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Highlights from Chicago’s Premier Food and Wine Festival – Chicago Gourmet

Posted by | Bon Appetit, Chefs, Chicago, Culinary Event, Illinois Restaurant Association, Restaurants | No Comments

Highlights from Chicago's Premier Food and Wine Festival - Chicago Gourmet

Highlights from Chicago’s Premier Food and Wine Festival – Chicago Gourmet – We ate, we drank and we #RockedTheFork at this year’s culinary event.

 

Chicago’s Millennium Park was the place to be as we celebrated the 11th year of Chicago Gourmet. The theme of #RockTheFork had hundreds of chefs, master sommeliers, wine and spirit makers and others sharing their specialties.

Chicago Gourmet Opening Ceremony

Highlights from Chicago's Premier Food and Wine Festival - Chicago Gourmet

Music played a big role in entertaining the more than 14,000 attendees with sounds ranging from guitar to the Blues to Mariachi’s to rock (of course!). 

Highlights from Chicago's Premier Food and Wine Festival - Chicago Gourmet

This world class culinary festival started off with an opening ceremony led by Illinois Restaurant Association President and CEO, Sam Toia, Bon Appetit’s Editor In Chief Adam Rapoport, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Illinois, Mike House, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, along with celebrity chefs Rick Bayless, Carla Hall, Lorena Garcia, Bravo’s Top Chef, Joe Flamm and others. … Read more

Chicago Gourmet Turns Ten

Posted by | Festival, Restaurants | 10 Comments

Chicago Gourmet Turns Ten – Celebrating ten years, attendees enjoyed bites from prestigious Chicago restaurants, chefs, wine and spirit brands at festival.

The HOTTEST event of the year, both literally and figuratively, took place in Chicago’s Millennium Park September 23-24. Chicago Gourmet, celebrating its 10 year anniversary, opened to a weekend of soaring temperatures, blue skies and big crowds. The 94 degree temperatures made an already warm and welcoming group of people even more so. Chicago Gourmet Turns 10

Opening ceremonies for this momentous occasion included Illinois Restaurant Association president and CEO, Sam Toia, Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a wealth of Chefs from near and far.… Read more

Dining and Drinking at Chicago Gourmet 2016

Posted by | Culinary Event | 5 Comments

The Fall season brings many wonderful things to Chicagoans. And nothing is more exciting for someone who loves the culinary scene more than Bon Appetit presents Chicago Gourmet. In fact, this is the 9th year of this upscale, diverse, educational, fun and delicious food festival.  

chicago gourmet 2016 inspiring kitchen

(Aperol Spritz – Aperol, Mionetto Prosecco, Splash of Soda)

Taking place in Millennium Park, Chicago Gourmet offers attendees a full weekend filled with activities, adventures and great food. You will find chef demonstrations, interactive wine and cocktail seminars, the best of the best restaurants offering samples of their creations, wineries, spirit purveyors and breweries pouring their specialties, food brands sampling new products, cookbooks being introduced and parties like Friday night’s Hamburger Hop and the exclusive Grand Cru tasting.… Read more

Culinary Events Celebrating Jackson Chance Foundation and LuxeHome Chill

Posted by | Culinary Event, Education, Entertainment, Fundraiser, Trends | 20 Comments

There are so many reasons in life for food to bring people together: Celebrations of birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, friendship, family, and holidays to name a few. Probably the most generous reason is when businesses, causes and people gather to raise money for organizations to help those in need.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in two such experiences that just showcase how we all come together to aid those in our community. The Jackson Chance Foundation and the LuxeHome Chill event took place within this past month. While each had a different purpose, they both brought together people who wanted to support the efforts of each fundraiser.… Read more

Culinary Heaven Chicago Gourmet Food n Wine

Posted by | Culinary Event, Education, Festival | 19 Comments

Chicago’s grandest food and wine event, Chicago Gourmet, took place this past weekend. Whether you are local or a tourist, dining in Chicago is always a fun and sometimes adventurous experience. For the eighth year, Chicago Gourmet was held in the heart of the city’s Millennium Park. The in-demand tickets sold out well in advance of the first day’s activities. (Heads up if you want to go next year!)

This culinary heaven showcases Chicago’s greatest chefs, restaurants, Master Sommeliers, wine, spirit and beer makers. In addition, celebrated chefs like Emeril Lagasse, Lorena Garcia, and Jean-George Vongerichten just to name a few, hosted cooking demonstrations on Bon Appetit’s Main and Culinary Stages.… Read more

Solution to Hard To Get Reservations

Posted by | Education, Restaurants, Technology, Tourism | One Comment

How often does it happen that you are on a business trip and in a city that has a restaurant you are dying to go too. But, when you call, there are no available reservations for weeks. No sweet talk or cajoling gets you that much-coveted table.

Well, Table8 has found a solution to this frustrating culinary challenge. A new restaurant reservation platform launched in major cities across the country that gives you access to the best restaurants in the city even if they are fully booked.

Inspiring Kitchen Table8 Reservations Solutions(Balena Restaurant, Chicago)

By joining the Table8 program, you will have the opportunity to dine at top participating restaurants across the country on short notice.… Read more

Debut of Chicago Food + Wine Festival

Posted by | Culinary Event, Education, Festival, Travel, Trends | 16 Comments

In a food town like Chicago, having the opportunity to learn about new restaurants, dishes, foods, wines, spirits, beers and cocktails is always a reason to gather. Food makes us happy after all. Something that the Chicago Food + Wine Festival knew as they launched their first fest this weekend in Chicago’s Lincoln Park.

Inspiring Kitchen Chicago Food + Wine Festival

This two-day food and wine celebration highlighted our local chefs and their restaurants including those that are soon to be opening in Chicago. (See Monteverde from Chef Sarah Grueneberg and Earl’s Kitchen and Bar). The fest was held in a beautiful park just to the north of Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile.… Read more

Explore Chicago Architecture Aboard Shoreline Tours

Posted by | Education, Tourism | 21 Comments

When you think of visiting Chicago, what are on your list of must-do and see sights? You might think of our diverse food scene – restaurants achieving international accolades – to our sports teams from the Bulls to Cubs to Sox to Blackhawks – to the “Magnificent Mile of Shopping” on Michigan Avenue. But what you may not have thought of is the breathtaking architecture that is Chicago.

As locals, we rarely see our city for all its glory as we are just going about our day-to-day life. So, for the first time, my friends, family and I boarded the Shoreline Architecture River Tour  to see the city from a new perspective.… Read more