Spirits Archives - InspiringKitchen.com

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

How to Build a Home Bar

Posted by | Bar, Education, Entertaining, Entertainment, Favorite Finds, Housewares | 16 Comments

Making cocktails for your friends and family doesn’t need to be intimidating or complicated.  You are all set in the kitchen with your ingredients and cookware, but what about your home bar? Do you have everything you need? Or is the question, do you know what you need? Having the basic components and equipment available is a really good start. Knowing how often we like to entertain this time of year, it seems appropriate to showcase how simple it is to build a home bar.

Inspiring Kitchen How to set up a home bar

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Mixologist Extraordinaire, Lynn House. Lynn shared her recommendations on what you might want to consider for your home bar.… Read more

2015 NRA Favorite Finds

Posted by | Restaurants, Retailer, Trade Show, Trends | 25 Comments

The 2015 National Restaurant Show just ended leaving me with lots of interesting products and trends to share with you. While the NRA show is predominantly for those who work in the food service industry, there are definitely items that can be found from the consumer standpoint as well as giving ideas of trends that will potentially be in the retail world for consumers to purchase. The vastness of the show includes such categories as restaurant equipment, foods, beverages, table top (dinnerware, glassware, etc), decor and technology. What I am sharing below is a taste of what I saw that I think you might find intriguing.… Read more

Food and Wine Event: Chicago Gourmet

Posted by | Culinary Event, Foods, Illinois Restaurant Association, Restaurants, Wine | 5 Comments

Just 7 years ago, Chicago launched its first food and wine event known as Chicago Gourmet. This past weekend, Bon Appetit presented Chicago Gourmet, a celebration of food and wine, showcasing more than 190 of Chicago’s finest restaurants and chefs, as well as hundreds of renowned vintners, spirit makers and premium breweries from around the world.

 Inspiring Kitchen Chicago Gourmet Bon Appetit Culinary heaven food

If you are into the food scene, you may already be familiar with food and wine shows that are held in Aspen or South Beach. They are shows filled with exciting restaurants, chefs both local and national and trends in the wine and food industries.… Read more