beers and fireworks... The Fifty/50, for reasons known only to itself and its PR team, has decided to up the ante by celebrating the entire week leading up to Independence Day with that most storied American beer-product (beloved by NASCAR enthusiasts and hipsters alike!), the 40 ounce malt liquor. I strolled over for a sip of Colt45 earlier this week, served appropriately in a brown paper bag. I find Colt to be one of the better malt liquors out there, certainly putting King Cobra to shame, and $5 a bottle just seemed too good to pass up. But 40 ounces of just about anything gets difficult to drink down to the last dregs... And through, hrmm, experimentation conducted with the utmost scientific rigor, I can categorically tell you that two 40s is too many. (On a Monday night at any rate.)
If you'd like to try your hand at the Fifty/50's week o' 40s -- no frat-party inspired duct tape required -- the party continues with hip hop, Cubs viewing (it is the Fifty/50, after all), an Olde English all-day party on the 4th, followed by a Schlitz hangover brunch on the 5th. I would advise steering clear of the Cheesy Cheese Balls on the menu -- never has a bar food been so structurally off-base, falling apart into clumpy half-melted strings as soon as you pick it up. People who have had a 40 and a half cannot gracefully contend with that kind of mess. But there's plenty of other good-looking grease on the menu to keep you properly fortified against all that barley. Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, let's hear it for those amber waves of grain.
If you liked the wildly successful Soup and Bread series at the Hideout from earlier this year, then you'll love Veggie Bingo, which brings together bingo and food--a weekly event where participants play the venerable old-school game and win locally made or grown prizes such as a jar of honey, a bar of soap...and the grand prize being a box of produce from Irv and Shelley's (whoa!). Event runs Wednesdays beginning July 8 through September 9 from 6-8pm at the Hideout, 1354 West Wabansia; cards are $1 each (six for $5) and can be purchased onsite. Hot dogs and tofu pups will be served, so all your early evening needs will be met. All proceeds benefit NeighborSpace.
Join the Chicago Foodways Roundtable for a tour of (and lunch at) the Naval Culinary School at the Great Lakes Naval Station next Wednesday, July 8. You'll get a tour of the School, which runs a thirty-day training program for students that covers kitchen basics and emergency response skills. Graduates go on to cook on U.S. Navy ships, so get a whiff of their skills before they sail off into the culinary horizon. Event runs 11am-1pm. Tour is free, lunch is $4.25, and RSVP required. Parking is available, and the Base is across the street from the Metra North Chicago station (off the Kenosha Line). Call (847) 432-8255 or email to reserve your space.
If you read our recent review of new cookbook Low and Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons, in which LTH Forum founder Gary Wiviott explains the art of making the best BBQ around, you will drop your plans for this Saturday morning and head to Kendall College, where Wiviott (and food writer Colleen Rush) will walk you through the delicate process of cooking some good meat. Event is sponsored by Culinary Historians of Chicago, and begins at 10am at 900 North Branch Street; $3 admission (free for Kendall students and faculty), and there's free parking. RSVP required via email or phone (847) 432-8255.
This Friday, June 26, from 7pm to 10pm, Chicago-based Bottlenotes is hosting "Around the World in 80 Sips," an exploration of more than 80 wines from, as the name implies, all around the world, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.. It's an opportunity to try wines from less well-known regions like China and Lebanon alongside the more established wine spots. An assortment of artisanal cheeses and food from local restaurants will help soak up some of that wine.
Tickets are $50 in advance, $75 at the door, but Gapers Block readers can get an exclusive $10 discount by using the code GAPERSBLOCK at checkout. Cheers!
The Food Network will hold an open casting call for Season 6 of The Next Food Network Star on Sunday, July 12 at the Affinia Hotel, 166 East Superior, from 10am-4pm. Bring two pictures of yourself, your resume and a completed application. Email them with questions, as all my answers these days seem to be mumbled nonsense. Grgrhrrr.
Tomorrow night, at 7pm at an undisclosed location somewhere near Pilsen, fine dining and music criticism come together to create a themed menu and perhaps, if their on-air banter is any indication, a Desert Island Pantry list of dessert toppings. Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot of Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions have teamed up with Chef Efrain Cuevas's community dining project Clandestino for a meal and Candid Wine pairings based on five selected albums, including selections from Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, Curtis Mayfield, Common, and Mavis Staples. Why exactly Naked Raygun goes so well with fennel and herb crusted hanger steak, braised marrow, potato terrine, oyster mushroom ragout -- I guess you'll have to try it to find out. The inspiring albums will, of course, supply the soundtrack for the evening.
Spots still seem to be available (click to RSVP) -- $250 covers the meal and gratuity for one guest, and a portion of the total is tax deductible. Exactly how much, and exactly where the event will take place will be announced this week via email to registrants.
After a big meal, guilt can set in. "Why did I do this to my precious body?" you may say to yourself. "I didn't need to eat three Monte Cristos." Then you have a solution: exercise. Now. So you pay the bill, stumble out of the diner into the cruel summer heat and start running down the street in your determination to work off the six thousand calories you just ate, only to end up a crumpled, cramping and dehydrated version of yourself minutes later. Did you just barf onto your neighbor's rose garden? Tsk tsk.
Rather than schedule your exercise for those crazy moments, you can combine your love of eating with exercise. And if you're looking to lay off the meaty battered sandwiches, August 15th's Veggie Bike and Dine, sponsored by Active Transportation Alliance will give you an opportunity to sample some of the city's tastiest vegan fare from places like Chicago Diner and Trotters to Go. Registration is now open; tickets are $50, which includes food.
If you're interested in exploring other food genres, Fork in the Road will begin offering guided bike and eating tours within the city, starting with this Sunday's "International BBQ" tour, which will explore Korean, Indian, Chinese and American takes on the dish. The newly formed business will also be offering bike tours in Asian, Vegetarian, Latin American and local fare throughout the fall; tickets are $50-60.
A gentle reminder to upload a picture that creatively displays your dedication to locally grown or organic produce to the Drive-Thru Flickr Group by Sunday at noon CDT and you could win a pair of tickets to Growing Home's Annual Benefit (valued at $250), courtesy of the Drive-Thru Photo Contest.
Blue Sky Inn is holding its annual fund-raiser at Lush Wine & Spirits (the one at 1257 S Halsted) on Saturday. The bakery and nonprofit, which offers job training for at-risk and homeless youth, will auction off picnic baskets prepared by celebrity chefs, including Charlie Trotter, Ina Pinkney and Rick Bayless. But the highlight of the afternoon will likely be the amateur pie-baking contest, with catergories like best crust, best crumble and most creative, to be judged by Frank Sennett, the editor-in-chief of Time Out Chicago, and Paula Haney, from the Hoosier Mama Pie Company. And one lucky raffle winner. Kids activities and wine tastings are also scheduled. The event begins at noon and ends at 5pm; admission is $10 in advance and $12 at the door for everyone over the age of 12.
We're holding yet another awesome contest! You and a friend can roam among the swanks at Growing Home's 7th annual benefit, which will be held Thursday, June 11 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Growing Home is a nonprofit that provides job training for people of low income through its farm sites on the south side and in suburban Marseilles. Growing Home sells its organic produce through several farmers markets and via CSA memberships.
So this is where you come in. Because Growing Home is devoted to growing produce that in turn supports community development, you need to show us your dedication to the cause. So we're holding a photo submission contest, where you submit a photo demonstrating your commitment to organic and/or local produce to the GB Drive-Thru Flickr Group. Tag your photo submission "growinghome" and you're all set. We'll be accepting submissions until Sunday, June 7th at noon CDT that shows us your love for produce. One tagged submission per user, please. Bonus points will be awarded for creativity. Aren't they always?
I strolled through the Chicago Turkish Festival at Daley Plaza yesterday, and spotted groceries, tiny cups of Turkish coffee, prepared food for lunch, and charming tables to sit at and enjoy. Groceries at one vendor included dried red lentils, bulgar, dried beans, large metal cans of olive oil, and small packs of nuts and seeds. Looking for a change to your usual lunch spot? Prepared food - at least the veg options - include baklava that would go brilliantly with the coffee, eggplant salad, hummus and pita, and perhaps dolma. Each of this festival's small tables has an ornate round metal top that appears to have been set upon its wooden base, as if the top was simply a large tray. The festival runs through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 50 W. Washington.
The Shedd Aquarium has been urging area diners to consider sustainability when choosing their sushi or fish dinners. The aquarium maintains lists of good seafood bets, and has a printable card available on its web site. This weekend the aquarium, along with Purple Asparagus, is taking it a step further with a sustainable-sushi making class for adults and children. Sunday afternoon from 4pm to 6pm in the Lobster Lab, families can prepare rolls using sustainable fish and talk with aquarium experts about the ways different fish are caught or farmed. The class is $20 for adults and $5 per child. For reservations contact Melissa Graham at Purple Asparagus (773-991-1920 or info@purpleasparagus.com).
On Saturday June, 20th, new nightclub District will be hosting a benefit for Chicago's Jobs For Youth, a non-profit organization that helps young men and women from low-income families enter the job market and the economic mainstream.
Tickets are $95, and include an "open bar, lavish buffet supper, live and silent auction, and entertainment" which promises to be fire breathers, aerial and ground contortionists and more.
Sunday's Cochon 555 event, a fundraiser at the Drake Hotel for the Farms for City Kids organization, will bring five of the city's best chefs (among them Graham Elliott Bowles, Chris Pandel of the Bristol) to each cook a heritage pig in its entirety and pair them with five locally made wines for your enjoyment. A panel of judges will bestow the "Prince of Porc" title to the best chef. Awww. Event runs 5-7:30pm; tickets are $125 (use the promo code "heritage" for a $20 discount).
This week, many Chicago restaurants may have a little extra going on in their wine offerings thanks to Riesling Week. While it may not be much more than a PR move to train the spotlight on German, Austrian and Alsatian wines just when spring is beckoning oenophiles towards Pinot Grigios and Sauvignon blancs, and everyone else towards Memorial Day Miller Lites, Riesling Week couldn't have come at a better time. The first few perfect days of spring, a participating restaurant on my way home from work...patio seating. Sold.
Located in the Affinia hotel, C-House specializes in imaginative seafood and features a nicely tiered menu of bites from the bar, appetizers, entrees, and sides -- all of which work in endless combinations to appease big and little hungers, sushi-enthusiasts and anti-raw stalwarts alike. And many of which work really nicely with the sweetness of their featured Riesling flight. Our server noted that rather than pairing each wine with a course, the chef rather intended all three to be tasted with everything we ate to see how the different flavors played off each other with each individual sip. It certainly took the concern out of ordering. We tried various combinations of bites and apps, standouts being the crab salad (wrapped up in paper thin slices of apple to create something resembling more of a candy than a summer salad), lobster club sandwich, and the seemingly grilled and freeze-dried corn kernels that accompany the very popular yellowtail fish tacos.
The wines were a relatively dry 2006 Keller Riesling Trocken from Rheinhessen, Germany; a sticky sweet 2007 Monchoff, Robert Eymael, also German and with a sweet and tart punch that made me think of mead; and a 2004 Schloss Lieser, Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spatlese, which was the most balanced of the three, though try ordering another one of those after you've had a few. A classic, dessert-friendly Riesling which went really nicely with the tartness of the fish tacos' pickled onions, the buttery richness of the lobster and yellowtail, and the sweetness of the crab salad. Bites at C-House start at $4, and the wine flight runs $22 through the end of this week. Zum Wohl!
To show their appreciation for winning the NBC Golden Local award for the best beef sandwich in Chicago, Al's Beef will be selling their signature regular beef sandwich for $1.00 today (but their disclaimer says peppers and cheese are extra). You're welcome.
I've been going to the National Restaurant Association show on and off for over 25 years. The first thing I noticed at this year's event is that it seemed emptier by comparison to years gone by, and I imagine that the economy must have something to do with the lack of attendees. The aisles are usually packed and chaotic, as opposed to just occasionally crowded.
This Wednesday, May 20, local chefs will unite at Goose Island Clybourn to prepare a special dinner to benefit Swan Creek Farm's George Rasmussen, who lost his truck, trailer, generator and a substantial amount of food in a fire on April 24 while delivering his quality, artisanal meats to Chicago restaurants.
The family-style dinner will be held at Goose Island Clybourn's Siebel Hall at 7 p.m. and will be a nose-to-tail, farm-to-table meal with Goose Island beer pairings. The meal will feature dishes from John Manion of Goose Island Clybourn; Chris Pandel from The Bristol; Rob and Allie Levitt from Mado; and Mindy Segal and Mark Steuer from HotChocolate.
The evening will include a silent auction for a barbecue extravaganza in which Chefs Paul Kahan, Koren Grieveson, Mike Sheerin, Tim Dahl and Brian Duncan are all donating their cooking skills to make a dinner for 15 people. Bidding for the barbecue package will only be available at the beer dinner.
As if this event wasn't awesome enough, in addition, that night organizers will launch an online auction where guests can bid on opportunities to have individual chefs come to their homes and cook them a beer dinner. Participating chefs include Food & Wine's 2007 Best New Chef Paul Virant of Vie; Dirk Flanigan of The Gage; Troy Graves of Eve; Suzy Crofton of Crofton on Wells; Cary Taylor of Chaise Lounge; Ryan Poli of Perennial; Randy Zweiban of Province; Food & Wine's 2008 Best New Chef Koren Grieveson of avec; Food & Wine's 2008 Best New Chef Giuseppe Tentori of BOKA; Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno; Rick Gresh of David Burke's Primehouse; Carol Wallack of Sola; Gil Langlois of Chalkboard; and "Top Chef" winner Stephanie Izard, who will be the chef of the forthcoming Drunken Goat. The online auction kicks off at the May 20 event and will continue until Thursday, May 28; the online auction link will be available shortly.
Tickets for the May 20 beer dinner cost $100, inclusive, and proceeds will benefit Rasmussen. To purchase a ticket, call (312) 915-0071.
It's officially farmers market season for the Loop office crowd. The Federal Plaza market kicked off bright and early this morning at Adams and Dearborn, and Daley Plaza will follow suit on Thursday, just a few blocks north at Dearborn and Washington. (Markets at the Prudential Plaza and Sears Tower will begin June 9 and 18, respectively.)
As a regular at both the Federal and Daley plaza markets, I'm glad to see my favorites are still making the trek. I picked up potted basil, thyme, oregano and parsley plants for my container garden from my friends at Nichols Farm, and plan to buy my tomato plants at Daley Plaza on Thursday (a gal can only schlep so much home at one time on the El.) Smits Farms was there, with its no-fuss spread of fresh-cut herbs, and the Misericordia Hearts and Flour Bakery was on hand with yummy samples and delicious baked goods for sale to benefit people with developmental disabilities. Lehman's Orchard offered its usual piles of dried fruits and nuts, while mushroom and pickle lovers alike hovered around the Rivery Valley Kitchens tent, and the man with the natty hat from Kress Apiary sampled honey - minus his usual box of live bees.
Some new vendors to get excited about: Elena's Cucina, a family owned and operated deli out of Roselle, IL, which is selling several varieties of focaccia that would make a fast and delicious summer dinner with a side salad and a glass of crisp, white wine; and fans of Brunkow Cheese -- an artisanal, small-batch cheese company you may have tried at several Chicago restaurants and specialty shops -- will be glad to know they've expanded their farmers market appearances to include Federal and Daley plazas, Wicker Park and Lincoln Square.
It was so nice to have the market back, I visited twice today: once in the morning, to pick up my herbs, and again on my way back from a lunch meeting, just to enjoy the buzz.
Do you often think a recipe of yours could make you a millionaire were you to market it? Could you become the real Sausage King/Queen of Chicago? The next Mrs. Field? The University of Nebraska is offering a traveling workshop called "From Recipe to Reality" next Wednesday (May 20) at Wright College that will teach you how to develop your business idea, from financing to production. Call (402) 472-2819 to register.
Atwood Café's Executive Chef Heather Terhune will be baking up a storm in the next two weeks in preparation for participating for the second year in Share Our Strength's (SOS) Great American Bake Sale to end childhood hunger. Last year, the Loop restaurant's bake sale raised more than $1,500 for SOS. This year, their goal is to "bake" in $2,000 or more. You can help by stopping by the restaurant (at 1 W. Washington St., on the corner of Washington and State streets) on Thursday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to purchase some of Chef Terhune's homemade apple butter, granola, cakes, pies, cookies, muffins, and brownies.
But luckily the Chicago Foodways Roundtable has helped me regain my focus. Tonight at 7pm they'll be holding a lecture at Kendall College (900 North Branch) about the history of hot dogs (locally and worldwide) that will feature Doug Sohn of Hot Doug's and author and historian Bruce Kraig (Hot Dog: A Global History). Admission is $3 per person, free to Kendall students and faculty with ID. Free parking. RSVP required. No grifters allowed.
Even though the Cinco de Mayo event at Navy Pier was called off by the H1N1 flu virus, Mole de Mayo will STILL take place tomorrow at El Zocalo at 18th & Paulina from 11am-7pm. A mole cook-off judged by a panel of experts (among them Check, Please!'s Alpana Singh), dancing, mariachi, drinking and eating are on the bill.
Yes, yes, it's gross outside. But the bad weather is a good reason to go out and eat well. The Dining Out for Life event, which takes place today at a huge, impressive range of restaurants in the city (among them Ann Sather, Cafe Matou, erwin, Sola & La Creperie) will donate a portion of today's earnings to AIDSCare. For an additional $5 donation, you'll also be entered into a drawing for free plane tickets, a downtown hotel weekend, and theater tickets.
Get over to the Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia) tonight for a special installment of the popular Soup and Bread series--"Soup and TIFs" will nourish the body and mind with yet another array of soups (from chefs at Swim Cafe, Celestial Kitchens, among others), but this time with discussion about the notorious TIF system in the city with 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, Reader political columnist Ben Joravsky and Everyblock.com's Daniel O'Neil. Event runs 6-8pm, all donations will be given to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
If you missed out on last week's free Ben and Jerry's, here's your penance: Head to your local Baskin-Robbins tomorrow (that's Wednesday, April 29), from 5 to 10 p.m., for 31 Cent Scoop Night. Buy a small scoop for 31 cents and leave the rest as a donation for local firefighters. (You may want to call ahead to make sure your local Baskin-Robbins is participating.)
Artropolis opens this Friday, and among the paintings and sculpture that you can't possibly afford will be artist Tara Strickstein, who will be displaying "Jelly Roll," a piece where she will be wrestling opponents (taken from the audience) in a vat of the sweet stuff. Strickstein is also skilled in pastry, so a sweet shop will also accompany her Ram Jamming.
When I got word of the Underground Food Collective's Pre-Industrial Pig Dinner that will unfold tomorrow night, I thought about a trip I took once to Old World Wisconsin, a living history museum nestled in the center of the Badger State. On a blistering August day, I watched a staff of men in awkward 19th century clothing do the backbreaking daily operations of a farmer as a cheery narrator rambled on about milking cows and baling hay. I was glad that the only thing I had to do was watch their pre-industrial struggle as I sipped my post-industrial (?) Diet Coke.
Times have changed, but the farming technique and sentiment remains; Saturday's dinner centerpiece is pork from four Red Waddles that were humanely raised at a Wisconsin farm. Tickets are $65. Event begins at 7pm Saturday at a private home in Ukrainian Village (address will be provided with ticket purchase); RSVP required.
The Cheeseburger Show will be hosting a tweet-up at Sheffield's, 3258 N. Sheffield Ave., Friday night from 8pm to 10pm, and they'd like to buy you a cheeseburger. That's right -- free sliders. You can RSVP on Facebook if you like -- or, you know, just show up.
And, as Chuck Sudo notes, Sheffield's Beer School is hosting a "DarkLord Eve" party the same night from 7pm till 1am. "Kuhl and the Sheffield's staff will be tapping some choice selections from Three Floyds, Dogfish Head, Surly and New Belgium, including a cask -- not a keg, a cask -- of Three Floyd's Robert the Bruce ale." No need to register, it's pay as you go.
It's not exactly a bar crawl, as you'll ride in a trolley and make only two stops. But KDK's Trolley Crawl on Thursday, May 7, offers a chance to try two well-loved Randolph Street restaurants and two stylish South Loop spots all for $50. The tour will include stops at Marche, for a French Martini, Gruyere beignets and mushroom en croute; Opera, for Singapore Slings, dumplings and wontons; Gioco, to sample a South Side Cocktail and wild boar papardelle; and Red Light, where Mango Martinis will be accompanied by Executive Chef Jackie Shen's famous Chocolate Bag. Space is limited for the Crawl, which will start at 6:30 pm at Marche, and end across the street at Red Light. For reservations, call Marche at 312-226-8399.
This past Saturday I joined students, parents and chefs at CHIC to watch 25 talented high school seniors compete in the 16th annual Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) Chicago Cooking Competition for Scholarships. The students were asked to prepare a two-course French meal for a panel of notable judges, including Graham Elliot Bowles of graham elliot, Carrie Nahabedian of Naha, and Mark Mendez of Carnivale.
Two upcoming events promise to provide unique opportunities to sample some great wines and food -- but you've got to hurry to get tickets before they sell out.
On April 26 at the Crimson Lounge in the Hotel Sax, Chicago's Best Palate brings together some of the city's top sommeliers -- Scott Tyree, formerly of Tru; Chef Alain Njike of Park 52; Italian Village's Michael Taylor; and Lucas Henning of C-House -- who will tasting three mystery wines and attempt to determine the the region, varietal and year of each. You'll be able to play along, answering the same questions and possibly even besting the wine experts. It's hosted by The Local Tourist's Theresa Carter and the Windy City Wine Guy, Michael Bottagliero -- no slouch in the wine department himself. Tickets are just $30.
The Local Tourist teams up with Tweating Out for the Chef's Table dining series, which ventures to Via Ventuno on April 29. For just $25, you'll sample food and wine from the latest in restaurateur Jerry Kleiner's stable (it had been Room 21 before a full re-imagining), and enjoy some face time with Kleiner himself. Tickets for this one are likely to go fast, so register soon.
I realize that sentence could trigger any number of responses. There's those who think balut is a tasty treat. Then there's those whose eyes get wide because they know about balut. And then you'd have the people like me who'd never heard of balut until now.
More after the jump--and seriously, if you're easily grossed out or don't eat meat, please don't read on.
From high-end to fast-food, Chicago restaurants are offering Tax Day deals tomorrow.
For $10 at Eve, you'll get a half-pound burger with Cheddar cheese, hand-cut fries, and a beer (either Stella Artois, Goose Island IPA, or Bud Light).
For a sweet ending - made all the sweeter, 'cause it's free - stop by a local Cinnabon for a Classic Bite (the chain's mini-buns) from 5 to 8 p.m.
Diners who mention it's Tax Day can eat tax-free at Chicago restaurants like Frasca and Atwood Café, and still other restaurants have drink deals (the most appropriate Tax Day promotion, if you ask me.)
Time Out Chicago celebrated its annual Eat Out Awards with a cocktail reception and awards ceremony at the Chicago Cultural Center Monday night, and around 150 people showed up to hob nob, sip wine and Goose Island's new Reserve beers (Matilda, Pere Jacques, Juliet and Sofie; the last two happened to be reviewed in this week's issue) and watch "Top Chef" winner Stephanie Izard host and find out who won what.
After an introduction from Izard, during which we learned that the invitation's estimate that her Drunken Goat would open this summer was a little optimistic (she guessed fall of '09 instead), TOC's Editor-in-Chief Frank Sennett and Executive Editor Amy Carr announced the Critics' Picks award winners.
Although the 21st Amendment would be ratified several months later, a great burden was lifted off the shoulders of soaks everywhere at midnight on April 7, 1933: prohibition of the sale of beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight. It's been 76 years, and America still loves to imbibe, so head over to Goose Island Brewery (1800 N. Clybourn) tonight from 6:30-9pm to celebrate with the Chicago History Museum. Beers, appetizers, lectures about Prohibition, and a limited edition History Pub Crawl brew are yours for the sipping. Tickets $45-50.
Hoosier Mama Pie's Paula Haney will share the ovens today with cooking personality Bertha Mason. The pair will be making mock apple pie -- which isn't an April Fool's joke at all, but a Depression era cost-cutting classic -- at the store, 1618-1/2 W. Chicago Ave., from noon to 4pm. Stop in for a taste and a laugh.
In a move to create a more locally sourced and sustainable menu at his restaurant, North Pond, chef Bruce Sherman is launching a series of Sunday meals created with food from his own front yard: the North Pond in Lincoln Park. Dishes will include a squirrel kebab, with dried wild strawberries and black radish; and slow-cooked Canada goose breasts with pea tendrils and smoked quinoa fritters. The new additions to the menu will not only appeal to diners worried about corporate farming practices, but the dishes will also help the restaurant weather the recession. Small, wild game animals take less time to cook, thus saving energy, and, coming from right outside the restaurant's door, they cost nothing. Full menus are online here.
In another effort to boost Chicago's application to host the Summer 2016 games, Mayor Daley has announced that city residents will be encouraged to take part in a special diet aimed at eating fresh foods and promoting stronger exercise habits. To sweeten the deal, unique incentives involving city services are being offered to those who can prove a weight loss of over ten pounds by Labor Day, among them parking ticket amnesty and priority ticket line placements for the Sox and Cubs' 2010 season. Not too shflabby! For your enjoyment, here are sample diet plans and exercise tips.
Soup and Bread, the weekly soup feed/fundraiser for the Chicago Food Depository that was spearheaded earlier this year by Martha Bayne, will come to a close for the season with tomorrow night's event (5-8pm at the Hideout, 1354 W Wabansia). The soup is free, but donations are encouraged. Bring your crew and their crew to partake, as they will be serving a mind-boggling ten soups (more than twice than what is normally offered), with a bevy of chefs at the helm, among them Farmer Vera Videnovich, musician Rob Bochnik of The Frames, Jeff Mueller of the Shipping News, and Martha herself, who assures us that this wonderful project (which we also happily participated in) will likely return next year.
The snowstorm last weekend put a bit of a damper on the sense of advancing spring, but on the floor of forest preserves around us, there are a few signs of spring. Sprouting from under all those brittle leaves of last year are ramps, a.k.a. wild leeks, after which Chicago was named.
Ramps have a wonderful garlicky flavor, and luckily for us insecure foragers, this garlicky smell works as a telltale sign that what you have just pulled out of the moist, thawing soil is what you think it is, not something else poisonous or inedible. Look for the beautiful aerodynamic shape of the green leaves, as well as the purple tint toward the bottom.
To prepare ramps, there's a whole array of possibilities, from a simple stir-fry to pasta to Chinese dumplings. If you need inspiration before heading out to the forest, though, try participating in the 2009 Annual RampFest, hosted by the Land Connection. On Friday, April 3, the Garfield Conservatory will be inundated with tasty ramp dishes created by chefs from Chicago's many a celebrated restaurnats (think Blackbird, Spacca Napoli, Prairie Grass Cafe, etc.) Reservations required at 847-570-0701.
Whether you're Irish or Catholic or neither or both, you can enjoy Irish music and fare at the Fifth Province within the Irish American Heritage Center. Every Friday through April 10, the Center hosts a fish fry and Irish music from bands like The Dooley Brothers and Seamus O'Kane & Jimmy Moore. Plenty of Irish beer and cider on tap, too. Music starts at 9pm. $12 cover.
Actor Dan Aykroyd will be at Binny's South Loop store (1132 S. Jefferson) tomorrow from 1-3pm to talk about his new winemaking ventures with DeLoach vineyards, as well as a separate project, Crystal Head Vodka. He'll sign bottles, pour a few glasses for the audience, and if you're lucky, he'll show you his webbed toes. I'm serious about the toes.
When the opportunity to write a post about City Provisions' March supper club event arrived in my inbox, the title of the email "Breakfast for Dinner" sold me on it right away. I love breakfast foods (who doesn't?) and really couldn't turn down the offer, even if I wanted to.
This past Sunday I joined 200 other beer geeks (including GB-er Mandy Burrell Booth) at Goose Island Clybourn for their Stout Fest, where we got to sample over 30 stouts and porters from 16 breweries.
I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the stout and porter styles. So why bother going to a beer fest that's solely featuring styles I don't normally drink? Simple--I got the opportunity to try a lot of different beers in these styles, which allowed me to quickly learn about them and gain an appreciation for them. And frankly, some of them blew me away.
Sunday is the start of World Water Week (which kicks off with a one-mile walk and other festivities at the Field Museum) and the Tap Project, a chance for the nation's restaurants and restaurant patrons to help bring clean water to children around the world. For the week, restaurants around Chicago will charge $1 for the tap water they normally provide for free, and the money raised will go to UNICEF's clean-water works. The Tap Project web site has a list of participating places in and around town. There's an inspiring variety, in terms of location and price point, including the Goddess & Grocer, Naha, Southwater Kitchen, Big Bowl and C-House, the kitchen featuring Marcus Samuelsson, celebrity chef and UNICEF Ambassador (and, some might say, tall, cool glass of water himself).
Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., Chicago's fine wine auction house, hosts a BYOB night at Blackbird for a wine friendly dinner paired with the cuisine of Chefs Paul Kahan and Mike Sheerin. Here's an occasion to break out that special bottle you've been saving or some gems from the cellars of HDH. The evening includes a Champagne reception and a four-course meal in the private dining room. Start perusing your cellar or the local wine shops now. Reservations required.
First Lady Michelle Obama will be using her enviably toned arms to break ground today for a fruit, vegetable and herb garden to be grown on the South Lawn of the White House. The last time the White House had a such a garden was when Franklin Roosevelt was president. Mrs. Obama plans for students from a local elementary school to assist her with the planting, maintenance and use of the products of the garden. If the food doesn't interest you, perhaps honey from the two hives that will also be maintained on the Lawn will sweeten the deal. I love this woman!
As I inhaled a plate of paneer makhani at Uru-Swati last weekend, I wondered if I could ever make such a heavenly dish in my own kitchen. I could follow a recipe, but because I'm more Elisabeth Hasselback than Joy Behar when it comes to cooking, the "Passage to India" lecture that the Culinary HIstorians of Chicago will be holding tomorrow at the Ranjana Bhargava Indian Cooking School is right up my alley. Cookbook author and chef Suvir Saran will talk about how to use, cook with, and store spices common to Indian cuisine, and will be signing copies of his many books (American Masala, Indian Home Cooking) afterward. Lecture admission is $3-$5; event runs 10am-noon at 6730 South Euclid. RSVP required. Also, ChicaGourmets will be offering a $39 post-lecture luncheon at the school.
If all of our recent talk about vegetarianism and veganism has got you thinking about reducing or eliminating your meat intake, try joining today's Meatout and go meatless for the day.
Meatout, which occurs annually on March 20th (or the first day of spring), is sponsored by the nonprofit group FARM, Farm Animal Rights Movement, which advocates plant-based diets. Held since 1985, FARM uses this event as a way to educate people about living a meat-free lifestyle. In Chicago, you'll find people leafleting and hosting informational tables at various locales. Or you can celebrate by sending friends some e-cards.
Lakeview candy store Candyality, which is on a mission to associate each customer's candy choice with his or her personality, thus creating a candyality, is holding a Jelly Belly Trunk Show on Saturday, April 4th . There won't be Jelly-embellished frocks and totes to fight over, but Candy lovers will get to sample Jelly Belly flavors, and decide whether Very Cherry is the new black or if Jalapeno really is hot. The Jelly Belly Mobile will roll into town, as will Mr. Jelly Belly himself. No word on whether Earwax and the other edgy, flavor-forward beans will make an appearance.
The trunk show is from 11am to 4pm; Candyality is at 3425 N Southport Avenue.
While I'm not too big on getting wasted under a giant green top hat on St. Patrick's day, if someone asks me to get a tasty Irish pub grub or two, I'm game. I confess that my flirtation with Irish pub food doesn't have a long history, and that I don't really know what "authentic" Irish food is supposed to be. (Hell, I haven't even been to Britain, let alone Ireland.) But in the recent few years, I've found some pretty good Irish food on this side of the Atlantic (and of Lake Michigan, for that matter). Here are two suggestions for the upcoming Green Weekend.
Fado, an Irish bar-cum-sports bar on the corner of Grand & Clark in downtown, has a great dish called Trinity Steak Boxty. It's sort of like garlicky, whisky-y beef stew made with plenty of onion and mushrooms, served over Irish potato pancakes (which is what a boxty is, I have learned). The galicky sauce has a rich, caramelized flavor, and clings beautifully to the boxty that's crispy on the outside, tender and starchy on the inside. As I said, I don't know if that's the way it's supposed to be. But it's a great pub food all the same.
If you've been waiting to get a swig of Popskull, the German Brown Ale collaboration between Three Floyds and Dogfish Head Ales, your wait is over. In Fine Spirits (5420 N. Clark) is the first bar to get one of the four cask ales that were produced, and they'll be tapping it tomorrow, starting at 4 PM. Both pints and half-pints will be available, but In Fine Spirits warns that the cask holds about 80 pints, so quantities will be limited.
If you get there too late, you can still drink other fine Three Floyds and Dogfish Head brews and chat with John Freyer from Dogfish Head Ales and Lincoln Anderson from Three Floyds.
A limited number of barrels of Popskull will be released during Three Floyds' annual Dark Lord Day celebration at the end of April.
It seems like just yesterday I was knocking on doors and pawning cookies to strangers in the hopes that I would get the badge for selling the most cookies. Sadly, that was a very long time ago and I just recently became aware that not only do I miss those days, but I missed the days when I could order my very own boxes of cookies. Thankfully, oh heavens, thankfully the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana have posted locations, dates, and times of when they'll be selling cookies near you. Now to just decide which girl I want to win that badge so I can buy her stash.
Do you remember celebrating Pi Day in high school? The cornucopia of baked goods, trucked in by your fellow math students, slathered in frosted runes of Greek letters and long chains of numbers. Extra credit for pi haikus, songs, skits, and a big party at 3:14pm. Maybe it was just my high school (we also celebrated Mole Day in the chemistry department). If you feel like you missed out on the adolescent pi-apalooza, the Illinois Science Council, with the help of some local bakeries, has you covered.
Several area bakeries have been strong-armed by the math folks (see how the tables have turned?) into offering some special pi/pie deals this Pi Day, Saturday, March 14. Bennisons Bakery in Evanston is slashing prices on their 4-inch pies to a familiar sounding $3.14. Bleeding Heart will be offering a special themed pie and cupcake, as is their wont for just about any celebrate-able event (or zombie). And Café Selmarie has mini apple streusel pies for $3.14, family-sized pies for $13.14 in a slight breach of pi number etiquette. Feed your inner math geek!
Speaking of cupcakes, Baking for the Taking in Edgebrook is creating custom commemorative bearded cupcakes as a promotion for Things My Beard Can Lift. For every dozen cupcakes you order through March 14, Baking for the Taking will donate $10 to the fundraiser. The cupcakes are $20 per dozen, and come in flavors including the standard chocolate and vanilla, red velvet, carrot and banana, plus a variety of frosting flavors. You can mix and match as you wish, and even have them delivered for an extra $5.
Things My Beard Can Lift is the brainchild of Eamon Daly, whose beard is also doing the lifting. For every $100 raised, he adds another pound to the total weight he lifts each Friday, using a special beard clamp and chains. This past week, he picked up a 31-pound mountain bike. The proceeds from the fundraiser benefit Off the Street Club, Chicago's oldest boys and girls club.
Mike Phillips, a barista at Intelligentsia's Broadway store and last year's Great Lakes Regional Barista Championship winner, is one of the six finalists in the U.S. Barista Championship. Three other finalists are from Intelligentsia's Los Angeles outpost, and another, Scott Lucey, is from Alterra Coffee in Milwaukee.
Wondering what goes on at a barista competition? The finals will be streaming live at the USBC website; they're scheduled to run from 2-4:30 Central time this afternoon, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter.
UPDATE: Phillips is the winner! His final score was 730 points, besting second place Nick Griffith of Intelligentsia LA (719.5 points) and third place Scott Lucey of Alterra Coffee (697.5 points).
Looking for a cheap vacation destination? Look no further than Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., which will host the 15th Biennial United States Championship Cheese Contest from March 17 to 19. The event is free and open to the public, including tasty samples of the more than 1,300 cheeses and butters entered by dairy masters from across the nation. If an event touted as the "Super Bowl of dairy product contests" doesn't scream road trip, I don't know what does.
If you'd rather stay closer to home, Prairie Grass Cafe is highlighting local artisanal cheese throughout March. Featured dishes include pizza with arugula pesto; prosciutto and Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese; and chopped romaine and Three Sisters Garden pea shoots with apple, Capriole Farm goat cheese and crispy shallots.
If you weren't able to take part in last week's Chicago Restaurant Week, you now have until this Friday to take in $22 lunch and $32 dinner prix-fixe meals at a range of top-shelf restaurants in the city. But the long list of restaurants who participated this past week aren't obligated to retain their special menu, so call ahead so you don't keel when the bill arrives.
Drive-Thru's Andie Thomalla will be teaming up with Time Out Chicago's Scott Smith and other TOC staffers, Helen Rosner of MenuPages Chicago, Michael Nagrant of Hungry Mag, Laura Stolpman from Chicagoist, Ron and Chef Phillip Foss from Lockwood, for tonight's "Top Chef" season five finale over at the Time Out blog. The liveblogging action begins at around 8:30pm.
We spent all night slaving away for your taste buds! Come to The Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia tonight for a bowl of tasty soup cooked by the Drive-Thru staff (along with soups from Columbia film prof Dan Rybicky and dietitian Bettina Tahsin, and fresh-baked bread from Hugh Amano) as part of the bar's weekly Soup and Bread event, which is a fundraiser for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Donations encouraged. Event begins at 5pm.
And if you want to continue the soupiness, Custom House is holding a Soup Off cooking contest this Sunday (500 S. Dearborn). For $15, guests will sample and judge soups made by a bevy of local chefs such as Shawn McClain (of Spring) and Carrie Nahabedian (of Naha). A judge's panel will decide the winner with the audience's help. Event runs 1pm-4pm and is also a benefit for the Food Depository.
On Thursday night, as many Chicagoans were nestled on their sofas in front of NBC's must-see TV, an adventurous group of chefs (professional and amateur) and an equally adventurous group of mac-n-cheese lovers gathered at Goose Island in Lakeview for a macaroni-n-cheese sMACkdown. The event was to culminate in not only the city's MACDaddy, the champion cheese and macaroni chef, but also with some cheddar (as in dollars) for the Organic School Project, an organization committed to bringing healthy food to Chicago public schools.
Among the chefs who had submitted dishes were Stephanie Izard, last year's Top Chef winner; Guiseppi Tentori, from Boka; Goose Island's chef, Andrew Hroza; and an eight-year-old boy who had prepared a dish topped with crushed potato chips. Awaiting these chefs were three pasta-embellished trophies, and for the MACDaddy, the glory of having his or her recipe added to the OSP food served at Alcott Elementary School.
The Arab-Israeli Cookbook premiers March 5 at the Storefront Theater. The play mixes stories and recipes bases on actual interviews in order to demonstrate a common culture and common experiences between Arabs and Israelis living in the conflict. Chicago DCA Theater's Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph Street, March 5 through April 5.
On Tuesday, March 3, Crain's Chicago Business and "Check, Please!" will host a party at Texas de Brazil to videotape people from all over Chicago talking about their favorite spots to meet for a business breakfast, lunch or dinner. Crain's will post a selection of these segments to its web site, ChicagoBusiness.com.
The party isn't a free-for-all, though. You must register here, and the deciders will let you know if you're in.
Still haven't made Valentine's Day reservations yet? Here are a few more options. (Phone first; prices do not include tax or gratuity.)
Now stop dilly-dallying, before all the good tables are taken!
May Street Market's Valentine's Day menu runs Thursday, Feb. 12, through Saturday, Feb. 14. The West Town spot will feature a three-course, prix-fixe menu, plus an amuse bouche canapé. The cost per person is $60, or $85 with wine pairings.
Morton's The Steakhouse will feature a special Wildflower Champagne Cocktail, an imported - and edible - wild hibiscus flower topped with Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne, all yours for $16.
Uncommon Ground is also mixing it up with Valentine's Day cocktails, including Sky Rockets in Flight, with sparking wine, St. Germaine, Mata Hari absinthe, and a sugar cube; and the Latin Lover, a "Tall, Dark & Spicy Haute Cocoa spiked with Kahlua, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon hearts." (Sexy.) A three-course dinner is $35 per person, or $55 per person with wine pairings.
Bruce Sherman has put together a special tasting menu for Valentine's Day guests at North Pond, featring dishes with tantalizing ingredients such as black truffles, lobster and passion fruit. Cost is $100 per guest, or $150 with wine pairings.
Sepia has big and little eaters covered with the five-course "Eros" menu for $70, and the three-course "Cupid" menu for $55.
At Logan Square gem Lula, they'll be whipping up a special menu featuring soup, salad, pasta, and steak, plus artisanal cheeses and pastries, for $70 per person.
In addition to a full menu, Volo in Roscoe Village will also offer a $35 three-course, prix fixe dinner, with custom wine pairing for $30 extra.
The Culinary Historians of Chicago will be talking about the culinary history of Australia tomorrow with chefs Naomi Levine of Tipsy Cake Bakery, author/chef Jon-Antony of Table 52, and author Cynthia Clampitt from 10am to noon at Kendall College, 900 N. North Branch St. Admission is $5, $3 for students and members and no charge for CHC members. RSVP required.
For all the brahs out there looking for a sizzling gift for their lady friends, Isabella Fine Lingerie in Lincoln Park is hosting its first Beers, Brats and Bras shopping event on Sunday from 11am to 5pm. The shop's web site notes that many a fine woman in town has purchased a bra from Isabella already, so they just might have a dossier on your lady's sizes and styles. If not, the store has some expert fitters on hand who can narrow down anyone's size or style, particularly if a guy happens to have a photo (shot from the waist up) of his intended lingerie recipient. Guys too busy on Sunday can still shop for bras with brew in hand during Isabella's extended hours, next Thrusday and Friday from 5 to 8pm.
Isabella Fine Lingerie is at 840 W Armitage Avenue (773-281-2352).
Pairing cheese with wine is pretty common, but did you know that beer also makes a wonderful accompaniment to cheese? Marion Street Cheese Market (100 S. Marion, Oak Park) aims to take the mystery out of pairing the two with a class on Monday February 16 at 7 PM.
At the event, Dave Phillips, a board member of the Chicago Beer Society and former Chief Editor of Dairy Foods magazine, will match six cheeses and beers and discuss the finer points of each. You'll learn about both beer and cheese and also how to best match them. The beer list will include offerings from Jolly Pumpkin, Sierra Nevada and Lost Abbey, and the cheese menu will feature selections from Jasper Hill Farm and Cowgirl Creamery.
Although Marion Street Cheese Market is in Oak Park, it's stumbling distance from the Harlem Stop on the Green Line, which means you've got a designated driver. Tickets cost $30. For more information and registration, call 708-725-7200.
I think Smoove B. Love would agree that your special ladyfriend will swoon if you take her to any of these swanky spots for the Big Day. (Hint: It's next Saturday.) Reservations are recommended, and in some cases required, so phone first.
At Blackbird, $115 buys diners a special tasting menu featuring flounder with hazelnut, Swiss chard and blood orange molasses, short rib with passion fruit and carob, and more - including sparkling wine.
Feast is serving a three-course Valentine's menu that includes your choice of an appetizer or shared appetizer; a main course; dessert; and a glass of sparkling rosé, all for $45 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
Marigold is seducing diners on Feb. 13 and 14 with its signature Kama Sutra Tasting Menu, priced at $50 per couple or $70 per couple with a bottle of wine, plus tax and gratuity. All couples will leave with a complimentary copy of Marigold's sexy Kama Sutra book.
Province will offer a three-course Valentine's Day menu with your choice of appetizer and entrée, and a dessert for two with warm pineapple shortcake, chocolate flan, chocolate and rum shots. Cost is $45 per person.
For those who need lots of options, HB Home Bistro is offering both a special à la carte menu on Valentine's Day, and a $75-per-couple, four-course prix fixe for two, featuring a shellfish feast entrée.
You can pick and choose from The Gage's Valentine's Day à la carte menu, but if you decide to go nuts and order all five courses, you may as well splurge on the special wine package, which costs $35 for 3 oz. pours to complement all five courses.
If chocolate and champagne are your thing, make an advanced reservation at either Kinzie Chophouse or Mambo Grill, both of which are offering a complimentary champagne toast and box of chocolates to couples who mention the promotion when they make their reservations. Kinzie's Valentine's Day menu features a salad, pasta, entrée and dessert, for $99.95 without wine, $119.95 with wine pairings. Mambo will shake things up with live music.
Get in the mood at Dine, where jazz guitarist Lee Barrie will serenade guests from 6:30 until 10 p.m. on Valentine's Day. Dine is also offering a special menu that night.
LTH Forum alerted its faithful readers that if you plan to visit the Dining Room at Kendall College between January 8 and May 31, tell your student server that you're "a guest of the Dean." You'll get an extra course in return. This offer is valid Tuesday-Friday.
The Culinary Historians of Chicago will be sponsoring a lecture, the "Sweet History of French Pastry," tomorrow (Saturday) at Kendall College, 900 North Branch, from 10am to noon. Keli Fayard of Vanille Patisserie will share her vast knowledge of pastry history, and will be bringing along her wares for your sampling. Admission is $5, $3 for students and members and no charge for CHC members. RSVP requested.
If you're a mac-n-cheese enthusiast, or perhaps, a mac-n-cheese expert, ready to take on the mac-making skills of local chefs such as Chris Pandel (from the Bristol), Stephanie Izard (Top Chef winner) or Giuseppe Tentori (from Boka), then mark your calendars for Thursday, Feb. 19th. The Organic School Project will christen one professional or amateur chef MACdaddy at their 2009 SMACKDOWN, a macaroni and cheese showdown at Goose Island in Lakeview. Homecooks and chefs will go head to head, in a chance for the MACdaddy title and for the glory of having his or her mac-n-cheese served up at schools offering an OSP lunch. Guests will get the chance to sample all of the gooey creations, and to sip a special MACtini cocktail created for the event by Adam Segar from Nacional 27. For information, visit the SMACKDOWN's web site.
The Chinese New Year is Monday, so ring in the Year of the Ox at the following places:
Chinatown! The annual parade kicks off from 24th and Wentworth this Sunday at 1pm, and you can find info about events in the neighborhood here.
Ben Pao will be offering specials through January 31 such as Xiao Long Bao and Long Life Noodles with Braised Oxtail, all to be washed down with a Lucky Oxentini.
Beginning Monday, Opera will be serving a special menu highlighting the cuisine of different regions in China each week; the series will cover foods from the Beijing, Schezwan, Canton, Shanghai and Hainan regions and runs until March 1.
Flat Top Grill will have dancing lions and an astrology consultant at their city locations on Monday and suburban locations on Tuesday.
Or you can stay home and make this delicious recipe for Chinese BBQ ribs. Need some help picking appropriate wines for the occasion?
Five Star Bar in River West has got a fantastic list of bourbons, whiskeys, and scotches--nearly 100 to keep you occupied. That's great, but if you don't know much about these liquors, you wouldn't even know where to start. Enter Whiskey University, a new monthly class series led by Whiskey Professor Steve Cole. Cole is one of three Whiskey Professors who travel the globe for Beam Global Spirits & Wine.
Each two-hour class will feature different aspects of the liquor. The first session, this Saturday, January 31, will look at bourbon, its history, and how to read a bourbon label. You'll also sample four different bourbons: Basil Hayden's, Knob Creek, Baker's and Booker's. Coming months will feature different liquors and topics.
Class is in session from 4-6 PM. Tuition is $10 per class, $5 for industry professionals. It's highly recommended you reserve a space, so call the bar at 312-850-2555.
I got a jump on the rest of the city on Thursday, when Gapers Block hosted a "staff-tivity" at the brewery in Ravenswood. We got to sample two of Metropolitan Brewing's delicious beers, the Dynamo Copper Lager and Flywheel Bright Lager, while noshing on sandwiches and fries complements of Hopleaf. I loved the Dynamo, a beautifully balanced beer with a crisp finish -- very drinkable. The Flywheel is a bit sweeter up front, but still has a smooth, dry finish befitting a German lager.
Entertainment was on point: to help celebrate Metropolitan's kick-off, the Neo-Futurists are using the brewery as a stage for the aptly-named "Beer," running Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between Jan. 31 and March 7. We got a sneak peek at the show, which tells the story of 10-year-old Boon, who passes out drunk after drinking his stepfather's crappy beer, and awakens to find himself and his puppet buddy, Puke, in a mysterious brewery. To get home, they must learn how to brew delicious beer. It's a great idea -- the Wizard of Oz meets Willy Wonka, for beer-lovers -- made that much better by staging it at a real brewery.
So, to recap, here's an idea for a fun night out next Thursday: check out "Beer," and then go drink some (of Metropolitan's) at one of the lucky bars featuring Chicago's newest brew.
Start planning! Chicago Restaurant Week 2009 will be February 20-27, with some new faces this year (the Gage, Japonais) and returning participants like Naha and Aria. Three-course prix-fixe lunches are $22 (and dinners $32) this year, which of course doesn't include the gigantic bottle of Cris you'll be ordering with your meal. Because at these prices, we can all afford to live The Good Life.
Bring your water bath and cellulose kit to the Chicago Cultural Center (77 E. Washington) tonight @ 6pm for the (free) Chemistry of Cooking event featuring Moto's Homaru Cantu and his partner Linda Kawano, who will be talking about his work with molecular gastronomy.
The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, is launching a new weekly dining event on Wednesdays from 5pm to 8pm through April 1: Soup and Bread.
Here's how it works: Every Wednesday this winter the Hideout presents a free weekly dinner featuring soup created by Hideout staff, regulars, local chefs, and maybe even a few "celebrities." We're aiming for three soups per week -- but some days there might be more, or less. What goes in the pot is up to our guest soup chefs. Because they are volunteering their time and energy, we're not going to be bossy and tell them what to make (vegetarians, we're doing our best to ensure that there'll be at least one meatless option each week--but no guarantees!).
ALL SOUP IS FREE -- but we will pass the hat each week. Donations will go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which can do a better job of feeding the truly hungry than a few well-meaning barflies can.
The inaugural soup chefs on Jan. 7 will be Hideout bartender Anastasia Davies Hinchsliff, Celestial Kitchens pastry chef Celeste Dolan and Swim Cafe.
The spring listings for the World Kitchen learning series are online and registration is open. Classes about cooking with curry (Jan 24), cheese (Feb 28), and Japanese food (Mar 19) are on the bill. Most classes are $30 and will be held at the Gallery 37 Center for the Arts, 66 East Randolph.
Last week, Jill Jaracz and I tried (and posted about) some Laurent-Perrier champagne at the Four Seasons. Where, you may have asked yourself, could I try this intriguing yet pricey beverage before purchasing myself or my loved ones a bottle? Fox & Obel has you covered. They're hosting a Laurent-Perrier champagne tasting tonight, from 6 to 7pm, and $25 will get you sips off several L-P bottles, including Ultra Brut and Grand Siecle, as well as a discount on anything you purchase in the store following the class. Reserve a place here. (Or sometimes, if you just happen to pop into Fox & Obel after one of their classes is over, there are occasionally half-empty bottles that need some help before landing in the recycling bin, nudge nudge.)
If you miss tonight's session, Fox & Obel is hosting another champagne shopping event, this time featuring Egly-Ouriet, next Monday, December 22, same time and price.
Chef's Table is an event series launched last month to grant regular foodies "exclusive access and one-on-one interaction" with some of Chicago's leading chefs -- without the exorbitant price tag that would usually accompany such access. It's the brainchild of The Local Tourist and Tweating Out. Each month, no more than 30 people -- "We didn't want it to become like a lecture," says TLT's Theresa Carter -- visit a local restaurant where they enjoy wine and food in a casual, intimate setting. At the first event, held at Powerhouse, 215 N. Clinton, featured Executive Chef Jeff Mauro's re-imagining of steakhouse fare, such as butterflied colossal shrimp with vanilla creme and aged balsamic, lump crab cakes and pulled pork mini-sandwiches. The conversation was lively, both with the chef and without, and the low cost -- just $25 per person -- meant everyone got a deal compared to a typical bill there.
This Wednesday, Dec. 17, the Chef's Table will be at D.O.C. Wine Bar, 2602 N. Clark St., where Chef Andrew Easterday and Manager and Wine Director Adam Moore will mingle with the group. There were still spots available as I wrote this. Register now!
What could be cooler than being in culinary school and winning a trip to the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal because of your talents? Next year two Kendall College culinary students will do just that, having won the first Cockburn's Culinary Competition, which put students to the test of pairing entrees with Cockburn's Special Reserve Port.
Last Wednesday, Kendall hosted the final round of this competition, where three teams of two vied for this prize. Fellow GB-staffer Lori Barrett and I attended this event, where we got to sample Cockburn's ports and taste all three finalists' dishes.
Saturday, December 13 was Santa Lucia's Day. Only I wouldn't have known, if we hadn't gone to Tre Kronor--a popular Swedish cafe on Foster--for breakfast. There was a big Christmas tree with lots of golden ornaments, and everywhere on the walls were wreaths with red and gold ribbons. It was bustling as usual with tons of customers filling the dim room with happy buzz, and we were lucky to get a window-side table for two in a quiet corner. On the table was a long white candle that I didn't remember from our last time there.
When the server guy came over to take our order, he mentioned that it was Santa Lucia's Day in Sweden, which is why they had special "saffron buns" on the menu. Instead of our usual side of cinnamon roll, we decided to try a saffron bun, and ordered from the daily specials. We sipped coffee, watching young servers whisk around plates of omelets and eggs Benedicts. In a few minutes, the saffron bun (called lussekatt in Swedish) showed up--it was shaped like a flower with four petals, two of which held a raisin each. Sprinkled with a few rock sugar candy and dyed with threads of saffron, the yeasty bun was rich and moist. Although this rather bland bread wouldn't be my favorite bread, knowing that it was a traditional item associated with this specific day made it feel quite special. (It made me remember all the traditional foods of Japanese holidays in my childhood that had undoubtedly been special in the old days but my modern palate didn't particularly enjoy.)
Yes, it's the season for giving yet again. And what better gift than champagne, that most sparkly and celebratory of all beverages? Yes, you could break out the Andre and a sheepish yet hopeful smile, but it's Christmas! Lexus and Best Buy and every other merchant in America would have you believe we can wish and spend this recession into the past -- so why not go for the good stuff and pick up some Laurent-Perrier this year? Or if you're really feeling flush, the 2008 Laurent-Perrier holiday gift set, featuring a magnum (i.e. the one that's "juuuuuust right") of Grand Siecle and six hand-blown Baccarat crystal champagne flutes based on a design commissioned by the champagnerie in 1965 reflecting an inversion of the bottle's shape. Thanks to the Laurent-Perrier press unveiling at the Four Seasons this past week, fellow GB-staffer Jill Jaracz and I can vouch for the fact that it is lavishly lovely -- and the champagne is good as well. More details (and the price!) after the fold.
In the imaginary Alaskan city of Jewish refugees that Michael Chabon created for "Yiddish Policemen's Union," a latke was a beat officer, cleverly nicknamed after the round, flat top of their uniform hats. In our not-so-imaginary city, a latke is still what it has always been--a potato pancake. So, when the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies says it wants the best latke in Chicago, it doesn't mean they're looking for the best and greatest among our police department. They're looking for yummy potato pancakes.
Email your best latke recipe, along with a little write-up of "why this latke is the best in Chicago" to latkes@spertus.edu. If your recipe is selected by "a committee of Jewish Kitchen Divas" as the greatest, you'll be invited for a live latke battle on Sunday, December 14, against chef Laura Frankel, who spearheads the Wolfgang Puck at Spertus.
Recipe competitors get to attend the latke battle and brunch on December 14 for free, while spectators pay $45 for buffet brunch, latkes (of course!) and recipes starting at 11 am. The real show--the latke cook-off--will start at 12:30, and will be judged by Ina Pinkney (chef & owner of Ina's on Randolph) and Aaron Freeman (comedian). The slots for recipe competitors are limited. For reservation and more information, call 312-322-1757 or go to the event page.
You might hear the sounds of dueling champagne corks, as both Binny's Lakeview and Sam's Wines & Spirits South Loop host their grand sparkling wine tastings tonight from 5PM - 8PM. Sam's costs $50 ($37.50 for Sam's Rewards card holders), and Binny's costs $60 ($50 for Binny's card holders). Both feature over a hundred sparkling wines from all around the world: Cava from Spain, Prosecco from Italy, sparkling wine from the U.S., and, of course, Champagne from France.
I've been to the Binny's event a couple of times, and it's a lot of fun to sample so many different kinds and figure out which labels you prefer. Plus they'll be offering the expensive stuff, and if that's out of your price range, here's your opportunity to taste what the fuss is all about. It also doesn't hurt that you get a discount on the bubbly you buy that night. One word of advice though: Get there on time, and head straight for the big names like Roederer Cristal and Veuve Clicquot. Those tables tend to be crowded, and the supply is limited, so get it while it's available. The Cook's Brut can wait.
Hammond, Indiana, home of Ralphie Parker, the beleaguered boy hero of A Christmas Story, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the movie. This Saturday, as part of the festivities, kids (and adults, if they want to join the over-18-year olds) can reenact the scene where Ralphie's brother, Randy, eats his mashed potatoes and meatloaf like a little piggy. Registration for the mashed-potato-eating contest starts at 10 am at the Welcome Center, at 7770 Corrine Drive in Hammond. And remember, contestants: no hands allowed when you tuck into your plates of mashed potatoes.
The Drive-Thru staffers have food on the brain this week, notably the cooking missteps of past Thanksgivings. For your viewing humor...
"Taking a traditional item off the menu has always backfired in my family. Green rice casserole (a tantalizing amalgamation of rice, broccoli and Velveeta cheese) has long been a staple; one year, my aunt decided to contribute "something different." I can't tell you what that something was, but I do recall the general outcry from the rest of my extended family: 'Where's the green rice casserole?! No green rice casserole?!?! What's Thanksgiving without green rice casserole?!'"
"I spent several Thanksgivings at my grandparents' country club, where they offered other entrée choices besides turkey. My mom would always order lamb or duck, which I considered sacrilege. Even if you are eating out, how can you not have turkey on Thanksgiving?"
"Fat free mashed potatoes."
"When I was about 12, we had Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant. The food was fine, but I just kept worrying about the staff. Surely they would have rather spent the day with their own families, rather than mine."
"Turkey Hot Pockets."
"When the guy in charge of cooking the turkey gets so trashed the night before that he can hardly get the turkey started and had a personal bucket at hand for most of the day. Needless to say, his normally delicious bird wasn't so good."
"I did overcook a turkey once. The thermometer that came with the bird was supposed to pop up once the bird is cooked through, but it was stuck. None of us realized this, and the bird ended up sitting in the oven for about four hours. Needless to say, it was dry as the Gobi."
"I've hosted a few meals at Thanksgiving, so I've had the chance to come up with a lot of bad ideas. A few years ago, when Glad first came out with these plastic dishes that were supposed to go from the refrigerator to the microwave or oven, I filled one up with stuffing (which I made myself, and was feeling really proud of) and put it right in the oven. I hadn't read the directions, which said to put the pan on a cookie sheet if you put it in the oven. The plastic pan melted in on my stuffing and filled my kitchen with vile fumes."
"For the first Thanksgiving turkey I ever cooked, I went to the farmers' market and fell in love with the idea of a free range turkey. The one I brought home was really tiny and muscley, and still had some feathers on it. It made for a disgusting cooking experience, I felt, having to pull the feathers out. And it made a bad meal; there was hardly any meat on it. I don't think my mother-in-law was impressed."
"When I was in college, I drove to my sister's place for Thanksgiving. I brought cheap, hardly palatable food from the local Wal-Mart--a deli rotisserie chicken instead of turkey, canned gravy and instant mashed potatoes--I was a poor student and it showed. But she supplied the mushrooms. Yeah, those kind. Despite the attempt to make the holiday an eccentric evening, neither of our contributions were that memorable."
Thanksgiving in Chicago kicks off with U of C's annual Latke/Hamantash Debate, which is tonight at 7pm (admission is free) at the Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. Faculty will argue the merits of the heralded potato pancake and the Purim-related pastry, there will be pre-show entertainment and a sampling (for $5) of each candidate at the end. I hope no one wins, they're both good.
Even though leaving your house might seem insane in the cold weather we're enduring, you may want to get your three layers on and head to the Family Farmed Expo at the Chicago Cultural Center, which runs today through Sunday. Cooking demonstrations from heavyweights Rick Bayless (Frontera/Topolobampo), Paul Kahan (Blackbird, Publican) and Gale Gand (Tru) are on the bill, along with lectures on sustainable eating, low-carbon diets, and farming. Vendors such as Chicago Honey Co-op and Growing Home will be selling their wares. The event kicks off tonight with Localicious!, a wine and cheese soiree featuring locally produced foods. Ticket packages $15-60.
Tim Van Orden, a marathon runner and athlete who maintains a raw, vegan diet has been in Chicago for the past few days, starting with a run up the stairs of the Sears Tower on the 9th. He's been speaking about the benefits of a raw diet and his Running Raw Project, and sharing ideas for Thanksgiving with Chicago's raw-food community. Tomorrow night is Van Orden's last appearance in town. He'll be at Karyn's Fresh Corner at 7.pm. (1901 North Halsted St., 312-255-1590). If he inspires you to become an elite athlete with a raw diet, and you happen to have enough money for the plane fare, you can start training for the next Raw Olympics.
Taste some pie this weekend and help support the budding careers of local teens. Blue Sky Bakery and Cafe, a nonprofit that offers job training and opportunities for creative expression to at-risk and homeless youth, is hosting a pie-tasting event at the bakery on Saturday and Sunday, from noon until 3 pm. The $5 fee will get you a sample of four desserts and a coffee, tea or hot apple cider. The young bakers will be preparing chocolate pecan, apple and pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake, not only for the weekend tasting but for the duration of the holiday season.
Hearty Boys Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh recently hosted a mixer at their studio space in boystown. Sponsored by KitchenAid, with plenty of product integration love (the event was titled, "Kitchenaid Mixer" -- get it??) and jovial namedropping by the Boys (the "product placement sock puppets" of the evening), the event combined cooking demonstrations and a KitchenAid giveaway -- both whole, glowing stand mixer and party favors of blessedly non-mechanized kitchen tools...like a melon baller -- with plenty of champagne and snacks. Not the worst way to spend a rainy Thursday evening.
Smith and McDonagh will be familiar to Food Network watchers thanks to winning the eponymous reality show a few years back. The only openly gay couple with a dedicated TV show, they now film their Food Network show in a kitchen/TV-studio in Boystown, an experience Smith sums up as an "open bar, knives, and no insurance." In addition to making the studio space available for private events, the Boys also have a few other upcoming public events, some of which you can check out here, if you're inclined to spend an evening with an open bar, knives, and well, you get the picture. Check out a great recipe for entertaining from the last shindig after the fold (and trust me, a combination of this much cheese and butter is worth reading on).
Members of the esteemed foodie site LTH Forum met tonight at Uptown's Sun Wah BBQ to announce their 2008-9 Great Neighborhood Restaurant awards. While the crowd ate an impressive spread of pork belly and pumpkin, garlicky spareribs and won ton soup, the following restaurants were recognized:
If you were able to score tickets to the Obama rally Tuesday night in Grant Park (or weren't and plan to go anyway), here are some nearby places for your eating enjoyment, so you can later withstand several hours of waiting for election results in a large crowd of people:
The Trib reports on the produce that gives the shopper reason to run back to the familiar safety of old standbys like bananas and celery--such as cactus-like nopales and horned melon. For me, the real frightfest is determining the level of decomposition that produce that I've hidden away in my fridge has attained, and, um, whether it's still edible. I'm not above cutting off moldy or other "iffy" spots on perishables before scarfing them down, and I think we've all eaten leftovers that we forgot to throw in the fridge immediately when we got back from the restaurant.
Not to start the week of on a sour note, but you know that as the seasons change, so end the remaining outdoor farmers markets in the city. Here is a list of a few that are closing up shop this week:
Tuesday:
Federal Plaza, Adams and Dearborn. 7am-3pm.
Museum of Contemporary Art/Streeterville,.Chicago & Mies van der Rohe Way. 10am-6pm.
Lincoln Square, Lincoln/Leland/Western. 7am-2pm.
South Chicago, 2650 E. 83rd. 9am-4pm.
On Thursday evening at the Merchandise Mart, NEFF of Chicago hosted a fund-raiser for the Organic School Project. The evening was also hosted by Chicago Social and featured food from Greg Christian catering loosely based on what the OSP serves to public-school kids at Alcott Elementary school. (Christian founded the OSP.) Lauren Pett from Rich Chocolates manned a table full of mini mint-chocolate chip truffles, dark chocolate flavored with chai and other sweet treats. Hosts NEFF, meanwhile, launched a ten-week period in which the luxury cabinet manufacturer will donate 10% of every cabinetry project sold to the OSP. So, if you're in the market for some cabinets with sexy curves or a unique holographic finish, now's the time to hit the NEFF showroom.
Money from sources like this is important to the Organic School Project. They currently feed the kids at Alcott with very little money from the USDA's National School Lunch Program or the Chicago Public School System. It's becoming more widely recognized that the money schools get from the NSLP barely pays for food, once salaries, transportation and equipment is factored into the equation.
Join members of LTH Forum on November 3 for their Great Neighborhood Restaurants Awards, which will be held at past GNR awards recipient Sun Wah BBQ (1134 West Argyle). Nominees for this year include Avec, Brown Sack, CND Gyros and Lounge, and the Violet Hour. RSVP required through LTH Forum; tickets are $45 (dinner included).
Starfruit is throwing a "customer appreciation party" tonight from 6pm to 8pm at the store at 1745 W. Division St. Get free fall toppings on your fro-yo (actually, fro-kefir), including apple cobbler crumbles, pumpkin shaped sprinkles and bits of pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. There will also be a raffle to win a free six-month membership to Wicker Park Fitness or Blackhawks tickets.
Whether you stop by the store or not, you can create your fro-kefir and topping combo and submit it on their website (I'd point directly to where to do that, but the site is entirely in very slow Flash) for a chance to be the "Creation of the Month" for November.
Can chocolate and art create hope and generate inspiration? That was the unlikely question posed on the young artists who participated in the Create Chocolate, Create Hope contest. Held by ethel's Chocolate Lounge, the contest asked the participants 1) to create a graphic design to appear on the surface of ethel's limited edition chocolate collection and 2) to write an essay on the possibility of chocolate and art creating hope.
Last Thursday, four winners of the contest--Emily Poniatowski, Kate Riley, Miguel Delgado and Dennise Isidoro--were at ethel's location at 871 W. Armitage to present their designs to all gathered--family, friends, and the media (which is what I fall under). All four of the winners are aspiring artists--either in school or working on their own. As such, they were visibly excited to see their own designs neatly printed on little square pieces of chocolate, as an employee of ethel's marched around the room with a tray of chocolates with winning designs.
Join photographer Penny De Los Santos at the Field Museum (1400 S. Lake Shore Drive) tonight at 7:30 p.m. for the lecture "Food: A Cultural Journey," where images of food production culture in Mexico, Brazil, India, and Europe will be shown. This lecture is part of the "National Geographic Live! at The Field Museum" series.
If there's ever a good time to run out of cumin and cardamom, my friend found it this week: on Wednesday she visited The Spice House Web site to look up their address (1512 N. Wells St.), and noticed a free event the following night featuring Bon Appétit Editor Barbara Fairchild, plus free food and wine.
Even better, she invited me.
Fairchild was on hand to sign copies of the brand new Bon Appétit cookbook, Fast Easy Fresh, which features 1,100 quick dishes for everynight cooking from the magazine's popular column of the same name. I'm in the midst of a self-imposed moratorium on buying cookbooks (the shelf I keep them on is sagging under their weight), but I'll admit I had to wrestle with my inner junkie to resist picking up a copy, because the dishes on the tasting menu were every bit the embodiment of the book's alluring title.
Spice House staff used the recipes in the book -- and their own stash of spices, of course -- to prepare Bourbon Molasses Chicken, Beef Tenderloin with Wasabi Garlic Cream, Moroccan Shrimp, Pumpkin Soup, Chocolate Macaroons, and Pumpkin Raisin Bar. Everything was delicious, but the shrimp, soup and macaroons were standouts. The sweet shrimp were set off by a lovely Moroccan spice blend and a dash of crushed peanuts. The macaroons were everything a macaroon should be: sweet and crispy on the outside, but ultimately chewy with a hint of salt.
The pumpkin soup deserves its own paragraph. I'm a lover of squash soups, but they often have a bit too much pulp about their consistency. The cream in this one not only gave the soup a lovely mouth feel, but its sweet pumpkin-pie-like flavor was set off perfectly by a garnish of savory sauteed mushrooms.
If I cave and buy this book at Borders, the pumpkin soup will be to blame.
Chicago's Meals on Wheels will be holding their benefit Celebrity Chef Ball, titled "Indulge Your Heart," tonight at 6pm at the Macy's on State. You'll eat the creations of a long list of chefs from local restaurants, among them Paul Kahan and Mike Sheerin (Blackbird), Michelle Garcia (Bleeding Heart Bakery), Grham Eliot Bowles (Graham Eliot), and Mohammed Islam and Malika Ameen (Aigre Doux). Also participating are former Top Chef-testants Stephanie Izard and Dale Levitski. Tickets are upwards of $100.
Today is World Bread Day. Did you know that bread bakeries are typically one of the least lucrative culinary businesses? Chicago bread has come a long way over the last few years. Go out and buy a loaf of fresh sandwich bread for your lunches this week or a crusty baguette to share with your family at dinner tonight --- and support your local baker.
Blogger Kochtopf is hosting the third annual World Bread Day baking round up. Check in over the next few days to browse the pictures and recipes that food blogs around the world have contributed.
A list of my favorite Chicago bakeries after the jump:
Beekeeper Michael Thompson of Chicago Honey Co-op will be giving a free lecture on urban beekeeping tomorrow night at the Cultural Center (6pm). The event is sponsored by Slow Food Chicago. If you're looking to pick up some honey and honey-made products made by the Co-op, their wares are sold in a few different places. Another wonderful urban honey producer is North Lawndale's Sweet Beginnings, which produces Beeline's honey products. If you're looking to further sweeten the deal in a non-food way, the North Lawndale Employment Network and Sweet Beginnings will be holding a benefit screening of "The Secret Life of Bees" this Saturday.
The Chicago International Film Festival, which runs October 16-29, has a few food-themed entries from American filmmakers in its offerings this year. "Pressure Cooker" is a story of high school students competing for a scholarship to a culinary school (screenings 10/19, 10/20, 10/26) and "The Garden," a documentary of a south central Los Angeles garden threatened by local politics (10/24, 10/25). Beyond the US are a few more picks for foodie film lovers: "Deadly Delicious," a Chinese horror flick, may encourage you to rethink accepting food from a betrayed lover (10/22, 10/23). A widow's grove in the West Bank becomes contested ground in "Lemon Tree" (10/18, 10/20), and France's "Secret of the Grain" (10/17, 10/28), which follows a man navigating personal crises while following his dream to open a restaurant.
While thousands of runners scarf down plain bagels and bananas at the Chicago Marathon finish line this Sunday afternoon, you can begin your own journey of will and endurance at the Andersonville Dessert Crawl, sponsored by the Andersonville Development Corporation. Two different crawls--the Swedish Stroll (1-4pm), which covers (among others) Ann Sather, Swedish Bakery, and Pasticceria Natalina--and the Rainbow Route (3-6pm), which hits up a bevy of places, among them M. Henry, Kopi and the Fireside--will end with at wine tasting at In Fine Spirits (because sugar and alcohol are a winning combination). Tickets $25-40.
Chef Mark Seaman of Marked for Dessert will lecture on the history of French pastry this Saturday (10am-noon) at Kendall College; the event is sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Chicago (admission is $5, $3 for students and free for CHC members; RSVP required). If you're even more interested in pastry, Seaman will be hosting a second event at his store on Thursday the 16th to further wax poetic on pastry, make crepes, serve up some of his creations and talk about the pastry tour of France that he will be leading next spring (admission is $75).
What's more American than apple pie? Nothing, as far as the Friends of Holstein Park are concerned. On Sunday, Oct. 19, the organization hosts its fourth annual Bucktown Apple Pie Contest in the Holstein Park Field House, 2200 N. Oakley Ave.
If you want to get in on this "clash of the pie tins" (their pun, not mine), all you need is a killer pie recipe and $15 -- register here. Your pie will be judged on appearance, taste and texture by a panel of chefs, restaurateurs and gourmands, including chefs Gale Gand of Tru and Koren Grieveson of Avec.
It is, however, free to just attend the event. which runs from 2pm to 5pm. Sample the contestants' pies, enjoy live entertainment and kids' games, and bid in a silent auction. The proceeds of the event fund park programs and field house renovations.
Despite the cloudy sky, Sunday at the Millennium Park was a lively scene. (Possibly even more so than Saturday, which was blessed with a beautiful blue sky--but this may be because of the different times of the day I was there on these two days.) Here, I'm showcasing some of the mouthwatering nibbles offered at the Chicago Gourmet's "Chef's Tasting" tables on Sunday.
The big tent of the Chicago Cooking and Hospitality Institute's Cordon Bleu program seemed to be always bustling with people looking for the culinary students' reliably tasty French nibbles, even when other tents were a bit on the empty side. Here, a silver tray full of ratatouille-stuffed new potatoes are offered to visitors who braved the early morning hours. (11 AM on a Sunday is early morning, right?)
If our coverage of Chicago Gourmet has stirred regret that you didn't attend, you still have time to buy tickets for a similar event, the Kohler Food and Wine Experience, October 23-26 at the Kohler Spa in Kohler, Wisconsin (only a short drive from Chicago!). The event is chock full of culinary superstars--Tony Mantuano (Spiaggia), cookbook author Laura Werlin, and Top Chef-testants Ilan Hall, Hung Huynh, and judge Gail Simmons.
How many of you have hosted a wine and cheese party? How about a beer and cheese party? If it were up to Greg Hall, the latter would be a lot more common. As the brewmaster for the Goose Island Brewing Company, there is little doubt that Hall knows his beer, but he has also been involved with the American Cheese Society. The Chicago Gourmet seminar Hall hosted offered four Goose Island beers paired with three cheeses and one chocolate:
Harvest Ale and Uplands Pleasant Ridge Reserve: This ESB style beer pairs well with firm cheeses like the Pleasant Ridge Reserve or Jasper Hill Bandaged Wrapped Cheddar.
Matilda and Chimay cheese: this Belgian style beer works well with washed rind cheeses like the Chimay or Meadow Creek Farm Grayson.
India Pale Ale and Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue: IPAs can be a hard style for food pairings because it has such an assertive flavor. The saltiness of blue cheese balances out the hoppy, bitterness of the IPA to highlight smooth, complimentary flavors.
Pere Jacques and Scharffen Berger 60%: The caramel flavors in this Belgian style beer pulls out the sweetness of dark chocolate.
When Andrew (chief of Gapers Block clan) managed to secure press passes to the Chiago Gourmet for us, I immediately wanted to cover a seminar on sake. Normally, it would be $60 to attend (on top of the already hefty $150 day pass, I believe), which is a bit out of my budget. I was curious to see how sake is presented and received, given the recent surge of interest in sake in the Untied States. On top of that, as a relative newcomer to the world of sake myself, I was eager to try new varieties and listen to a sake expert describe their aromas and flavors. So I jumped to the opportunity.
After picking up the press pass and walking past a glassed-in seminar room with maybe eight people listening to a suit-and-tied presenter from an exotic winery, I sat down by the grand staircase on the first floor of the Cultural Center. I was a few minutes early. When I was checking the setting of my camera when I noticed a middle-aged, Eastern Asian guy sit next to me. I didn't think much of that; I just thought he was a tired visitor taking a break for a moment.
The man turned out to be the chef Takashi Yagihashi of Takashi, the seminar's presenter. As he walked up to the front of the seminar room, I kicked myself for not looking at him closely enough--I could have talked to him about the Chicago Gourmet and about sake without anyone milling around for their turn to speak to him. There were probably about 30 people in the room for the seminar. Some wore press passes, while others were paying guests (with occasional flashes of ritzy jewelry). It was interesting to see the sake seminar much better attended than the preceding seminar on wine--although, to be fair, there are more than fifteen wine seminars to choose from, whereas on sake there is only one.
Yagihashi's sake cup collection, along with his Starbucks cup, made an eclectic tableau at the Sake for Everyday seminar.
Yagihashi started with a little biography of himself -- growing up in Mito as a grandson of a sake retailer, moving to the U.S., working his way up in prestigious restaurants, and opening his own in Bucktown -- and moved on to the brewing process of sake. Within a few minutes, everybody was intently listening to his charming and informative talk with occasional self-depricating humor (which reminded me of Japan so much!).
For the tasting part, there was generous pouring of one sake from each of the major sake category. A guy from Yagihashi's distributor joined and gave us a lively commentary on each sake. From the "Junmai" category, which uses rice grains polished at least to the 70% of their original size, we tried "Hitorimusume" from Yamanaka Brewery in the chef's hometown (link in Japanese). To my palate, it tasted a little harsh and alcoholic, although, after listening to Yagihashi describe it as "neutral and good with food," I could see it that way, too.
I attended last night's Chicago Gourmet Opening Night Gala, along with many of the city's star chefs, chefs from Chicago's sister cities (who presented signature dishes from each of their countries), VIP guests and a whole lot of media. Mayor Daley was on hand for nearly an hour's worth of photo opps before servers began coming around with small apps and Champagne.
I talked for a bit with Chef Carrie Nahabedian, who marveled at the festival's good luck with the weather and expressed her excitement for the weekend. "With the caliber of restaurants here and the wineries involved, it's a great opportunity ... we're very optimistic."
When asked what she thought of the cost of the event (as Chicagoist's Chuck Sudo pointed out, the $150 per day / $250 for the weekend ticket price is only the beginning), Nahabedian acknowledged that it might keep some people away. "Certainly some people will see the price point and say 'this isn't for me,' but the there are others who will see it as a value." She felt that access to the number of restaurants, chefs and more than 200 wineries weighed favorably compared to the price.
Shortly thereafter, Chef Norm Van Aken -- once head of the kitchen at Lake Forest's Sinclair's and under whom Nahabedian, Charlie Trotter and Suzy Crofton once worked -- came over to say hi. The pair reminisced briefly about that era and talked a little shop before greeting Chef Rich Naglich, president of the ACF Chicago Chefs de Cuisine. The group broke in two as Naglich engaged two reporters and a Host Committe member came up to pull Nahabedian away.
Such was the nature of the evening -- the ebb and flow of an excellent cocktail party where a good portion of the attendees just happen to be expert chefs or reporters. I spotted Billy Dec wander past Bill Kurtis, the night's emcee, while members of the Terlato family talked about wine with attendees near the central bar. If the Illinois Restaurant Association has done its job, that comfortable yet stylish will be the tone for the weekend.
One oddity: Dunkin Donuts had a booth serving hot and cold lattes and giving away free packets of dark roast coffee grounds. Amongst all that luxury, it was unexpected -- although I did appreciate the pick-me-up.
Photos from the Opening Night Gala after the jump.
This past weekend, Italy took over Navy Pier (well, the Festival Hall anyway... well, a portion of one of the Festival Halls...) as the Italian American Chamber of Commerce Midwest threw a three-day party featuring food, fashion and commerce of the motherland. But let's focus on the food. Because honestly, when you think of Italy, do you think of massive Fiat-produced yellow construction vehicles? NO! You think of pasta! Rivers of marinara sauce and oceans of wine. Mountains of bread. Vistas of cheese. And spewing volcanoes of liquid...organic honey. Why not? Though try telling that to whoever set up the entryway featuring massive Fiat-produced yellow construction vehicles. Ah well.
In any case, the Italian Style Expo brought together plenty of delicious representatives of Italian food, including both producers and local distributors, so patrons could first sample the imported wares, and then jot down directions to their local purveyor.
More on the proper way to taste-test olive oil, great Italian cheeses that aren't parmesan, and more truffles than you could shake a stick at, after the fold.
Cafe Selmarie in Lincoln Square is celebrating their 25th anniversary, so naturally they're letting their customers in on the fun. Starting today through September 28, lunch and dinner customers will get complimentary champagne with their meal.
If you've been following The Food Chain's "whole hog project" for the past year and a half, you've probably fantasized about joining Mike Sula et al for the final chapter, a mulefoot feast. And if you can afford it, your fantasy can come true.
On Sunday, Oct. 19, Blackbird will be the setting for a six-course, snout-to-tail dinner prepared by chefs Paul Kahan of Blackbird, Paul Virant of Vie, Jason Hammel and Amalea Tshilds of Lula, Mike Sheerin of Blackbird, Justin Large of Avec and Brian Huston of the still-not-open Publican. It's $125 per person, but when will you have the opportunity to sample heirloom pork prepared by this many top Chicago chefs all in one place? Plus, the proceeds benefit Slow Food Chicago, so you're practically doing a good deed by having a great meal.
Full details here; make your reservations directly with Blackbird at 312-715-0708.
As I made my way around the city last weekend, I saw four separate street festival setups that were waterlogged and abandoned from the nonstop rain and cold. While the past weather has been unfortunate for those of us who are desperately holding on to summer and ignoring the slight change in leaf color, this weekend promises to have friendlier skies.
That said, here are a couple of street festivals that will make up for last weekend:
-Eli's Cheesecake Festival. Cheesecake and more! Saturday and Sunday, 6701 West Forest Preserve Drive.
Is there a restaurant that you love so much that you want to get on a mountaintop and shout its praises? Nominations are open through September 30 for LTH Forum's Great Neighborhood Restaurants awards, so if you know a place that deserves to be recognized, come forth and nominate. Discussion of nominations runs October 1-15, with winners announced in November. So far, a few interesting places have been nominated, among them Urban Belly (whose newness is stirring a bit of debate, you'll see), the Brown Sack, and Uru-Swati.
Chicago Public Radio's Chicago Matters: Going Forward covers how the National School Lunch Program decides what Chicago Public School students eat for lunch, and how CPS is trying to make lunches healthier and from local growers – tomorrow at 7:20 a.m. on Morning Edition and between 9 and 10 a.m. on Eight Forty-Eight.
Meanwhile, Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs brings Chicago's Downtown Farmstand to 66 E. Randolph with fruits, vegetables, preserves and baked goods from within 250 miles of the city. The pilot Farmstand will offer educational programs and lunchtime demonstrations on Wednesdays and Fridays. The Farmstand opens October 1, with a Grand Opening celebration featuring samples and demos from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Afterwards, the Farmstand operates Tuesday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through mid-December, and re-opening in Spring 2009.
I hadn't planned on staying at Renegade Craft Fair long enough to get hungry, but Bigbite Catering pulled my friend in with a "Vegetarian & Vegan friendly" sign. She's neither veg nor vegan, but she's a big fan of the cuisine. BBQ seitan tacos were in front of us minutes later, under an umbrella on Division Street in the rain watching wellies and flip-flops go by as the moment's predominate choice in footwear. After hours of looking and buying, we were getting great service steps away at Via Carducci La Sorella by a friendly but down-to-business waiter who'd gone to the kitchen to check if the risotto special could be made vegan.
Bigbite, the catering arm of Bite Cafe, had a tempting spinach pie, but since I'm a sucker for anything with Upton's seitan, my choice was obvious. Sadly, neither of these items is on the menu at Bite Cafe, but I hear that they use the seitan in their hash. I seem to have lost some of my taste on account of a slightly sore throat, but the texture of the tacos was pleasingly moist of BBQ sauce while maintaining the seitan's requisite slight chewiness. Renegade for me was hours of running into friends and browsing the adorable paintings of Johanna Wright, temptingly hip vegan belts of Buncombe Buckles, soothing screenprinted fabrics of Maramiki, and industrial look of rings at Mike and Mary Jewelry. And finally, after the declining sun reminded me how long it had been, there was dinner.
A glass of red wine goes very well with Via Carducci La Sorella's crusty, warm and tender bread. The risotto special's rice was par-cooked with a bit of chicken or chicken stock, so my vegan-friendly friend and I went for their Spaghetti alla Napoletana - spaghetti, cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil. She added eggplant and I requested spinach and extra garlic - without any cheese if they topped it off with some. I had smelled a deep, warm garlic flavor on the street, and suddenly couldn't imagine dinner without plenty it. I remembered the last time I'd been here, eating in the cozy gangway on the side. Now, after just one glass of well-tannined cabernet, I'd lost my fork in my pasta. I noticed another fork on my side, but I'm sure it wasn't intended as the backup I used it for. The spaghetti was cooked just right. My only complaint: it could have used more veggies on top. I like generous portions, where the spinach and tomatoes hide the pasta, like I remember by the piano at Orso's.
Head over to the Chicago History Museum at Clark and North this Saturday morning (10am-12pm) for a lecture about southern cooking and its history. "Bon Appetit Y'all! Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking" will be presented by Virginia Willis, the former Kitchen Director for Martha Stewart TV and an expert in southern fare. Lecture admission is $3-$5. RSVP required.
One of Food Network's newer (and, if you ask me, more likeable) stars, giggly Cleveland-based chef Michael Symon, will be at The Counter, the new "build-your-own-burger" joint on Diversey, next Thursday, Sept. 18, from noon to 6 p.m.
The first Chicago outpost of the chain opened this Monday at 666 W. Diversey Pkwy. Symon's visit is more than a well-timed PR gimmick: Proceeds from the location's sales on Sept. 18 will benefit the Big Shoulders Fund, an organization that helps support Catholic schools in some of Chicago's low-income neighborhoods.
In case you haven't heard, The Counter claims diners can choose from 312,120 possible burger combinations, by selecting among a variety of proteins (Angus beef, chicken, turkey, veggie and seafood), 10 cheeses, 28 toppings, 18 sauces and three types of buns.
Symon has a penchant for pork. Might I suggest he order a beef burger on a classic hamburger bun, topped with Black Forest ham, honey-cured bacon, horseradish cheddar, and apricot sauce?
Green City Market's Localvore Challenge starts today. If you're participating, there are plenty of resources out there to make sure you're able to make it through the two weeks.
The Green City Market has set up an official blog where you can see how the challenge goes for a handful of folks, and Vital Information has some additional suggestions. And of course, the excellent Local Beet is nothing but local food and drink suggestions.
Are you taking the challenge? Let us know in the comments so we can follow your progress.
Many of the chocolatiers were based in the Chicago-area. These entrepreneurial individuals ranged from professionally trained chefs to a suburban mother of five. Click through to see more photos of the event and to hear about our favorite selections.
Although most of my piemaking experiments turn into burned yet undercooked blobs of dough and tears, I am hitting my recipe book hard in the hopes of entering and winning the Amateur Autumn Pie Competition sponsored by Pastry Chicago, which will be held September 27 at the South Loop Whole Foods, 1101 South Canal, starting at 1pm. The stakes are high but the reward is higher: the top three winners will receive the Holy Grail of Kitchens, the Kitchenaid Mixer, with first and second place taking home additional pastry-making tools. Registration ends September 21.
The Green City Market is challenging you to eat only locally grown foods for two weeks starting this Wednesday. The Localvore Challenge means that your food has to be grown in Illinois or a bordering state, although you can establish an exceptions list of basic ingredients (olive oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, coffee, etc.). Also, if you're itching to go out to eat, a bevy of restaurants such as Lula Cafe, 312 Chicago, Le Lan and Uncommon Ground will have a menu item each night that is Localvore Challenge-friendly.
This Saturday from 1-4pm, head over to Green Grocer Chicago (1402 West Grand) for a celebration of the tomato. Samplings, cooking demos, recipes, and a beauty contest for the prettiest home-grown tomato are on the bill.
Chalkboard, a cozy, elegant restaurant in Lincoln Square, is hosting a Morgan Winery Wine Dinner on Wednesday, September 17. Chef/Owner Gilbert Langlois will team up with Bravo's Top Chef, Stephanie Izard for this special event.
"The five-course menu will be inspired by the wines and foods that Stephanie and I have talked about cooking," says Langlois.
Langlois and Izard will each cook two of their own dishes and the fifth course will be cooked together. There will be at least five wines served.
This special dinner is limited to 60 seats with two seatings at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The cost of the dinner is $125 per person plus tax and gratuity. Chalkboard will be closed for this special event.
For reservations, please call Chalkboard at 773-477-7144.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository is doing a lot of work to raise hunger awareness. When you buy groceries at Jewel this month, you'll be prompted at checkout to donate money to the Depository, whose website has some very eye-opening statistics about hunger in Cook County. On the bill for the week of September 22 is the $25 Challenge, which asks those who are not on food stamps to experience what it is like for one week to live on the $25 weekly allotment that those on food stamps receive.
Whole Foods' Flavorfest will be taking place this Saturday and Sunday at Trebes Park (Racine/Webster; relocated from Wrightwood Park) and promises to be a fun affair despite the iffy weather forecast. *Good* music (Smithereens on Saturday, English Beat on Sunday), samples, cooking demos by chefs from Lula, Aigre Doux and North Pond Cafe, and tote bags for the first 2500 attendees! Recommended admission $5. Hours are 11am-9pm Saturday, 11am-8pm Sunday.
Publican, the yet-to-open gastropub from Chef Paul Kahan and partners, has yet to open, but if the meal I had last night was any indication, we're in for quite a treat.
Among the all-star lineup of chefs contributing dishes to Monday night's Goose Island/Green City Market Brewmaster's Dinner were Kahan and Chef Brian Huston. They served a boudin blanc with pickled cherries, frisée, summer truffles and hashbrowns. The dish was out of this world: the boudin had just the right amount of spice that was brought out nicely by sweet-sourness of the pickled cherries, while the bitterness of the frisée and umami of the truffles provided an earthy base flavor. I'll be first in line to order it when Publican finally opens.
The beer the dish was paired with was a sneak preview as well: Juliet is a new Belgian style ale from Goose Island, to debut around the first of the year, according to brewmaster Greg Hall. It's brewed with about 25 percent rye malt and finished with marionberries (a type of blackberry) and brettanomyces yeast, aged for about six months in French oak Robert Craig cabernet barrels, then fermented a third time in the bottle. The result is a fairly sour, slightly fruity ale with a body similar to Goose Island's Matilda. You have one more chance to try it before it debuts next year, if you're able to make it to Vie in Western Springs next Tuesday, Aug. 26, and can afford the $95 a person admission.
Free sushi and sake. The Local Tourist is giving away two free tickets to Thursday's (7pm to 10pm at Ai Japanese Restaraunt and Sushi Lounge, 358 W Ontario) Sushi, Sake, and Soul event. All you have to do to get the chance to win, is to register with The Local Tourist. And if you don't win, tickets are only $17, so almost free sushi and sake is good, too.
While the idea of cooking in this heat seems dreadful, it's time to look ahead to...fall. I know the agony of those words: the sun sets earlier, people get grumpier and you're bound to see a Halloween- or apple harvest-themed sweater or two lounging around the office. However, one thing to look forward to is the new season of the World Kitchen cooking class series offered by the city. The schedule starts in September and runs through December. Classes are a mere $30 and the offerings seem interesting: Moroccan food (Sept 25), cooking with ginger (Oct 18), and exploring the world of dry peppers (Oct 23) are on the menu. Pre-registration starts next Wednesday (Aug 27).
Logan Square-area restaurants such as Lula Cafe, El Cid and Buona Terra will be on hand for this Satuday's Taste of GiGi's Playhouse, which benefits GiGi's Playhouse, a suburban Downs Syndrome awareness center. Restaurants will be doling out samples (5-7:30pm), and there's live band karaoke (@8pm) and a full bar supported by Vas Foremost, noFriction and Sam's Wines and Spirits, among others (5-10pm) that awaits you at the Logan Square Auditorium (Logan and Kedzie). Tickets start at $75 per person.
It seems Hollywood took the cue from Sideways that wine lovers like movies. So hoping to follow on that film's coattails is Bottle Shock, about the 1976 upset win by Napa Valley wines over French wines in a blind taste test.
Sam's Wine & Spirits sees a good opportunity for cross-promotion when they see it. They've teamed up with Muvico to offer a special dinner and movie event on Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Movico theaters in Rosemont. For $90 (plus tax and tip), you get complimentary valet parking, a four-course dinner at Muvico's Bogarts Bar & Grill with apropos French and California wine pairings by Sam's, a ticket for the movie and popcorn and a beverage to enjoy in the theater during the private screening. Dinner starts at 7pm, movie starts whenever it's over.
Reservations are required, no later than Thursday, Aug. 14; call Nikki Augsburger at 847-447-1037 to make yours.
The evening's menu is listed after the jump. You can read our own Steve at the Movies' review of Bottle Shockhere.
GB contributor and food writer David Hammond will be leading a FREE tour of the foods of Maxwell Street Market this Sunday. Word on the street is to meet at the White Palace Grill at 10am sharp, and from there embark on an informal trip around the Market to gawk at the wares and eat some of the city's best food. RSVP to the LTH Forum thread.
The same suburb that brought you Ribfest is now bringing you Veggie Fest, which will be held this weekend (11am-6pm Sat and Sun) on the grounds of the Science of Spirituality Center (4S175 Naperville Road). Food, live music, events for the kids, cooking demonstrations and an opportunity to get your blood pressure, lung capacity, body fat, & sugar level measurements taken (sigh) will be available. The event is free.
Susan Maddox, chef at Le Titi de Paris along with her husband Michael, is teaching cooking classes this summer and fall, some of them for would-be chefs as young as 8. The classes are being held at the restaurant in Arlington Heights (1015 West Dundee Rd., 847-506-0222). The lineup for kids for the fall includes a class on knife skills (very important for young hands) on Sept. 7th, and Spooky Treats on Oct. 5th.
Lessons on knife skills are also being offered for adults, on Sept. 7th and 14th. Learn to make bistro favorites, such as coq au vin and mussels Provencal, on Oct. 12th, or bread-making on Nov. 2nd and 9th.
The classes are two-hours long, and are followed by a three-course lunch, all for $45. Call the restaurant to reserve space.
The American Cheese Society is rolling into town this week for their 25th Anniversary conference at the Chicago Hilton. What makes this special for you, the general public/cheeselover? Let me count the ways:
- Festival of Cheese, Saturday (7/26) at the Hilton. For the $85 ticket price, you'll peruse and gobble over 1,000 artisan and specialty cheeses from producers throughout North America; all the stuff you'll eat has been entered in the Society's Annual Competition, also held this week, so you know it's not going to be Velveeta on a frilly toothpick. Drinks and other foodstuffs (my guess is it's crackers, bread and red grapes) also provided.
- Cheese Sale @ the Dining Room at Kendall College (900 North Branch) on Sunday (7/27). Entries from the Society's Annual Competition will be available for purchase from 10am-1pm. Proceeds from the cheese sale benefits the ACS Cheesemaker Scholarship Fund (let's help a kid with a dream, people).
Although it was tasty, a "Taste Portion" of Robinson's Ribs was not worth the utter horror of being among the estimated 1,000,000 people who attended the Taste of Chicago last night. Waiting in line, my friend and I were body-checked by a sea of teenagers who enjoyed screaming obscentities to each other as they pushed through the crowd (side note: I'm glad to no longer be a bored teenager,especially during the summertime). I've rarely worried if I could hold my own in a large group of people. Until last night. On another front, fellow GB staffer Chris Brunn was right: the MVP of the Taste was Soul Vegetarian East, with its vegan BBQ twists (nicely seasoned seitan) and sweet potato pie.Other winners were breaded meat and eggplant sandwiches from Ricobene's and pistachio gelato from Canady Le Chocolatier.
...Um, because One Trick Pony and I drank it all. Okay, not technically true. But after sampling the spirits of 20 different distilleries, featuring over 50 different rums, cachacas and other sugar-cane based liquors, it certainly felt as if we had. This past weekend, the newly opened Bottom Lounge played host to the First Annual Chicago Rum Festival, the inauguration of what we can only hope will be a long-running addition to Chicago's venerable tradition of drinking under the el tracks. More details on what 50 tiny tiny sips of rum will do to a girl, as well as some locally available stand-outs to satiate your own inner pirate, after the fold.
I'd walked down Jackson Boulevard, east along five blocks of increasingly dense pedestrian-filled sidewalks toward BBQ vegan food at the Taste of Chicago. Michigan Avenue was my final crossing - past a traffic director telling unsuspecting pedestrians to "stay back" and a man standing on the corner shouting "Hallelujah, thank God for Jesus." And then I was in - past the barricades closing the street to automobile traffic. There was no turning back. Soul Vegetarian's booth was my destination - a straight walk to the left down the middle of Columbus Drive once I past the ticket booth, the CTA's transit card recharging tent, and the Secretary of State's driver's license renewal trailer. Somehow I found a window at the ticket booth that didn't have a line, which had been quietly hiding between other windows with stacks of other people who looked content to continue waiting. I had twelve tickets for eight dollars, for whatever that would buy me.
Soul Veg's service was quick. For eight tickets I was eating a juicy vegan gyros on a ledge at the side of their booth - and being checked in on by someone asking how it was. It was delicious - not quite as savory and succulent as I'd felt at their restaurant on 75th Street at Indiana, but still far better than not having one at all. My remaining four tickets bought me a tasting portion of their vegan BBQ twists. Covered in BBQ sauce, this skewered fake meat was a little chewy, kind of like what I remember the real thing to feel like after some eight years. It tasted a little caramelized, just ever so slightly sweet. A non-veg friend of mine later told me that they liked Soul Veg's BBQ sauce so much that it would make paper napkins taste good. Even as a sarcastic statement, that might have a bit of truth nonetheless. The lady next to me at the counter had told me that Soul Veg was the best place here. And these BBQ twists made me believe it; even if it was the only place I'd tried here so far this year. (In the interest of full disclosure, Soul Veg co-sponsored the Veggie Bike and Dine, which I co-organize, last year). One person working their tent lured others in by repeating, "All vegetarian. All vegan. This is your spot." It was definitely mine. Her colleague shouted, "All natural vegan sweet potato pie." If only I had more tickets. You could almost feel a smile on his face as he continued with, "You have got to get your sweet potato pie." I heard their battered cauliflower was delicious, too.
Yelp is holding its first Yelp Eats event from July 11 to 17. A nice list of restaurants in the city (Le Lan, Il Covo, May Street Market) will be offering special $25 prix fixe menus.
I walked in toward a line of people wrapping away from the counter at Freshii, and then I was led into place by one of many helpful greeters. I was about to taste creamy tahini sauce over steamy brown basmati rice. She asked me if this was my first time. It was. She had stepped back and pulled a clipboard with an order form from on or near a wall. Three sections on the paper were calling out to be completed, plus a spot for my initials in two boxes in the upper left corner. This was a task that I thought that I could certainly accomplish with no real effort, but I was wrong.
Just as I'd breezed through the first part of Step 1, the order form illuded me like a surprise question on a high school final exam. I'd wanted a bowl - not a salad, salad-wrap or soup. That much I knew. But I had no idea what to write in the "type" section next to "chef designed." I could skip down to Step 2 and choose my own toppings, but this is not what I'd come in for. I'd seen something on their online menu that looked good. My helpful greeter was still here, and dashed off to bring me a large, glossy menu with the listings. She was like a temporary personal assistant, filling in the rest of the form for me when I couldn't fend for myself. A check in Step 3 went for chili powder, another check for tahini sauce, and "regular" got circled to indicate I didn't want to deviate from the standard amount of sauce. Soft tender avocado chunks made me a fan of the Power House bowl immediately, as did the optional chili powder, but they could have mixed the sauce more to distribute it evenly throughout the rice, tofu, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, tomatoes and red onions. It was perfect on top, and it all tasted super fresh, but the sauce wasn't plentiful towards the bottom. Maybe I just needed to check the box for "heavy" sauce, and then try to mix it myself without overflowing the tight constraints of the little box it came in.
I handed my form to someone at one end of the counter, strolled in line to the other side to pay, and then waited for my initials to be called. I'd chosen a bag of spicy salt and peppered crinkle cut Kettle Chips and a bag of dark chocolate covered coffee beans from an extensive selection of chips, fruit, popcorn, Cliff bars and licorice.
Outside, a band played as I sat at a patio table aside the lawn out front at 311 S. Wacker and gazed up at the Sears Tower next door. The music continues through the summer Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Here's the plan, from building management: July 2 - Mr. Blotto; July 9 - Maryann and the Professors; July 16 - Diver; July 23 - Goodfoot; July 30 - Waterhouse; August 6 - Jack Straw; August 13 - Angel in the Solar System; August 20 - Gareth Woods Band; August 27 - Lynn Jordan & the Shivers.
This weekend begins the atrocity of the Taste of Chicago; the turkey legs, cheesecake on sticks, $3 bottles of soda, and overflowing garbage cans (can you tell I'm a fan?). If you're looking to avoid the sweaty, overpriced madness, tune in this Friday to WLS (890AM) between 10 and 11am; GB staffer David Hammond will be appearing on the Jerry Agar show for his annual "Alternative Taste of Chicago" segment.
Last week, "Top Chef: Chicago" winner Stephanie Izard went head to head with The Drawing Room Executive Chef Nick Lacasse in a four-course plate vs. plate dinner competition held Sunday. The dinner sold out in moments, as savvy diners realized it would be the first public event for Izard after the show's finale. The fact that she won made the evening that much more of a must-attend event.
The chefs each created a dish incorporating the following ingredients:
• First Course - raw fish and asparagus
• Second Course - foie gras and kumquats
• Third Course - lamb and cherries
Course Four was a collaborative dessert featuring fresh strawberries.
Each chef's dishes were labeled A or B, and diners used ballots to pick their favorite of each course. A run-down follows after the jump.
Yelp has announced its first Yelp Eats Chicago event, which will take place July 11-17. Ten restaurants — Friendship Chinese Restaurant, Il Covo, Kiki's Bistro, Le Lan, May Street Market, Nacional 27, Sura Thai Bistro, Tallulah, Thai Urban Kitchen and Venus — will offer special three-course dinner menus for just $25 plus tax'n'tip. Mention the "Yelp Eats menu" when you make your reservation.
Chicago is hosting the first-ever Kids' Restaurant Week for fine-dining enthusiasts of a certain age and the big people that agree to transport them to restaurants around town, such as Blue Water Grill, Ina's, Otom, one sixtyblue and Uncommon Ground. These and other restaurants will have special seatings from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, where diners under age 11 pay by age, and those over 12 pay $20.08 for their meals. A dollar from each meal served will go to the Green City Market, thanks to Cookie and Gourmet magazines, sponsors of the event. To start the week off, the Green City Market will have chef-demos, cooking lessons and crafts activities on Saturday, the 21st.
I get giddy for Tuesday nowadays, as it's the day of what I think is the best farmers' market in the city at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which runs from 9am-5pm and features a nice subset of what you'd find at bigger markets: flowers, vegetables, cheese, baked goods, a nice selection of potted herbs, and locally made honey. And because the MCA has free admission on Tuesday, you can swing in, take a look around the galleries (don't miss the Jeff Koons exhibit, which closes September 21), and then go get your shop on. It works for me.
I grew up a mere 10 miles from Huntley, IL. During my formative years, I was somehow kept unaware of the annual Turkey Testicle Festival celebrated by this neighboring town. Thousands of people reportedly head to the Parkside Pub each year to sample the testicles, which are said to have aphrodisiac qualities.
Even more baffling, there appears to be a second turkey testicle festival in nearby Byron, IL that will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Has anyone sampled these... delicacies?
You can read about other bizarre food festivals here.
Chef Stephanie Izard, fresh from taping the season finale of "Top Chef" in Puerto Rico, will be joining Chef Nick Lacasse in the kitchen at The Drawing Room at Le Passage, 937 N. Rush, for a four-course, head-to-head "battle." Each chef will create their own interpretation of an assigned course, and present them to the crowd between courses, which will be paired with a cocktail or wine chosen by master bartender Charles Joly. Diners will compare and rate each course, with the winner announced at the end of the evening.
This one-time event will be Sunday, June 15 from 6pm to 9pm, and costs $65 per person -- reservations are, obviously required. Call 773-276-7582 to reserve your seats!
Last week, the Mid-American Club played host to the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers Grand Tasting road show. An 80th floor view of the Chicago skyline -- and suburb-line at that height -- is an impressive backdrop for any event, but perhaps more impressive to me was the discovery that this "zinfandel" stuff is... kind of delicious.
I'm a white wine kind of girl. I know, I know, it's lame and puts me in stereotype-land rather than the company of connoisseurs, but it's worth pointing out: connoisseur I ain't. I just like me some fermented juice of the grape variety from time to time. And zinfandel has never been at the top of the list -- but after the ZAP event, I could absolutely will look forward to sipping some zin in the near future. More details on this revelation, and some excellent locally available wines, after the fold.
The Chicago Turkish Festival runs Wednesday through Saturday at Daley Plaza; I am particularly excited for the Turkish eats and drinks (as well as Turkish coffee, which will have to go on ice if this weather sticks around). If kebabs, figs, and hard-nosed coffee aren't your thing, at least make a trip for the orchid-flavored goat's milk ice cream (Dondurma) from the Kahraman Maras province of southern Turkey--the festival expects to sell 1,000 gallons of it at this year's event. And of course, take in the Whirling Dervishes. Ah! Admission is free, and the festival runs 10am-6pm.
Well, not quite. However, to mark National Hamburger Day on Wednesday, May 28, Patty Burger is holding a Burger Exchange: bring in any burger from any other burger joint, and receive a Patty Burger single with cheese, a regular order of fries and a regular drink. They'll be taking your trade-ins from 11am to 3pm.
Lest you doubt the sincerity of the offer, check out this quote from the press release:
“No one should have to celebrate this special day with a bad burger,” said Patty Burger owner Gregg Majewski. “Give me your tired, your poor, your underweight, overcooked, neglected patties. Bring me your soggy buns, wilted lettuce, under-ripe tomatoes and other tasteless toppings."
If you're a foodie who is a fan of Detroit's culture (as I am) and visit websites about Detroit (like I do) but have never actually been to Detroit (as I), this tour is for you."Laboring Over the Stove: A Working Definition of Detroit Cuisine," a three-day guided exploration of Detroit's eats and sights, will be held June 26-28. You figure out your transport to Detroit and lodging, and they basically provide the rest for $475 per person; meals, local transportation, baking lessons, lectures, tours of the city's eateries, and you get an opportunity to meet Lowell Boileau, the artist behind DetroitYes, an amazing resource for Detroit fans. Chicago isn't the only foodie town; let's hit up Eight Mile, yo!
This morning was the official launch press conference in the Pritzker Pavilion for the Chicago Gourmet food and wine festival, produced by the Illinois Restaurant Association and the Anton Family Foundation and backed by the City. The event will take over much of Millennium Park on September 27 and 28, with a gala opening party on the 26th.
Chicago Gourmet promises to be a culinarily star-studded affair, with nearly every Chicago chef of note involved (list after the jump). It's almost easier to list the ones that weren't on the initial list: Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz, Homaro Cantu, Bruce Sherman, Michael Carlson, Mark Mendez of Carnivale. The festival will include food from Chicago's great restaurants, tastings of more than 150 wines from around the world, cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs on the Pritzker Pavilion stage (yes, you get to go on the stage!), and seminars on food and wine trends. A special family pavilion will offer kid-friendly food events, including a cooking demo led by Rick Bayless and his daughter Lanie. Additional events will be announced in the months to come.
Thanks to a partnership with the Culinary Institute of America, a version of the CIA's World of Flavors conference will bring chefs from Mexico and Latin America to Chicago to offer samples of traditional and contemporary cuisine from their home countries.
Tickets will be a whopping $150 per day ($130 if you register before June 30) or $250 for a two-day pass. That's nearly twice the price of the much more established Scottsdale Culinary Festival, but only half that of the American Wine & Food Festival in LA. And, as Monica Eng pointed out, you could spend that much on dinner at some of the restaurants represented at the festival.
Tickets for tastings in the family pavilion will cost $30 per adult, with up to three children. The World of Flavors Pavilion will cost $95. There's no word yet on the cost of the opening night party or the other planned special events, such as a Grand Cru wine tasting, which will be ticketed separately. For reference, tickets for similar special events at the 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival ranged from $28 all the way up to $500 — $250 would have been a conservative cost for an equivalent experience there. In other words, your full price tag for Chicago Gourmet could potentially run toward $1,000 or more per couple.
This Saturday, May 17, bring out your pom-pons to cheer for more responsible food at the Green City Market's 10th Anniversary Rally for Local Sustainable Farming. Join Tallgrass Beef/newsman Bill Kurtis, Frontera chef Rick Bayless, Da Mare and others in kicking off the event, which pays tribute to sustainable farmers. Whether you're a food organization or just a food fan, it's important to voice your support for fresh, local food. The market is open from 7 am to 1 pm, and the rally will be from 9-10 am.
Whole Foods is offering a series of cooking classes at Lincoln Park Zoo's Farm House, right next to the park space that holds the Green City Market. The classes, three of which are for adults and three of which are for kids, highlight local and sustainable foods. The first class, this Saturday, features a berry menu for kids; toward the end of the summer, adults will get a lesson in sustainable seafood and what it means to be a localvore. Check the zoo's website for dates and times.
It's beginning, people. No more trudging through produce aisles in seach of unwilted lettuce and intact tomatoes. Farmer's market season begins this week, with a number of established markets opening their doors for business. The Federal Plaza market kicks off Tuesday, Daley Plaza's market opens Thursday, and the Green City Market, which got some attention from this season's Top Chef and was named one of the best farmer's markets in the nation by chef Alice Waters, opens Wednesday with cooking demonstrations by Carrie Nahabedian (of Naha), George Bumbaris and Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe, and Bruce Sherman of North Pond Cafe. Lincoln Park's market opens Saturday. Many other markets are opening in June; check the city's online schedule for details.
Vie Restaurant and the North Shore Distillery are joining forces for a one-night only tasting menu of food and cocktail pairings designed by Vie’s chef and mixologist teams using North Shore spirits. The May 29th dinner will allow a limited number of guests and provide opportunities for them to ask questions of both the chef and the mixologists. The cost is $110 per person, before tax and gratuity. Vie is located in Western Springs, so get your Metra pass or ZipCar membership out.
You don't have to travel all the way to Italy to celebrate the annual risotto festival that takes place the first Sunday in May in the tiny Italian town of Sessame. Beginning Monday, May 5, Frasca Pizzeria & Wine Bar at Lincoln and Paulina will be serving up a special risotto daily through Sunday, May 11. Among the featured risottos: the ever-popular Risotto Milanese (with saffron, parmigiano-reggianno, and herbs), a very springy sounding dish with celery, prosciutto and peas, and a decadent risotto with wild mushrooms, fresh herbs, pecorino tartufatti cheese and truffle oil.
Just a reminder that Dark Lord Day begins at the Three Floyds Brewery tomorrow at 11 am. Get there early to mingle and be prepared to wait in line. Bring cash.... and possibly a coat.
More information and directions can be found on the Three Floyds website. I'll be there with my boyfriend, my dad and my dentist (!), and I'll be posting a full write-up in the feature section next week.
-Atwood Cafe will be serving a specially-priced three course meal featuring foods from local and organic farms for $45 per person. Organic or biodynamic wine pairings will be available for an additional $20 per person. Trees for the Future will receive 25% of your meal's proceeds.
-On April 24, Vella Cafe will be teaming up with Provenance for a $65 three-course meal and wine experience using organic, locally-grown, and biodynamic ingredients from 7-9pm. RSVP required.
-The Stew lists some deals at Carnivale, Big Bowl, and Shaw's Crab House. They also have a list of green-friendly restaurants around town.
Now that baseball season is warming up in the city, I am reminded not only of the rivalries between the Sox and Cubs, but also of the quality of the food at each park. I've eaten some pretty good, well-priced meals at US Cellular, but the Friendly Confines has a pretty good hot dog. Your thoughts?
Now that you've turned in your 1040, why not celebrate with a visit to Va Pensiero's "Celebrate Tuscany" event tonight? Sponsored by ChicaGourmets, the $63 fee covers wine and four courses of delish eats. You may be able to itemize the meal for next year's taxes. Or not.
The Southern Foodways Alliance (in concert with LTH Forum and Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance) will be holding a delicious day camp-like series of events from May 23-25 that explore Chicago's many foods, from soul food to bourbon to tamale sandwiches. Camp Chicago is meant to draw tourists to the city, but is open to anyone, and the organized excursions sound great for those of us who love eating but are carless. The $85 Registration covers several events; day excursions range from $45-55.
Taxes are due next week, and what better way to smother your sorrows (if you owe) or to celebrate your cash flow (if you received a return) than to indulge in barbeque and wine?
On Tuesday, April 17th, from 7-9 pm, Juicy Wine Co. teams up with Chicago's own Smoque and Walla Walla's K Vintners for the ultimate BBQ/wine pairing. Charles Smith from K will personally pair the juiciest of his wines with the finger-lickingest best barbecue in the city, Smoque BBQ. Smith will be pouring his latest releases, including Boom Boom Syrah as well as crowd-pleasers House Wine, Kung Fu Girl and Holy Cow Chardonnay. Tickets are $25, call for reservations.
Juicy Wine Co.
694 N. Milwaukee Ave.
(312) 492-6620
Saturday night from 8 to 9 pm, Chicagoans are encouraged to turn out their lights for Earth Hour. As it's a Saturday night, and you might have plans for dinner or drinks out, fear not. Many local dining and drinking destinations are planning candle-lit meals or themed cocktails. There's a brief list of particpating places in Time Out Chicago and on Metromix.
All of the Four Seasons hotels around the world are taking part. If your pockets aren't deep enough for the Four Seasons--even if you're love of the environment is--you can head to Deleece, Rockstar Dogs or Cyrano's Bistro, which is holding candle-lit dinners not just Saturday, but all weekend.
Mark your calendars! The Chicago History Museum is celebrating the city's cuisine in April with four great events. The first is April 15's lecture "Hot Dog! A History of Chicago Foods" that will explore Chicago's culinary traditions (with free hot dogs provided by Vienna Beef). To celebrate Earth Day, April 22's lecture "The Local Option" will feature guests such as chefs Rick Bayless and Sarah Stegner to talk about organic eating and shopping in the city. On April 29, even more star power (Gale Gand, Carol Wallach) will be on hand to talk about the state of Chicago's cuisine.
If you were lucky enough to score tickets to the (sold out) May 4 companion bus tour to the life-changing "Foods of Chicago" WTTW documentary with narrator Geoffrey Baer and producer Dan Protess, please post pictures in the Drive-Thru Flickr group so that our computer's desktop picture can get a much-needed updating.
If you're interested in celebrating locally, you have plenty of options, but die-hard fans may want to join the LTHForum folks at noon at Weiner and Still Champion, 802 Dempster in Evanston, for what's considered one of the best examples of the genre. They'll also be trying the "Luther Burger," a cheeseburger with Krispy Kreme donuts for buns. And then heading up to Northwestern Memorial for triple-bypasses at a group discount.
From March 16-22, a range of selected local restaurants (e.g. A Mano, Vie, D'Agostinos and Uncommon Ground) will be participating in the UNICEF Tap Project, a benefit that asks diners to pay an extra $1 of their meal cost to support clean, accessible drinking water worldwide. Visit one of these restaurants tonight to support this worthwhile cause.
Just as the weather gets better, it's time to head indoors for some quality time with your cable TV. Top Chef's Chicago edition premieres tonight at 9pm on Bravo, and promises to pose more questions than answers. Will the local contestants have home turf advantage? Will Gail and Padma grab an after-work drink at Cardozo's? Will the contestants visit the Weiner's Circle and shy away from the verbal abuses of the staff? Let's work through these puzzling questions together.
Tomorrow, March 10, is Founder's Day at Peet's Coffee & Tea. That means a half pound of free beans for every customer who buys a half pound. And, as others Peet's enthusiasts know, a free cup of coffee is always part of the deal when you buy beans (yup, every day of the year.) Alfred H. Peet, the founder of the company, died just this past September, almost 42 years after he opened his first shop in Berkeley, CA. Because it's a California company, there are only two outposts here in Chicagoland: the first, in the city, at 1000 W. North Avenue and the second, in Evanston, at 1622 Chicago Avenue. While not exactly a homegrown, local business, Peet's is, on the whole, more committed to quality and community service than some of those other chain coffee joints out there.
Put some sunshine in your Monday! Make reservations now for a celebration of sunny Provence at copperblue. Enjoy six wines from Peter Fischer and Chateau Revelette along side four courses from Chef Michael Tsonton for just $79 all inclusive.
Menu highlights include:
preserved Seville orange gnocchi with pink peppercorn applesauce, grilled fennel salad, apple cider-lemon thyme vinaigrette
Food Network's 2 Dudes are coming to Chicago to drum up some interest in their show, along with some interest in Johnsonville brats. The two dudes are planning to drop a giant sausage from the top of the John Hancock building tomorrow, Friday, at noon, on to a two-story grill. They're asking Chicago Dude fans, brat fans and those with some free time to stop by and chant "drop that brat." Should be some free brat samples for those that do stop by--even if they don't chant.
The Illinois Humanities Council will be showing the documentary King Corn next Saturday (March 15) at the Chicago Cultural Center (77 East Randolph) from 2-4pm followed by a panel discussion about the movie led by local food activist LaDonna Redmond and artist Claire Pentecost. The event is free, but reservations are required, so make them today.
With the long, harsh winter we've had this year, it's odd to reassure yourself that there's an actual end to the cold and snow. The first culinary sign that winter is on its way out? Ramps, a tasty onion-like green (aka wild leek), which will begin blooming later this month. It's only fitting that the city whose name means "land of the wild onion" would have a celebration of this heralded ingredient. Support The Land Connection while chowing down on dishes made of ramps at this year's RampFest, which will take place March 28. Dishes made with locally grown ramps from restaurants such as Blackbird, Vie and Lula Cafe will be served. Tickets are $75 (until this Friday!), and then will range from $90-120; event starts at 7pm at Prairie Production, 1314 W. Randolph Street.
A poster on LTH Forum wrote a summary of his recent experience as a diner at LaGrange's Cafe 36 in the presence of cameras from celeb chef Gordon Ramsay's television show "Kitchen Nightmares," which will be giving the restaurant a revamping in an upcoming episode. Cafe 36's former chef Reinhard Barthel departed last year after disputing with the owner (who was also his father) and ended up at Palermo's in Orland Park, which may be why Britain's Angriest Chef is on the case of improving the restaurant, which has received decent reviews in the past.
For those of you who have yet to try the fabulous spirits created by the local North Shore Distillery, Binny's South Loop will be hosting a free tasting this Friday from 5pm -8pm.
(Their website mentions that they will be adding a brandy to their artisan collection soon!)
I hope you remembered to make reservations at one of the many impressive restaurants participating in Chicago Restaurant Week, which starts today for a one-week run of affordable prix fixe lunch and dinner menus at typically not-so-affordable places (Naha, I'm looking at you).
Plan to eat out on Tuesday, March 11, 2008. In fact, at participating Chicago restaurants, check your guilty conscience at the door and splurge that night, when a portion of your tab will help support 80 community organizations benefitting from the 5th Annual Share a Meal with Community Shares.
Places like Atlas Cafe and Agami Sushi are donating up to 30 percent of their proceeds that day to organizations like Voices for Illinois Children, Mikva Challenge, and Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Diners also can up the ante by designating a portion of their bills to a specific member charity of Community Shares of Illinois.
Mark your calendars, ale fans: the Chicago Beer Society's Night of the Living Ales IV will be held March 1 at Goose Island (3535 N. Clark) and will be a celebration (and competition) of locally brewed ales. The ticket price ($35 for CBS members, $40 nonmembers) includes a tasting glass, a load of samples, and appetizers. Take CTA or a cab, folks. You'll be in it to win it and therefore in no shape to drive home afterwards.
Tickets went on sale today at 9:30am for Alton Brown's March 15 appearance at the Museum of Science and Industry. Brown, host of the Food Network programs "Iron Chef" and "Good Eats," will be giving a zany lecture about food and its connections to science, followed by a Q&A and book signing session. Event begins at 11am. Tickets are $40 for adults, $25 for kids ages 3-11.
Today's the last day to get your paczki from Dinkel's on Lincoln. The fried pillows of sugar, fat and fruit are the traditional Polish food consumed in the few days before the beginning of Lent. Still sticking to the New Year's diet? Check out Joelen's Paczki Palooza and live vicariously through her.
Most people resolve that Monday is the big day to start a diet; according to a study, by the following day, 31% of eager dieters have ditched their plans and returned to a steady diet of grape soda and cheez-its. This week is no exception to the time-honored tradition of ditched diets; Fat Tuesday, the day of excessive consumption that precedes Ash Wednesday (and the start of Lent, the saddest 40 days of any Catholic kid's life) is tomorrow. 312 Dining Diva and Metromix have nice summaries of local celebrations, from free beignets at Brasserie Jo to zydeco bands at Heaven on Seven.
If you don't give two shakes about that silly football game on Sunday, why not spend the day making Paczki (Polish-style Filled Doughnuts) with other foodies from LTH Forum? They're organizing a Paczki-making session at Delightful Pastries (5927 West Lawrence, phone 773-545-7215) where you will fry, glaze and fill your own dozen paczki with a number of enticing things (e.g. raspberry, custard, rose petal jelly). You will also take home some chrusciki (cruellers) as well. The event will start at 2pm and costs $15; registration deadline is today.
This Friday night is the ultimate foodie's dream--the Grand Chefs Gala, a benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation featuring the culinary prowess of Chicago's best chefs, among them "Top Chef"'s Dale Levitski, Aigre Doux's Mohammad Islam, and Pasticceria Natalina's own Natalie Zarzour. The $400 ticket will get you cocktails, hors d'Oeuvres, a four-course dinner and desserts; however, if you are like me and need to pay rent instead, you can opt to show up at 10pm for the $50 per person Afterparty, which allows you your fill of the dessert course, open bar and dancing.
Have a new sweetie that you want to share Valentine's Day with, but not sure they're worth a $200 fancy pants feast? Or maybe you just want something a bit more low key than the fixed priced menus and disaffected waiters that most joints serve up on the officially sanctioned Day O' Luv. Bittersweet bakery is offering two seatings of a 3 course menu on the 14th for a mere $35 pp. Menu includes an organic greens, beets, and goat cheese salad, your choice of veggie gratin or lamb chops, molten chocolate cake and a glass of bubbly. With seatings at 5:30pm and 7:30pm, you can continue the evening at a swanky bar or back at your love shack with some sweet treats from the pastry case. Reservations are required. (773) 929-1100. Bittersweet Pastry Shop. 1114 W. Belmont Ave.
Be sure to listen to Sound Opinions on Chicago Public Radio (91.5 FM in Chicago) this Friday, Jan 25 at 8pm when Chef Anthony Bordain chats with hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot about "two of the best things on earth: music and food." Other chefs, including Doug Sohn of Hot Doug's and Graham Elliot Bowles of Avenues at The Peninsula Hotel, will weigh in on the connection between the two topics and Jim and Greg are going to play some of their favorite food-related songs.
If you can't catch the show on Friday, it will re-air on Saturday at 11am and will be available by podcast the following Monday on theSound Opinions site.
River North's Aigre Doux celebrates its first anniversary Monday with a $75 prix fixe dinner which includes a complimentary glass of champagne and a menu with all sorts of creative delights such as pan-seared diver scallops with sea urchin foam and blood orange vinaigrette, Tasmanian crab cake with avocado and pomelo mizuna salad and bluefin tuna carpaccio with arugula, kumquat and Sicilian pistachio. And those are just the appetizers. Not sold? Check out our review from last spring.
Dinner service begins at 5 p.m. and reservations are recommended (which can be made online or by calling 312-329-9400.
While we're all ecstatic about the announcement of Chicago Restaurant Week, where local top-shelf restaurants will offer special prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus for the budget-conscious eater, there's another (yes, another) separate event called Chicago Originals that will take place from January 27 to February 3 to allow the less moneyed foodie another opportunity to eat at local nice places (like Cafe Matou and Sweets and Savories) for the price of $20.08! Can you believe the luck we're having?
The Chicago Tribune Web site reported today that some of the city's best restaurants will offer cut-rate, three-course, prix fixe lunches and dinners the week of Feb. 22 to 29.
For just $21.95 for lunch or $31.95 for dinner, you can enjoy an appetizer, entree, and dessert at places like David Burke's Primehouse, Naha, Blue Water Grill, Roy's Restaurant, and Smith & Wollensky. The slogan for the city's first-ever Chicago Restaurant Week is "Eat It Up!" And that's just what restaurateurs are hoping you'll do during what is traditionally a slow time of year for fine dining. Make reservations starting Tuesday.
One of my favorite grocery stores, Sunflower Market, is hosting a screening and premiere party for the TBS show "10 Items or Less" tonight from 6 to 9 pm. Games, prizes and food are all promised, and radio station 101.9 WTMX will be there. The store is located at 1910 N. Clybourn Ave.
I was reading the San Francisco Chronicle a few weeks ago and came across a neat story about a Northwestern University art professor who held a seminar to talk about his Iraqi-Jewish heritage and make the foods of his childhood. The seminar, called Enemy Kitchen, was also an opportunity for the audience to talk about their perspectives on the war and the impact it has had on culture. The professor, Michael Rakowitz, will be bringing Enemy Kitchen to the Hyde Park Art Center this Sunday from 5-7pm, as part of the companion exhibit Consuming War which ends January 20 at the Center. Reservations are required. Click here to register.
If you absoutely have to go out for dinner on amateur night, best make your reservations right now. Luckily, a quick scan of opentable shows plenty of early res's available at lots of swanky spots throughout the city. They even offer a special page that shows some of the fixed price deals and promos for the big night out.
Standouts include Anteprima, Copperblue, and Naha offering their regular menus and others with special tasting menus and the ever popular Champagne toast. BOKA, Gejas, Le Lan, and Bin 36 all have tasty looking options that range from $50-$135 depending on your seating time and number of courses. The best bargain seems to be The Park Grill with a five course tasting menu, live jazz, and free trolley rides home within a two mile radius all for $55. As an added bonus, you can order $10 glasses of Veuve Clicquot NV all night long.
If you haven't yet tried this year's Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza, know that it's where you can quickly and in passing grab a bag of some thickly candied nuts. One outdoor vendor in a wooden shed keeps a large pot with a motorized mixing blade aside a counter filled with trays of pecans, almonds, macadamia nuts and peanuts in either coconut, cocoa, cinnamon, amaretto, or just plain sugar flavor (depending on the nut) - and Vienna almonds (vanilla, I think). I tried a few varieties in my visits. Their nuts are reliably crisp, well coated with tasty sugar, and with the fragrance that comes from nothing but a nicely roasted nut. Wash them down with Glühwein, a "traditional German holiday market hot spiced wine" from another shack. My last time there, I was off to meet friends at a bus stop and had six minutes and three downtown blocks to go. I was led astray en-route by a sweet nutty smell that I recognized with smiles. A German-sounding-accented gal scooped cinnamon-sugar pecans into a paper cone that she had on her scale. I was off a minute after the aroma first came to me, and at the bus stop sharing crunches of sugary pecans after another two minutes.
If you're like me, you think that most German food is based on a dare. I'm really no hater of the culture; technically, I'm a little bit German--but I'm mostly Italian, which is why schnitzel never made its way to our family dinner table as a kid. As I've branched out my culinary tastes, I've still been unable to really enjoy German food--the breaded, heavily-sauced planks of meat, overcooked vegetables, spaetzle and gallons of other starchy delights have done little to stir my interest. I bravely endured the food of the Berghoff, let other people order for me at the Brauhaus, and made sure my water glass was always full so that I could wash down what I thought was a flavorless eating experience.
But as hunger makes a great sauce, as my mother once said, the cold weather combined with the food offerings at the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza (between Washington, Clark & Dearborn Streets) makes for a good lunch hour meal. Milwaukee restaurant Mader's has a booth with very good Reuben rolls, local bakery Dinkel's is selling stollen, and of course, many of the other booths are selling beer, which makes the second part of the workday more enjoyable. The Market also has a fair amount of onsite seating, despite the season. Christkindlmarket is open daily from 11am-8pm (11am-9pm on Friday and Saturday) until December 24, so make a stop before it ends.
Registration begins today for World Kitchen, a series of cooking classes sponsored by the Department of Cultural Affairs that will be held in the new, top-notch culinary facilities at Gallery 37 Center for the Arts, 66 E. Randolph Street starting in January . The cost of most of the events is $30 and offers instruction in a range of subjects, such as making marinara sauce (January 10), Asian New Year delicacies (February 10), and Chicago street food (February 28). Click here for more information and to register.
If you weren't able to catch this past week's premiere of the WTTW "Foods of Chicago" documentary with Geoffrey Baer, you are in major luck: the program will be shown again on Monday night at 7:30pm and next weekend.
While a lot of Chicago food points to pizza and hot dogs, I was wondering why the documentary didn't mention anything of the "new school" of Chicago food that includes places like Charlie Trotter's. Producer Dan Protess shed some light on the topic. "Charlie Trotter has been around long enough that he certainly qualifies as historical. But the other criterion is that it had to be subject matter that screamed Chicago. But haute cuisine is not exactly the Chicago stockyards. Or Polish food."
It's an interesting question. Can Chicago cuisine ever legitimately push its deep-fried reputation into something that shows more versatility? Take Alinea, for example. Will the experience of burning leaves being served with your pumpkin pie-ish dessert ever be a Chicago trademark? I suppose many years down the road, were this documentary to be recreated, a mention of Alinea, or places like Trotter's and Moto, will have their own spot in the limelight. But for now, let's be real: I know only two people who had the money to pay for a meal at Alinea, excited that they were able to eat at such a place. And after the 20 courses of bite-sized dishes served on wires and pillows, they went over to Al's #1 for an Italian beef sandwich so that they wouldn't go home furious about being $150 poorer and still hungry.
Ted Allen, the food expert from Chicago who became famous advising culinarily-challenged straight men on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, is returning to town this week. He'll be at Dinner by Design's Maxwell Street store sharing meal-preparation tips for people who suffer from acid-reflux disease. The meals are meant to be quick and easy to prepare, but without heartburn triggers like spicy or tomato-based sauces, or fatty deep-fried ingredients. There's no time listed for the event, so call the store at 312-997-5100 for more information.
Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday celebrating the dead through art and food, begins today. If you're looking for the sugary, colorful calaveras (skulls) and sweet egg bread (pan de muerta) that are the symbols of the holiday, a nice Sun Timesarticle (mentioned in the Quick Links below) sums up where to go. If you're looking to buy some things online, local confectioner Dulcelandia has a nice selection. And if you're a foodie with a hankering for the gourmet stuff, your buddies at Vosges have come up with a nice trio of chocolate skulls for your indulgence.
Ever wonder how your barista got that cool little leaf design on the top of your latte? Learn how to turn your cup into a canvas at Intelligentia's Espresso Enthusiast Class--a basic course in barista training. Topics include espresso preparation, milk steaming and of course latte art. You'll even receive a free bag of Black Cat coffee for your efforts. There are a variety of dates available and reservations are required. Fulton Street Roasting Works, 1850 W. Fulton, Chicago. $200 per class.
Paula Deen, the Food Network's queen of country cuisine, is coming to The Chicago Theater on November 17th for two live shows. Paula will share her favorite down home recipes with fans, as well as cooking tips and advice. Tickets are still available for both shows. You bet your britches that I'll be there.
Can't wait until November? Try making one of my favorite Paula recipes--corn casserole--at home. (Warning: recipe may not be suitable for the calorie-conscious.)
Paula Deen's Corn Casserole
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8-ounce) package corn muffin mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with cheddar. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.
Prentice Women's Hospital at Northwestern opened Saturday, and along with it another chapter of the well-hidden secret of why I love Northwestern Memorial Hospital: their cafeteria. If you've ever tasted hospital food, you know its bland calling card; however, I've enjoyed many countless meals at Spice of Life, the NMH cafeteria. The place has even been on Check Please!. Their sister restaurant at Prentice, Fresh Market at Fairbanks, promises to deliver as much, with chef and author Joyce Goldstein at the helm. I'm excited to get to the new hospital and get my chow on; thankfully, that will be my only reason to be there.
If you go nuts for great Pinot Noir, you best get on the stick and register now for Pinot Days at Navy Pier. Over 50 producers of Pinot Noir from California, Oregon, Burgundy, New Zealand, and beyond will be in town from November 7th to November 10th for a muti-event festival celebrating the soft and sexy red grape. The grand finale is a tasting of over 150 different Pinot Noir-based wines from 1-4pm. $50 Lakeview Terrace at Navy Pier. More info is available at the Pinot Days website.
This Sunday promises to be the reason why Chicago should get the 2016 Summer Olympics bid. The Bucktown Apple Pie Contest at Holstein Park Fieldhouse (2200 North Oakley, 2:00-5:00 p.m.) will feature 75 contestants competing for the top honor. Pies (and other foods) will be available for the selling and the tasting, along with games for the kids, a silent auction, and a $1,000 cash raffle (which could buy a lot of All-Clad, my friend). The event benefits the Friends of Holstein Park.
A lot of media attention has been given to Charlie Trotter recently in celebration of his twentieth anniversary of the opening of his Lincoln Park restaurant. From the city naming "Charlie Trotter Day" in August, to the cover of a recent Time Out issue and a review of invite-only events over this past weekend that was attended by the world's top chefs (the real top chefs, ahem), this is a nice salute to his work.
To celebrate the new fall television season, TV Guide (remember them?) will be hosting a "Free Coffee Friday" tomorrow. Several coffee shops will be offering free regular-sized coffee and copies of TV Guide from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Here's the lucky places: Letizia’s Natural Bakery (2144 W. Division St), Whispers Café Inc. (1031 N. State St), Ennui Café (6981 N. Sheridan Rd), Gallery Café (1760 W. North Ave), Mercury Cafe (1505 W. Chicago Ave), Alliance Bakery (1736 W. Division St), and Janik’s (2011 W. Division). If you miss it, the next opportunity will be October 5.
The October issue of Saveur magazine will be totally dedicated to Chicago eats. Recipes from the kitchens at North Pond, Tru and Nacional 27 will be featured, as well as profiles on local chefs and food stores. The Chopping Block will be hosting a cooking demonstration lead by chefs from local places as well as the test kitchens of Saveur on October 10. The event doubles as a benefit for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Click here for more information.
The All Candy Expo roared into town this past week at McCormick Place, a loud, colorful, three-day event for candy and snack food manufacturers from all corners of the globe to show their stuff to buyers. But not to each other, as I learned.
Wine, wine everywhere, and thankfully, plenty of drops to drink. Two events in the coming week square off to whet your oenophilic whistle. But why let them compete? There's plenty of grape to go around.
Friday through Sunday, sample wares from vintages around the world at the North Center Winefest (big tent, corner of Lincoln and Bernenice). $25 gets you your own tasting glass and 12 food tickets to ensure you're not drinking on an empty stomach. Tastings are $2 a pop.
Celebrate the first day of fall while it still feels like summer with music and wine at Bin Wine Cafe's Jazz and Juice event. Keep that party going on Monday night with an evening of "wine, cheese, jazz & funk," for another $25 as Bin closes down to make merry in private. Cheers.
Blu Coral has been open for a few months now, but they're only just now getting around to a grand opening tonight. But the wait is worth it: RSVP on the site and get on the guest list for free sushi and appetizers from 6pm to 10pm, along with a ribbon-cutting at the beginning and drink specials throughout the night. [via]
I get pretty excited about bake offs. They're so inspiring and a great way for home chefs to really show off. So, I'm proposing that if any of our readers wins the apple dessert bake off at next weekend's Lincoln Square Apple Fest, l'll write about your winning entry and personally make you an apple-shaped pot-holder. Just be sure to take pictures of your creation in process and let me know if you win.
Click here to get all the info you need including an entry form and the official rules.
The super fabulous Concord Grape Tart returns to the menu at West Town Tavern for a limited time. Make sure you save room for this tasty treat that made the Time Out Chicago "100 Best Things We Ate" list when you go. Also, catch Chef Susan Goss for a live demo of two recipes at Green City Market tomorrow at 10:30am.
Plenty of opportunities to have fun with fish this fall with The Fish Guy. Take a sushi class from Hiroko Shimbo on October 14, 15, or 16 for just $100. Class includes lots of sushi and sake as well as signed copies of both of her cookbooks. You can also snag a coveted reservation at the once a week restaurant Wellfleet on September 7, 14, or 21 if you act quickly. Sign up now and get a free Caviar Wellfleet for each couple. 773-283-7400.
Chicago's Green City Market is offering a weeklong Localvore Challenge. The week starts Sept. 10th, so you have a few days to register. If you can make it to the market over the weekend, you can register, pick up a packet of helpful information, and a week's worth of local food. To make the challenge manageable, you can choose certain items to exempt, such as olive oil, salt and other spices, and coffee. The Localvore Challenge web site also offers a list of local food producers, and stores that carry food from the region. If trying to prepare three meals a day using only local ingredients sounds daunting, the GCM web site also offers a list of restaurants that will have locally produced menu options that week. So you can feel like a good citizen and environmentalist while sitting in an air-conditioned restaurant, sipping a cocktail and waiting for someone else to prepare your food.
Think you're a master at macaroni and cheese making? Tillamook Cheese would like to give you the chance to prove it. Just write up three of your favorite (or best) macaroni and cheese recipes (follow their style) and send them in by September 16 to see if you could be one of the three Chicago finalists and then go onto the National finals in Portland, OR. Now that is one way to get cheesed-off.
Chef Morimoto, star of both Iron Chef incarnations, is coming to Chicago next wek to promote a new cookbook and demonstrate his chops. He'll be at Kendall College the afternoon of September 7th, and for $39, you can watch his demonstrations, eat some of his food, drink some wine, and get his autograph on your Wüsthof. Details and sign-up form are on the ChicaGourmets site.
If you can't make or afford it to Friday's event, head to Fox & Obel on Saturday for a free signing and demo, though reservations are required for the latter. Details are available on Fox & Obel's site.
Among the victims of Hurricane Katrina was New Orleans's thriving restaurant culture. The Southern Food and Beverage Museum’s new photograph exhibit, Restaurant/Restorative, focuses on the rebuilding of city eateries over the past two years since the hurricane occurred. The exhibit is now open through September 21 at the dining room of Kendall College (900 N. Branch) during lunch and dinner service.
Editor's note: We sent Cubs in Five columnist Jeff Webber and photographer Phineas X. Jones to the Chicago History Museum for an event on Monday; here is their report.
Iowa's Templeton Rye rolled into Chicago Monday night with a busload of flappers and gangsters and a couple dozen cases of the rye whiskey Al Capone used to call "The Good Stuff." The upstart distillery's tasting party, held at the Chicago History Museum on Monday, brought back a taste that Chicago hasn't had in more than 70 years. Come mid-September, the single-malt, single-barrel rye will begin showing up in bars and package stores across the city. And when you raise a glass, you can thank Templeton Rye founder Scott Bush... and his mom.
The pitch is so succinct, it fits on a cardboard coaster: "Prohibition Era Rye Whiskey available legally for the first time ever." The story: a tiny Iowa town, struggling against hard times, takes to bootlegging and ends up Prohibition's closest thing to a name brand hooch. Fast-forward to the present, where Iowan Scott Bush rescues the famed recipe from the pages of history and brings it to the market in its first-ever legally distributed incarnation. It's the kind of story that lends itself to barfly evangelism. And really, who wouldn't rather hear a fanciful yarn about Al Capone smuggling Iowa whiskey into Alcatraz than suffer through yet another flavored vodka? After umpteen lifeless versions of berry vodka, old school rye whiskey is a breath of fresh air.
After decades of declining popularity, the time is ripe for a rye revival. Even the Manhattan, a rye cocktail in its original recipe, is more often made with bourbon these days. But with small-batch bourbons and prestige whiskeys making their way onto the top shelf, it was only matter of time before the drier, cleaner taste of rye made a comeback as an alternative. Templeton Rye is just the thing to help re-establish the style. Deep amber, with a clean, reedy character, Templeton has a chewy, spicy goodness and a clean finish that makes old fashioned cocktails like the Sazerac, the Rock and Rye and, yes, the Old-Fashioned, seem new again. All of those and more were on the menu at Templeton's tasting party.
Now obviously, a well-appointed tasting party with free-flowing booze is going to win converts. Add fun touches like brand reps dressed as flappers and gangsters and even a pair of period-uniformed "coppers" on a mock raid and you've added some flair. But where so many liquor tasting parties drown themselves in marketing department approximations of cool, Templeton's party spotlighted a certain easygoing Iowan charm. Upon hearing a distributor's boast that Chicago was the first major city to receive the new Templeton Rye, company president Scott Bush's Iowa pride compelled him to assert that "Des Moines is a major city." This drew cheers from the flappers and gangsters, who were, it turned out, all Templeton natives, among them Scott Bush's wife, grandmother, father and, yes, his mom.
Friends, family and neighbors in Iowa have had a year to get hooked all over again on Templeton Rye, but you'll have to wait until the middle of next month to get your hands on it in Chicago. Until then, you can visit the distillery online at templetonrye.com.
Another summer, another Pitchfork. The out-of-town hipsters have cleared out and the empty WaterPlus bottles have been cleared from the field at Union Park, and the Chicago music scene takes a breather before Lollapalooza. Much has already been said in other, more appropriate forums about great performances despite the sound problems, the calm and happy crowd, and Of Montreal lead singer Kevin Barnes's outfit (or lack thereof) so let us turn our hymnals, children, to Festival Food and the Urban Music Scene.
While I admit I am drawn moth-like to the seductive flame of the cheese curd, wherever it may be purveyed, I tried to at least shop around for my afternoon Pitchfork sustenance. The number of vendors was up from last year, and included local stand-by's Wishbone and Connie's Pizza, as well as two separate curry tents (up from last year's single booth), a Whole Foods mini-market, beer rep Goose Island, a Big Bite catering stop, and several more. The most mysterious, to my unfamiliar palate, and charmingly staged, however was the Cevapcici booth.
Word on the street is that the Bravo TV show Top Chef will be filming its next season in Chicago later this year. If you have got what it takes, start preparing for your open call audition, which will be July 29 at Rock Bottom Brewery (located at State and Grand). Click here for details.
Ultimately a success with around two thousand attendees, this year’s Green City Market BBQ showcased about forty different food stands and about another dozen drink vendors—mostly of the alcoholic variety. This celebration of locally produced food and drink took on the intimate and giddy air of a back yard party as patrons slowly grazed from one table to the next. As the crowd grew it never got uncomfortable, but mingling was inescapable. It was genuinely inspiring to hear people talking Illinois-centric food, restaurants and ingredients the way that tailgaters at Soldier Field talk football, the NFC and their beloved Bears.
Calling all BBQ aficionados! Next Thursday from 6 to 8 pm, head to the Green City Market Chefs’ Summer BBQ Festival for victuals grilled by 50 of Chicago’s top chefs is set for 6 pm to 8 pm Thursday, July 12 in Lincoln Park. For $50 in advance, you'll get food by Mark Baker, Rick Bayless and more, plus beer and wine tastings, and live entertainment. Get your tix now at the Green City Market in Lincoln Park or online.
Nick Digilio has asked me to come on his show tomorrow night and chat more about our Gapersblock alternative food fest coverage. Yea! Tune in to WGN radio 720 am Sat night at 9pm (I'll be on about 9:07) and hear us chat chow. You can also stream live at wgnradio.com.
This Saturday, you'll have an opportunity to live out your dream of riding in a public transportation vehicle disguised as food should you board the Chexpress, which is a CTA bus dressed up in...chocolate Chex cereal. According to our buddies at the Tribune, four decorated buses will be in service most of the day (no word on which routes will be used, although it will definitely be one that travels north/south in the downtown area). Adding to the giddiness of your travel experience, the ride will be free, and you may even get a cereal sample.
By now you've probably read about Monica Eng's $1100 Taste experiment; having a bite of each and every offering at Taste of Chicago and living to tell about it. Today she reports back with a rating of everything she ate. A very useful "get it," "eh" or "forget it" system along with her top picks and best overall booths. So, if you're going to brave the greasy mouthed masses, you can make a game plan ahead of time.
The only thing Monica didn't hit was the booze. I did. Yes indeed, you can count on me to scope out the reasonably quaffable adult beverages at any outdoor festival. Read on for my less comprehensive, but all important, drink recommendations.
With all the blog chatter lately on BBQ, you may be hankerin for some ribs. Every Wednesday night, Chef Susan Goss is serving up a Texas-style pork spareribs special with sides of fried potato salad and black-eyed pea relish for just $18.75. If you really want to do it up, visit on July 18th for their official BBQ rib kickoff. On that evening, you can add a glass of Murphy Goode Liar's Dice Zinfandel 2004 for $10 and Chef will throw in a piece of her famed Lemon Chess Pie on the house. Plus, every diner that orders the Q special will get a packet of her BBQ dry rub spice blend to take home. Best make reservations just to be safe. 312-666-6175.West Town Tavern. 1329 W Chicago Ave.
I think every Chicago resident has a love/hate relationship with Taste of Chicago. I go every three years or so to get my fix of meat on a stick and tourist gawking, but nothing makes me really EXCITED to go. This year, Taste offers an International Pavillion that actually makes me wanna throw elbows with the tube-topped masses. The performance schedule includes Chicago-based Muntu Dance Theatre (African) and Foy School of Irish Dance, as well as real deal Kung Fu artists from the Henan Province of China. You can shop for funky jewlery, textiles, and rare spices while you listen to "swingin' body music" by Dutch trumpet sensation Saskia Laroo and (probably) eat something on a stick. Actually, the nibbles in this tent are created by top notch Chicago caterer J&L and inspired by the cuisines of Vietnam, Africa, and Mexico. Anyone know where I can buy a halter top and get a mullet cut by Friday?
Taste of Chicago, that yearly fest of "gastronomic revelry" (i.e. slightly overpriced food portions in Dixie Cups, sticky sidewalk and children as far as the eye can see, eighteen different "varieties" of pizza, and giant freaking turkey legs brandished with the kind of gusto that would make Uther proud), kicks off this Friday.
If you haven't been to the Taste, you should go. No really, bitchiness aside, it's a classicChicago-in-the-Summerexperience. And if the cicadas have been shy in your area, the Taste will fulfill all your swarming and buzzing needs (3.6 million people attended last year, according to the City).
If you have been to the Taste, well, you know how it is. New restaurants this year include Latin-Indian fusion spot Vermilion (yay!) and sandwich shop Potbelly's (wtf?), in addition to perennial favorites Rainbow Cone, Vienna Beef and Sweet Baby Ray's. The full list is here. The party ends July 8, so put your bib on and get downtown while you can.
Support the Foundation on Fighting Blindness by eating and drinking the night away at the swanky Penninsula Hotel on Friday June 22nd. Chefs from Nomi, Avenues, Roy's Chicago, Sushi Wabi and plenty more will be serving up tasty treats while Christine Blumer (The Winediva) and Bob Bansberg (Ambria) guide you through matching wines at each station. Tickets are $150 and available here.
June is Hunger Awareness Month (and today is Hunger Awareness Day), so help out by participating in Dine Out for Hunger, a benefit sponsored by the Greater Chicago Food Depository. A numerous list of local restaurants will donate a portion of their meal proceeds between June 4-6 to the Depository. Click here for a list of this year's participants.
Our comrades in foodiephileness at LTH Forum are holding their first annual Food Photo Contest that ends June 30, so get over to the site to check out the rules. Finally, there's an incentive for enduring the stares of puzzled waitstaff and fellow diners when you whip out your digital to take pictures of your meal. And theirs.
Green City Market, a well-known source of sustainable produce, opens Wednesday in the park beside 1750 N. Clark and runs Wednesdays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Seedling, an excellent Green City source of fruit, will have their fall 2006 apple cider that they froze for us, apple and bear butters, dried fruit, and perhaps some rhubarb if it's ready. Look for their strawberries in two weeks.
Check out the long list of farmers at Green City. Get your bicycle out because there's no better way to roll here. Everyone's doing it. CDOT's ChicagoBikes.org gives tips. Stop in before work if it's on your way.
Care to learn about organic gardening? Master gardener Bill Shores offers a wide range of urban gardening classes, including indoor salad green and veggie gardening (May 12), container gardening and worm composting (June 23), urban agriculture and edible landscape design (Sept. 8) and even over-winter gardening (Oct. 20). Here's the kicker: the classes take place in chef Rick Bayless' organic garden in Bucktown.
If you need a little inspiration, Shores also offers guided evening tours of the Bayless garden, including his outdoor kitchen, a multitude of stunning container plantings, a commercial organic vegetable garden, worm composting systems and more. One-hour tours run on Wednesday evenings, starting at 6:30pm. May 23, June 20, July 25, August 15 and September 19. Tickets are just $15, but space is limited to 20 participants.
For more information, visit Urban Edible; to make a reservation or join a class, email urbanedible@yahoo.com.
On Wednesday, May 2, the Baskin-Robbins at 3000 North Ashland will be selling a 2.5 oz serving of ice cream for $0.31. Yes, thirty-one cents. Savor the deal, as proceeds will benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Association.
If you've been awaiting the return of the Ghetto Gourment, then wait no longer. No, seriously, reserve now. There are only a few seats left for this Friday's dinner, where you'll be served something called "Forbidden Empanadas". They were originally going to be filled with foie gras and other tasty bits, but thanks to the Chicago ban, Chef Efrain has decided to see what his dinner guests think and if there is enough of a call for the mucilaginous, fatty liver (guess how tasty I think foie gras is) then maybe next time around he'll find a way to skirt the law. Maybe he'll even get his own t-shirt.
Just because they're booked up for paying guests, doesn't mean they don't need some more volunteers. One night next week Andrew and I will be peeling veggies, chopping garlic, washing spinach or whatever else needs to be done. So if you want to ghet in on the action, just fill out their Ghet Involved Questionnaire.
Tonight is a great opportunity to treat yourself to a good meal and also donate to a worthy cause--at the same time! Dining out for Life, held at numerous restaurants around the city and suburbs (click here for a list of this year's participants), is an event where a portion of your meal cost will be donated to AIDSCare Chicago, a local service organization.
Growing Home Chicago is a non-profit whose mission is to "provide job training ... for homeless and low-income people in Chicago, within the context of an organic agriculture business." They've been in operation for nine years, boasting a lot of success stories of program participants who've gone on to careers in the food industry. There are lots of ways to support their program, including buying into their CSA, volunteering, or attending their annual benefit, which this year is on May 1st, at Garfield Park Conservatory. In addition to supporting their cause, your $80 ticket gets you a gourmet dinner made by the likes of Michael Altenberg, Greg Christian Catering, Fox & Obel, Lula Café, and Shawn McClain.
Details are available on this PDF. If you go, be sure to find me and say hey.
If you missed it on our homepage, it's that time of year again: Ben & Jerry's has free cone day! Their site isn't letting you use their finder very well but Google Maps has you covered.
Are you hopelessly behind in getting your taxes ready to file? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. And someone wants to help.
Certified public accountant, Martin Kamenski is celebrating the successful first year of his practice in Chicago. And in honor of that milestone, he’ll be setting up shop at two Wicker Park eateries this week to file instant, electronic tax extensions… for free! Escape the wrath of the IRS for at least another month and buy yourself more time to make sure you’ve rounded up, carried all the ones, and that those deductions are, in fact, legit. You gotta love the way accountants celebrate.
On Monday, April 16th, Mr. Kamenski will hold court at Alliance Bakery (1736 W. Division) from 10 AM to 10 PM. (Mmmm, taxes, cappuccinos and croissants. Does it get any better than that?) Then, on Tuesday, April 17th, he’ll be across the street at Mac’s American Restaurant (1801 W. Division) from 10AM to the deadline for individual filing at midnight. (Mmmm, taxes, burgers and beers. I guess it does get better!)
The Ghetto Gourmet, which the San Fransisco Bay Guardian referred to as a "renegade roving supper club," is "roving" back on into Chicago for five nights at the end of this month and the beginning of May. If you haven't already been out to one of these events, it's well worth the cash, especially because the Beer Cheese soup raved about in this review will be on the menu for two of the nights.
Food this delicious and a night this cool don't come cheap. It's $45-$50 per person, but if you can't come up with the money why not volunteer to help out one of the nights? You might end up doing dishes for 40 people, but working hard for your meal will never taste so good.
"The Ghet" will be in town April 27-28 and May 2, 4 and 5. "Forbidden Empanadas" (with ground pork, foie gras, Granny Smith apples and dried cherries) are on the menu for each night, but the entrees, soups and desserts vary each night.
Order tickets early; some of the nights sold out early last month. Also, there was talk of a potential rooftop dinner during their last visit.
A couple after-work events you might be interested in tonight:
• At HotChocolate, 1747 N. Damen Ave., Michael Recchiuti, a San Francisco–based chocolatier and cookbook author, will appear at a "chocolate happy hour" at 5:30pm. It's free, and sounds delicious.
• The Food Chain rounds up a handful of whiskey related events tonight in advance of the sold-out WhiskyFest tomorrow. (Speaking of which, Delilah's is pretty much the after-Fest headquarters, so you're almost guaranteed to run into some heavy hitters of bourbon, Scotch and Irish whiskey over there Friday.)
When was the last time you had the chance to attend an honest-to-God bake sale? Your nephew's pee wee football fundraiser? You know you miss those opportunities to buy 4 brownies on a tiny paper plate, wrapped in green tinted saran wrap for a quarter...
Well, here's your chance! Debbie Sharpe, chef/owner of a variety of wonderful establishments, is hosting a "Save The Whales Bake Sale" for Greenpeace at her coffee shop Half & Half (1560 N. Damen just underneath the blue line el stop) on April 28 starting at 1 p.m.
Sharpe is working to fund Greenpeace's next venture into the Southern Ocean near Antarctica by selling baked goods, and she is "counting on you good people to either donate some goodies, help me sell some goodies, or buy the goodies".
Sharpe adds, "...and even if you aren't into saving whales, we make a damned good cupcake which you should buy"!
Contact Debbie at Half & Half if you are interested in participating. I am sure you all have a few lemon bar and rice crispy treat recipes gathering dust on your kitchen shelf!
You could get up for a Saturday morning run on April 14, or you can join Slow Food Chicago's walking tour of Little Village from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The thought of Mexican cremerias and panaderia's should make the decision easy.
The cost is $15 for Slow Food members and $20 for non-members. Reservations are required, but you'd better act quickly. The tour is limited to 20 people. If you can't make it to this tour, it will be repeated on June 16.
The Ghetto Gourmet, the Bay Area's "underground dining experience" that spawned the underground or guerrilla restaurant movement, is visiting Chicago for a couple days, and there's still space at three of its four seatings at a secret South Side location. Make your reservations now, and don't forget to BYO bottle and floor cushion.
Enjoy some delicious seafood at Timo on Monday, March 26 as part of the Shedd Aquarium’s Right Bite Dinner Series. Chef John Bubala and his staff will be preparing a fantastic meal featuring a variety of sustainable seafood items including wild Alaskan black cod, farm raised oysters, and locally produced whitefish caviar.
Chef Bubala knows first hand about the ups and downs of the commercial fishing industry; with cod fishermen in the family, he had the opportunity to experience the fishing life first-hand growing up on the Atlantic coast. Although Atlantic cod won’t be on the menu due to problems associated with over fishing, don’t miss this chance to enjoy great food with some interesting people.
The Shedd’s Right Bite dinners also include informative guest speakers, give-aways, and more!
Head over to Dirk’s Fishmarket on Tuesday, March 20, for an evening of easy fish and seafood recipes including coconut basil shrimp, smoky salmon roulades, snapper enchiladas, and tilapia piccata. The class will be held on from 7:30 to 9:00 and at $50 per person, it’s a steal! Dirk also encourages you to bring a bottle of wine, just to make it that much more enjoyable.
Enjoy a podcast featuring an interview with Dirk himself, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune online.
It's no longer enough to eat organic. Now all the cool kids are eating local as well. But there's plenty of support for those of us still stuck in the organic-food aisle of our neighborhood grocery store. (Besides the list that ran in The Reader's food issue of community-supported farms.) The 100 Mile Diet folks give tips and even a map of your local "foodshed" on their web site. The same is true of the Eat Local Challenge blog, which has a nice post on 10 Reasons to Eat Local and a scary story on the USDA approving chicken imported from China, land of the Bird-Flu outbreak.
If you want to meet some local farmers, next weekend is the FamilyFarmed.org Expo at the Chicago Cultural Center. There will be farmers and chefs on hand to answer questions, a food and wine tasting party on Friday evening; and on Saturday, a kids' activity corner, chef demos and food-related films. If you register early online, tickets are discounted.
Chef Martial Noguier teams up with Guest Chef Terrance Brennan of Picholine and Artisinal Cheese fame to create a special menu with fancy cheeses on Tues March 27. For $95 diners will enjoy five courses paired with wines from Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Winery. (Yes, that's the one from the movie Sideways.) Get a sneek peek at the menu here. Reservations for this special dinner must be made by phone: 312.850.0303.
And suddenly, the Food Network descended on Chicago. This Saturday, Mario Batali is doing a book-signing at Fox & Obel at 2pm. You must buy the book to attend, but you can "check in" anytime after 7am to receive a number for the signing.
Meanwhile, Alton Brown will be just a few blocks away, doing a demo "on the selection & the care and feeding of your most prized cutlery" at the Michigan Avenue Crate & Barrel at 1pm. No purchase necessary, but there's only room for 75 people and there's no RSVP, so you'll want to get there early.
Not to be outdone, Rachael Ray is planning a showdown between the best of Chicago and New York pizzas on her daytime talk show sometime in April. You can vote for our representative pizzeria from their list — heavy on the deep dish joints, natch — or write in your own choice. (I wonder what would happen if everyone voted in a thin-crust place?)
I'm new to Chicago, and always eager to learn about what this city and the state of Illinois have to offer. So I headed out on Tuesday night, to meet Alpana Singh, Chicago's celebrity sommelier, and to taste a selection of Illinois wines. The event was put on by Chicago City Sippers and hosted by Mrs. Murphy & Sons, an Irish bistro in Lakeview.
It was fitting that Mrs. Murphy's, a restaurant owned and run by women, would host the City Sippers, the go-to organization for Chicago women who love wine. It was set up so that the food, a nice selection of appetizers prepared by chef Jeanne Carlson, was in one room, the wine was in another room, and Alpana was in a completely separate room, at a long table waiting for sippers to approach her to ask about her book.
There were about four bottles each of red and white wine for tasting, as well as a bottle of blush. After overhearing some mumbling about the sweetness of the white wines, I went straight for the reds. The first one, the lightest, was bland and watery. But the other two reds weren’t so bad. The Chambourcin, named for the hybrid grape it's made from, has, according to Fox Valley Winery, gained "recognition in several countries." The final red, the R.A. Faltz Vintner Reserve had a nice spiciness, and is normally compared to a Syrah.
The blush, called Grandma's Blush, won over a new fan: One woman giggled after tasting it, and said it reminded her of the Welch's sparkling grape juice she'd drink on New Year's eve when she was a kid.
I asked Alpana, who was sipping from a glass of ice water most of the evening, what she thought about the Illinois wines. She said she thinks it's cool that the winery featured, Fox Valley, makes their wines from grapes grown in the state. Not all Illinois wineries do that. But she remained noncommittal. "It's just another thread in the tapestry of wine," she said.
You've had a taste of the Organic movement, and now you're hooked, and you want to learn more. Next stop: The FamilyFarmed Expo, taking place March 23rd and 24th at the Chicago Cultural Center. Friday's schedule is mostly for restaurants and re-sellers; the stuff for consumers all takes place on Saturday. The schedule boasts about a dozen workshops, on topics like healthy eating and sustainable farming, a Farmer's Market, chef's presentatoins and general schmoozing with a bunch of local farmers and CSA operators.
Tickets to the Expo are two for $25 for both days, or $15 for one day. If you're still hungry for more, the Expo's hosting a benefit tasting party called Localicious -- where chefs prepare food from local farms -- that Friday night. It's $75. Meanwhile, you can enter to win a pair of tickets to the Expo or the tasting party through Time Out Chicago. A simple piece of Organic trivia (scroll to the bottom) is all that it takes to enter.
Now that the season of Lent (the forty days preceding Easter Sunday) has arrived, you may be in search of a good fish fry place in the city, or just interested in eating fish on Fridays. Whatever floats your boat, LTH Forum has a nice thread on places to visit (with the Duke of Perth emerging as the frontrunner).
Get your whiskey on April 13th, when all of the best producers of whiskey, scotch, and bourbon invade Chicago's Hyatt Regency for Whisky Fest. Your $105 ticket lets you attend seminars by all of the leading distillers and taste rare and fancy stuff from County Cork to Kentucky. Tickets sell out weeks in advance, so best secure yours now online.
Keep an eye out for other whiskey related events that week, particularly at Twisted Spoke and Delilah's. Don't be suprised if the guy next to you is sporting a plaid skirt. Its probably not Mike Myers.
If you're the type to leave the planning to the professionals, we've got the St. Patrick's Day pub crawl for you. On March 15, the Chicago History Museum is sponsoring "Erin Go Beer! Irish Pubs of Chicago Trolley Tour." a crawl organized and hosted by Sean Parnell, creator of the Chicago Bar Project, one of the city's authorities on Irish pubs in the city. It's part of a three-part "History Pub Crawl" series in March, April and May — each costs just $25 ($20 for museum members) and includes a trolley ride to each location, Parnell's rich historical tales, and access to drink specials at each bar. Sign up now before it fills up!
Slow Food Chicago recently announced a great line up of March events including dinners at Timo and Lula Café, as part of their March of the Chefs celebration. These local dinners are part of a national celebration where chefs who attended the Terra Madre Congress in Turin, Italy last October, will be holding special benefit dinners in their restaurants to share their Terra Madre experiences to benefit Slow Food Nation, a four-day celebration to promote and reinvigorate America’s diverse food traditions, planned for May 1-4, 2008, in San Francisco.
As if you needed a reason to eat dinner at Lula Café, listening to Executive Chefs and owners Lea Tshilds and Jason Hammel talk about their experience representing Slow Food Chicago as chef-delegates to the 2006 Terra Madre Congress, just makes it that much more fascinating.
The Timo dinner is scheduled for March 9, and the Lula Café event will be held on March 19.
For those of you not familiar with Slow Food, they describe themselves as “an educational organization dedicated to stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production; to the revival of the kitchen and the table as centers of pleasure, culture, and community; to the invigoration and proliferation of regional, seasonal culinary traditions; and to living a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life.”
Would be revolutionaries can voice their right to eat foie gras this Sunday the 25th outside Cyrano’s at noon. Bring your own signage or borrow some of the signs provided. I’m a personal fan of the slogan “Stop Tofu Abuse! Eat Foie Gras!”. Free coffee will be provided.
If shouting and shaking your fist in protest isn’t your thing, vote with your wallet and your tummy at the Six Course Extravaganza at 5:30 that evening. Your $139 ticket gets you cocktails and a fancy meal prepared by local celebrity chefs and culinary gurus.
Make your way to Evanston this Saturday morning for some mouth watering organic produce and meat options, including sweet winter carrots from Henry Brockman’s family farm as well as plenty of fresh burdock and garlic. Rumor has it there will also be “pork aplenty” from the Wettstein families, its not too late to get a small group together and go in on a whole or half animal (at a substantial savings)! This is locally raised, organic pork, and it’s delicious!
You can find this great winter local food selection at 1422 Greenwood in Evanston, 1 block north of Dempster and 3 blocks west of Ridge Ave. at the corner of Greenwood and Ashland, from 9:00 to 11:00 am. Look for the organic meat sign and use the small door on the side of the garage.
As Terra Brockman reminds us, the great Latin scholar Varro said in his book On Agriculture,
"It is said that pigs have been given, by nature, for feasting”
Provenance food and wine shop in Logan Square offers more than just a convenient place to pick up Australian olive oils, fresh organic produce, or a bottle of Pinot Noir; they also offer a variety of classes and events, including an upcoming Aphrodisiac Foods Class on Monday, February 12th from 6:30 to 8 pm. Not only will you learn how to put together a delicious menu for two including artichoke pesto, butternut squash bisque with chipotle and other sexy foods, you'll also get 10% off all purchases that evening. The class costs $30 per person, visit their events page to learn more.
If your only experience with ramps is from merging onto the Kennedy, you might want to plan ahead to celebrate spring with The Land Connection at their annual Ramp Dinner on March 30. Ramps are a member of the allium family, which also includes leeks, and have long been used for both medicinal and culinary purposes. Although many historians agree on the idea that the name of our fair city comes from the local Native American term for these plants, which grew in abundance along the shores of Lake Michigan, perfuming the air with their oniony odor, they don’t seem to agree on the exact source however. Some claim that Native languages identified ramps as "pikwute sikakushia" (skunk plant), and called the area along the southern shore of Lake Michigan where they were found "shikako" meaning "skunk place" while others refer to the Potawatomi word "Checagou" for "wild onion." Either way, ramps are a delicious, and truly local, wild edible.
Actually, that's tapas and women. Both of which you'll get plenty of when Café Ba-Ba-Reeba! and the Art Institute present a six-course tapas dinner to accompany a lecture titled "Picasso's Women." The lecture will include slides featuring Pablo Picasso's renderings of the female form, and the dinner will include wines, sherries and brandies. Girly drawings, girly drinks.
The event is the first in a four-part series titled "Spanish Masters," in which the restaurant and the museum will team up to offer diners a prix-fixe dinner and a presentation on Spanish art. "Picasso's Women" will take place Sunday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. The cost is $60 per person and reservations are required. They can be made by calling 773-935-5000 or by registering here.
Looking for relief from the winter blues? If the aroma, taste or sight of lemons says "summertime" or "sunshine" to you, you can find some refuge from these ridiculous temperatures and gray winter skies when Lettuce Entertain You's French bistro chain, Mon Ami Gabi, hosts its Third Annual Lemon Festival Thursday, Feb. 22nd through Wednesday, Feb. 28th at both its Chicago and Oak Brook locations.
The festival will include a special menu featuring drinks, appetizers, entrées and desserts made with lemons, including citron martinis, lemon lollipops, lemon-thyme seared salmon and the quintessential lemon tart. Lemongrass sorbet will also make an appearance, though we're a little wary since lemongrass is an herb unrelated to the citrus fruit. On the other hand, its potential for utter deliciousness is tempting. There will also be trivia and games with a grand prize of a complimentary dinner for four.
Information about locations and hours can be found here.
In May I traveled to Buenos Aires and spent a week eating and drinking in South America's second largest metropolis. Many guidebooks are quick to peg Argentina as the place to drink Malbec. While this is true, Argentina has much... Read this feature »
Come out to the LooseLeaf Lounge on Friday, November 20 at 7pm to 9:30pm for the Cob Connection Benefit -- don't miss this opportunity to support urban farming and a locally-owned business! The Cob Connection explores systematic quality of housing and food by integrating community involvement, social responsibility, and environmentalism into training programs in urban agriculture.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. To purchase tickets in advance email Lester@LooseLeafLounge.com or call (773) 809-5371. Better yet, why not swing by the LooseLeaf Lounge at 2915 North Broadway in Lakeview to register in person --and grab a cup of tea while you're at it! 
Food chat site 
As a surprise, the owners of Marie's Pizza turned the tables on LTHForum and awarded the site its own "Favorite Foodies Award." Said Marie's' Nadine Karavides, "You can pass it amongst yourselves like the Stanley Cup."
On Sunday, October 11th the 
Tonight's 
When the cattle call went out soliciting interest in covering this event, it spoke to me. Déjà chef if you will. The comparisons with my professional life were too many to say no to and is how I found myself at the 
Summer drinking usually conjures Pinot Grigios and piña coladas, or mint juleps and margaritas. Good drinks to sip standing on dry grass, or out of plastic cups pintucked after multiple pours. Drinks that might look good sporting thick sprigs of herbs or little paper umbrellas. Throwing its hat into the summer drinking ring this past week is 
If you liked the wildly successful 
Join the Chicago Foodways Roundtable for a tour of (and lunch at) the 
If you read our recent 
This Friday, June 26, from 7pm to 10pm, Chicago-based 
Congratulations to 
We're holding yet another awesome contest! You and a friend can roam among the swanks at 
But luckily the Chicago Foodways Roundtable has helped me regain my focus. Tonight at 7pm they'll be holding a lecture at Kendall College (900 North Branch) about the history of hot dogs (locally and worldwide) that will feature Doug Sohn of 
Yes, yes, it's gross outside. But the bad weather is a good reason to go out and eat well. The 
When I got word of the Underground Food Collective's 
Although the 
In another effort to boost Chicago's application to host the Summer 2016 games, Mayor Daley has announced that city residents will be encouraged to take part in a special diet aimed at eating fresh foods and promoting stronger exercise habits. To sweeten the deal, unique incentives involving city services are being offered to those who can prove a weight loss of over ten pounds by Labor Day, among them parking ticket amnesty and priority ticket line placements for the Sox and Cubs' 2010 season. Not too 
As I inhaled a plate of paneer makhani at 
The Chinese New Year is Monday, so ring in the 
Yes, it's the season for giving yet again. And what better gift than champagne, that most sparkly and celebratory of all beverages? Yes, you could break out the Andre and a sheepish yet hopeful smile, but it's Christmas! Lexus and Best Buy and every other merchant in America would have you believe we can wish and spend this recession into the past -- so why not go for the good stuff and pick up some 
The Drive-Thru staffers have food on the brain this week, notably the cooking missteps of past Thanksgivings. For your viewing humor...
If you were able to score tickets to the Obama rally Tuesday night in Grant Park (or weren't and plan to go anyway), here are some nearby places for your eating enjoyment, so you can later withstand several hours of waiting for election results in a large crowd of people:
Today is 
Chef Mark Seaman of 
What's more American than apple pie? Nothing, as far as the Friends of Holstein Park are concerned. On Sunday, Oct. 19, the organization hosts its fourth annual 
Despite the cloudy sky, Sunday at the Millennium Park was a lively scene. (Possibly even more so than Saturday, which was blessed with a beautiful blue sky--but this may be because of the different times of the day I was there on these two days.) Here, I'm showcasing some of the mouthwatering nibbles offered at the Chicago Gourmet's "Chef's Tasting" tables on Sunday.
This past weekend, Italy took over Navy Pier (well, the Festival Hall anyway... well, a portion of one of the Festival Halls...) as the 
The same suburb that brought you 
Although it was tasty, a "Taste Portion" of 
...Um, because 
This weekend begins the atrocity of the 
Last week, "
I get giddy for Tuesday nowadays, as it's the day of what I think is 
Chef Stephanie Izard, fresh from taping the season finale of "Top Chef" in Puerto Rico, will be joining Chef Nick Lacasse in the kitchen at 
The 
It's beginning, people. No more trudging through produce aisles in seach of unwilted lettuce and intact tomatoes. Farmer's market season begins this week, with a number of established markets opening their doors for business. The Federal Plaza market kicks off Tuesday, Daley Plaza's market opens Thursday, and the 
Now that baseball season is warming up in the city, I am reminded not only of the rivalries between the Sox and Cubs, but also of the quality of the food at each park. I've eaten some pretty good, well-priced meals at US Cellular, but the Friendly Confines has a pretty good hot dog. Your thoughts?
From March 16-22, 
Just as the weather gets better, it's time to head indoors for some quality time with your cable TV. 
The 
With the long, harsh winter we've had this year, it's odd to reassure yourself that there's an actual end to the cold and snow. The first culinary sign that winter is on its way out? Ramps, 
Mark your calendars, ale fans: the Chicago Beer Society's 
If you don't give two shakes about that silly football game on Sunday, why not spend the day making Paczki (Polish-style Filled Doughnuts) with other foodies from 
If you're like me, you think that most German food is based on a dare. I'm really no hater of the culture; technically, I'm a little bit German--but I'm mostly Italian, which is why schnitzel never made its way to our family dinner table as a kid. As I've branched out my culinary tastes, I've still been unable to really enjoy German food--the breaded, heavily-sauced planks of meat, overcooked vegetables, spaetzle and gallons of other starchy delights have done little to stir my interest. I bravely endured the food of the Berghoff, let other people order for me at the Brauhaus, and made sure my water glass was always full so that I could wash down what I thought was a flavorless eating experience.
Registration begins today for 
Learn how to turn your cup into a canvas at 
If you go nuts for great Pinot Noir, you best get on the stick and register now for Pinot Days at Navy Pier. Over 50 producers of Pinot Noir from California, Oregon, Burgundy, New Zealand, and beyond will be in town from November 7th to November 10th for a muti-event festival celebrating the soft and sexy red grape. The grand finale is a tasting of over 150 different Pinot Noir-based wines from 1-4pm. $50 Lakeview Terrace at Navy Pier. More info is available at the 
This Sunday promises to be the reason why Chicago should get the 2016 Summer Olympics bid. The 
A lot of media attention has been given to 
The 
Celebrate the first day of fall while it still feels like summer with music and wine at Bin Wine Cafe's Jazz and Juice event. Keep that party going on Monday night with an evening of "wine, cheese, jazz & funk," for another $25 as Bin closes down to make merry in private. Cheers.
Chef Morimoto, star of both Iron Chef incarnations, is coming to Chicago next wek to promote a 
Care to learn about organic gardening? Master gardener Bill Shores offers a wide range of urban gardening classes, including indoor salad green and veggie gardening (May 12), container gardening and worm composting (June 23), urban agriculture and edible landscape design (Sept. 8) and even over-winter gardening (Oct. 20). Here's the kicker: the classes take place in chef Rick Bayless' organic garden in Bucktown.
There were about four bottles each of red and white wine for tasting, as well as a bottle of blush. After overhearing some mumbling about the sweetness of the white wines, I went straight for the reds. The first one, the lightest, was bland and watery. But the other two reds weren’t so bad. The Chambourcin, named for the hybrid grape it's made from, has, according to 
You've had a taste of the Organic movement, and now you're hooked, and you want to learn more. Next stop: The 
