Entries associated with the tag "Culinary Historians Of Chicago":

Thursday from 6-10 PM, Hart Davis Hart Wine Company and Dom Perignon host Hope Dream Live 2008, a charity wine dinner and auction at Tru to benefit YMCA Camp Independence. A five-course dinner with wine pairings (including a 1990 Chateau Latour and 1986 Chateau d’Yquem) will be followed by an auction of ten lots of rare wines. $1,500.

If you wanted to go to WhiskyFest Chicago you needed to buy a ticket weeks ago, but Thursday of Whisky Week sees lots of free prefest tastings with whiskey makers in town for the event. A few highlights: Julian Van Winkle of Old Rip Van Winkle bourbons will speak and sign bottles at a tasting at Lush Wine and Spirits in Roscoe Village (5:30-8 PM). From 4 to 5 PM Tom Bulleit of Bulleit bourbon and Gregor Cattanach of Johnnie Walker will be at an event at Warehouse Liquors (4-7 PM); they’ll then move on to a tasting at the South Loop Sam’s Wines & Spirits (5-8 PM), where they’ll appear from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. And the West Town location of Twisted Spoke hosts its annual “barrel extravaganza,” a whiskey festival featuring the distillers for Death’s Door Spirits (offering tastes from its first barrel of aged whiskey), Old Rip Van Winkle, Heaven Hill, and Kentucky Bourbon, plus Greg Hall of Goose Island, who’ll have a barrel of Bourbon County Stout on hand (8 PM-2 AM). 

Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM at Kendall College (900 N. Branch), the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance presents The Midwest: How Sweet It Is!, a program on regional dessert traditions. Among the topics: the role of the railroad and immigrants in introducing new recipes to the area and the local origins of candy and candy bars like Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, and the Heath Bar. Refreshments and lunch are included. $60 ($50 in advance).

Cooking Jewish With Judy, a Culinary Historians of Chicago lecture by author Judy Bart Kancigor, takes place at the Chicago History Museum on Saturday from 10 AM to noon. It's based on her recently published book, Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes From the Rabinowitz Family, and includes samples; $5. And at 6 PM, ChicaGourmets (PDF) hosts a book signing and wine dinner with Kancigor at Ina's; $69.

"Rock star of the craft beer world" (and Dogfish Head Beer founder) Sam Calagione and master sommelier Marnie Old discuss their book, He Said Beer, She Said Wine, Tuesday at 7 PM at the Book Stall at Chestnut Court.

The Alzheimer's Association's annual benefit A Toast to Remember is Thursday from 6 to 9 PM at the River East Arts Center. It offers wines from small wineries including Scherrer, Guilliams, Ogden Olson, and Tensley; Joey Tensley will also be on hand to discuss his wines. $75 in advance, $85 at the door.

In an effort to liven up a tourism season, the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau has coordinated Chicago's first official restaurant week, Eat It Up. Starting Friday and continuing through 2/29, 35 local restaurants will offer three-course prix fixe lunches for $21.95 and dinners for $31.95.

Culinary Historians of Chicago presents Flavors of the Fruitland: An Ode to Michigan, a talk by Justin Rashid of American Spoon Foods, Saturday from 10 AM to noon at the Robert Morris College Institute of Culinary Arts, eighth floor. He'll discuss fruit varieties and history in Michigan, specifically the tart cherries of western Michigan and the role they've played in his company, and samples of American Spoon's products will be available. $5 ($3 for students; free for CHC members).

Provenance Food and Wine's Logan Square location celebrates its second anniversary with birthday cake, wine, food samples, and a drawing on Saturday from 3-6 PM.

Delilah's hosts its tenth annual Vintage Strong Beer Fest, with more than 70 beers from 50 breweries, Saturday from noon to 6 PM. As the name implies, most of the brews will be strong ales, and multiple vintages of some will be served—including the 1989 and 1999 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale and eight vintages of Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Barley Wine. Other offerings include Anchor Old Foghorn Ale, Dogfish Head Immort Ale, Unibroue La Fin du Monde, and Malheur Millennium. $20.

In celebration of winter and the Museum of Modern Ice exhibit in Millennium Park, Pastoral's new downtown location is offering a free tasting of ice wines—sweet wines produced from grapes that freeze on the vine—Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Resident sommelier Jan Henrichsen will provide some background on the wines, which have a high sugar concentration because the grapes are allowed to ripen for several months longer than those harvested in the fall and are pressed while still frozen, allowing the sugars to be extracted while the water stays frozen inside the grapes.

Saturday is the ninth annual "Open That Bottle Night," created to give people a reason to open that special bottle of wine they've been saving, and Taste Food and Wine in Rogers Park is honoring it with a free wine tasting from 6 to 7:30 PM. BYOB Chicago author Jean Iversen will be signing books, and there'll be samples of food from BYO restaurants in the area. 

Ashtrays to Art, an exhibition of work by 20 local artists using ashtrays collected from bars and restaurants since the statewide smoking ban went into effect January 1, ends with a silent auction of the art to benefit Erie Neighborhood House Tuesday from 6 to 8 PM at the Architrouve. Susan Goss of West Town Tavern, who’s been involved with the project since the beginning, will prepare cold turkey canapes with pomegranate seeds and apple, smoked pork butt biscuits, bruschetta with ash-coated goat cheese, and smoked trout rings, all with wine pairings. It's free to attend.

Fat Cat hosts a New Holland beer dinner, featuring a different beer selection from the New Holland Brewery with each of the five courses, Tuesday at 7 PM. Among the offerings are steamed mussels with tomato orange fennel broth, chili-braised pork rillettes, and for dessert, an "uptown car bomb" and creme brulee. $65.

Tuesday from 6 to 8 PM, Just Grapes offers a class on the principles of biodynamic farming and winemaking with Erinn Benziger of Benziger Family Winery and sommelier Don Sritong, owner of Just Grapes. They'll "demonstrate the principles we discuss" with wines from Benziger and other wineries. $65.

Learn about pairing wine with sweets at the free Das Caramels and Wine Tasting today from 5 to 7 PM at Provenance Food and Wine’s Lincoln Square location. Five flavors of Das Caramelini—handmade French salted caramels in flavors like orange and honey, chocolate walnut, pistachio and ginger, and chai latte—will be served with wines including a cava, a moscatel, and Pasquet Marie-Framboise, a liqueur made from macerated raspberries and cognac. Katie Das, owner of Highwood-based Das Foods (which also specializes in exotic salts), will be there to answer questions.

Today's champagne tasting at Binny’s in Lakeview is sold out, but several of its suburban locations, including Des Plaines, Glen Ellyn, Highland Park, and Schaumburg, have tastings Friday and Saturday. Sample sparklers including prestige cuvees Moet & Chandon Dom Perignon, Louis Roederer Cristal (if you’re not backing Jay-Z’s boycott), Krug Grand Cuvee, Deutz Cuvee William, and Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame. They’ll be served with cheese and hors d’oeuvres at most locations. Prices and times vary by location; click here for details.

Wilbert Jones, author of Smothered Southern Foods, gives a talk entitled Smothered—Southern Style Saturday at 10 AM at the Chicago History Museum. He'll discuss the history of smothered foods, including his own personal history with them, and sign books. A Culinary Historians of Chicago event; $5 (free for CHC members).

The annual Christmas and winter beer tasting at Delilah's, which bills itself as the largest event of this type anywhere in North America, is Saturday from noon to 5 PM. Among the 100+ beers available are Anchor Christmas Ale, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Three Floyds Alpha Claus Christmas Porter, and St. Freulian Noel. $20. 

Marilyn Pocius signs A Cook's Guide to Chicago Saturday at 1 PM at A-J Meats, one of the author's favorite Eastern European stores. The guide highlights local specialty food shops, stores for cooking equipment, and farmers' markets as well as offering tips on where to find unusual ingredients.

Fashion, fine art, dance, and gourmet food combine Saturday at The Orphanage with the debut of the clothing line Vagadu by designer Joui Turandot, which incorporates recycled fabric and other materials. In addition to a six-course tasting menu by local chef Efrain Cuevas that features pan-Asian fusion dishes like tuna tartare and green tea creme brulee, there'll be an exhibit of paintings by Chicagoan Rex Flodstrom and a dance performance. (The dancers double as models for the fashion show.) Doors open at 7:30 and dinner begins at 8 PM; it's BYOB. Regular admission is $60, VIP admission is $75.

Sunday The Boozehound, a local Web site and fledgling social group for spirits aficionados, plans to pack as much alcohol consumption as possible into a bacchanal by bus entitled A Busload of Bellinis, Beer, Brunch, and Bah-Humbug!. Mimosas and bellinis will be served en route to a private tour and tasting at the Three Floyds brewery in Munster, Indiana. After brunch at the brewpub there, participants will see a local production of Scrooge! The Musical (with sparkling wine at intermission) before the wine-soaked ride back to Chicago. The bus leaves at noon from the parking lot of the Rock ’n’ Roll McDonald’s, 600 N. Clark, and returns at 6 PM. 312-361-0229, $85.

The Lakeview location of Whole Foods has a class Tuesday from 7-9 PM on dessert and wine pairing. Husband-and-wife team Sam and Sunny McDaniel lead the discussion of sweet and sparkling wines and demonstrate how to make simple desserts, followed by a tasting of both. $15.

Webster's Wine Bar explores "the new old world" with a class Wednesday at 7:30 PM on wines from China, India, Mexico, and North Africa, among others. Though these countries aren't known for their wines, they're reportedly undergoing a "modern wine renaissance," and Webster's describes the wines as "world class." $30.

The House of Glunz has an English beer tasting Thursday from 7-8:30 PM. Led by beer specialist Anthony Norkus, it offers ales, stouts, bitters, and beers from all over the UK, including hard-to-find bottles such as the Welsh bitter Thomas Watkins OSB and Scotland’s Skull Splitter Orkney Ale. $20.

It's Raining Cats and Dogs!, a benefit for the Anti-Cruelty Society, is this Friday from 6:30-10 PM. There'll be food from 20 Chicago chefs, wine and cheese tasting, music by the Ron Harris Music Group, mingling with the furry residents, and live and silent auctions. Tickets are $125 in advance or $140 at the door.

Tour the Nielsen-Massey Vanilla factory in Waukegan with the Culinary Historians of Chicago, Saturday at 10 AM. $2, reservations required; call 847-432-8255. 

To kick off its weeklong Pumpkin Festival, featuring specials like pumpkin risotto and arctic char with a pumpkin seed crust, Mon Ami Gabi is sponsoring a tour of the Great Pumpkin Patch Saturday at noon. After lunch at local Amish restaurant Vera's Family Meals (included in the price), attendees can pick cucurbits (i.e., squash) with chef Larry Tio, explore the straw bale maze, and take a wagon ride. Participants will receive a goody bag with pumpkin treats and a $25 gift certificate to Mon Ami Gabi. $25.

Patty Pinner signs and serves samples from Sweety Pies: An Uncommon Collection of Womanish Observations, With Pie at the Book Stall at Chestnut Court Saturday at 2 PM. The book is a collection of 70 pie recipes accompanied by childhood anecdotes from their creators.

Saturday at 8 PM, Halloween comes early with Viand’s Fantasy Ball -- costumes required -- hosted by local drag queen Miss Foozie and featuring go-go dancers and a DJ. There’s also a Brazilian tapas buffet and fresh juice bar. Price includes the buffet and three martinis. $75 in advance, $95 at the door.

The Tour de Champagne Chicago, Saturday at 7 PM at the Drake Hotel, features champagne from more than 20 houses paired with local cuisine. There'll also be cooking demos by chefs including former White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier, a raffle, and a silent auction to benefit Common Threads and Meals on Wheels Chicago. $110 general admission, $145 for a VIP ticket.

West Town Tavern hosts a four-course Umami Wine Dinner Sunday at 5:30 to explore "the synergy between food and wine." Umami is a Japanese word for the fifth taste that translates into "savory" or "delicious flavor." Wine director Drew Goss will be on hand to discuss the wine pairings he's chosen for each course. $85 per person, reservations recommended.

Monday starting at 6:30 PM, Vella Cafe offers a special three-course dinner to benefit the Logan Square Farmer's Market. Most of the meal will be sourced from local farms (including that of longtime Reader staffer Vera Videnovich); offerings include roasted cauliflower soup, pork roast with apple cider glaze (or a veggie-friendly alternative, roasted vegetable galette with goat cheese), and poached pears with cardamom ice cream. It's BYO and costs $40. 

Alleviate hunger other than your own Wednesday from 6-10 PM by eating a meal prepared by top Chicago chefs including Gale Gand (Tru) and Susan Goss (West Town Tavern). The 14th annual Bag Hunger Auction at the downtown Hyatt Regency raises money for the Chicago Food Depository with live and silent auctions featuring travel packages, gift certificates, and other prizes. Last year’s event provided more than a million meals for the needy. $125.

Gourmet market owner Sara Foster discusses Sara Foster's Casual Cooking, her third cookbook, Friday at noon at the Book Stall.

Friday at 8 PM, the Architrouve presents Synaesthesia, a wine, music and visual art happening for which sommelier Jeremy Quinn will pair wines to the music of sax player Frank Catalano, who will in turn match his music to the gallery's current exhibition, "This Side of Hope." Tickets are $40; reservations are recommended.

Saturday at 10, Culinary Historians of Chicago presents "Greektown in All Its Glory," a talk by Alexa Ganakos at the Chicago History Museum. It includes a food tasting, and Ganakos will sign Greektown Chicago: Its History -- Its Recipes; admission's $5 for the general public, $3 for students, and free for CHC members.

The Whole Foods FlavorFest is this Saturday from 11 AM to 9 PM and Sunday from 11 AM to 8 PM in Jonquil Park. It boasts "more free samples than you can shake a stick at," though "free" may be an overstatement -- there's a $5 suggested donation to benefit the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce. In addition to the food, there are cooking demos, an eco-chic fashion show, live music, an farmers' market, and a children's pavilion.

Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse hosts a class on organic pest and disease control for your vegetable garden on Saturday from 10 to noon with the greenhouse's own Kirsten Akre and Angela Mason of the Chicago Botanic Garden. The fee is $20; registration highly recommended.

Crust hosts a family dinner Sunday from 4-6 PM to benefit Purple Asparagus, a non-profit organization "dedicated to bringing families back to the table." There'll be a live auction for a guest spot on the webcast Spatulatta and silent auctions for several more prizes. Tickets for adult members are $45, $50 for non-members; kids' tickets are $10 for members and $12 for non-members; kids under 5 are free.

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum's "Rebirth of the New Orleans Restaurant Industry" exhibit opens Monday at Kendall College and continues through September 21. It "explores the scope of devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans' restaurant industry...and the importance of this industry to the recovery of the city's economy, culture and singular cuisine."

Chefs and the City showcases the talent of 20 celebrity chefs in order to raise $100,000 to support low-income people affected by HIV and AIDS. It takes place this Friday from 6:30-9 PM at the Peninsula Hotel. VIP guests will also get a chance to mingle with the chefs at an afterparty. Tickets are $200, or $275 for the VIP package.

If you missed Taste of Chicago (or purposely avoided it), here's your chance to experience the madness on a smaller scale: Taste of Roselle boasts 20 food vendors and live music all three days (Friday 6-11:30 PM, Saturday 1-11:30 PM, and Sunday 1-9:30 PM). There's also bingo, carnival rides, magic shows, and a craft fair.

Saturday at 10 AM, the Culinary Historians of Chicago present Exploring the Wild Mushroom...Myths, Flavors and Facts, a talk by Joe McFarland of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It's at Kendall College and costs $3 (free to Kendall students and faculty with ID). 

The Real Dirt on Farmer John, Taggart Siegel's critically acclaimed documentary about Angelic Organics founder John Peterson, screens at 3:30 PM Saturday at the Gene Siskel Film Center (also 8/12 at 3 PM and 8/18 at 3:30 PM). Harold Henderson's 2006 Reader feature on Peterson is online here.

Long Grove's annual Greek Days festival is this Saturday and Sunday from 11 AM to 8 PM at and around the Long Grove Cafe. Amid live music and dancing, outdoor booths will serve traditional Greek foods ranging from rotisserie lamb to galaktoboureko, a creamy custard in phyllo dough. Admission and parking are free.

One sixtyblue features cava (the Spanish sparkler) for its August wine flight night on Monday. Thirty-minute tasting sessions begin at 6, 7, and 8 PM; the $25 fee includes six "bite-sized courses" such as goat cheese with star anise powder and pear marmalade or a diver sea scallop with pea puree and lime sauce, each paired with a particular cava.

Bin 36 hosts a BBQ and Bingo night Tuesday at 6, featuring Australian wine and an upscale barbeque menu that includes lamb bratwurst, wood rotisserie wild striped bass, and apricot glazed pork ribs; it's $50 a head.

Osteria via Stato is offering dinner "baskets" to pick up for Venetian Night this Saturday: marinated mozzarella and olives, focaccia, three-bean salad, almond macaroons, bottled water, and other Italian goodies to serve four will be packed into recycled wine boxes. They're $60 each; add a bottle of wine for $15 or a kiddie meal (PB&J) for $5.95. Orders must be placed by noon on Saturday.

Also on Saturday the Culinary Historians of Chicago present the lecture "Predecessor to M.F.K. Fisher: Michigan's Della Lutes," a talk by Tribune food writer Robin Mather Jenkins. It runs from 10 AM to noon at the Robert Morris College Institute of Culinary Arts and costs $10 ($5for students and free for CHC members).

Grand Cru Wine Merchants in Arlington Heights host a free (free!) Syrah & Zinfandel BBQ on Saturday from 1 to 5 PM. In addition to the ten or so syrahs and zins for sampling, there will be smoked pork shoulder to pair with the beefy wines.

If you're feeling a little more spendy, for $150 you can taste $1,600 worth of wines at Just Grapes Monday at How To Collect 102, led by master sommelier Joseph Spellman from 6 to 8:30 PM. If you've been wondering what a 2003 Chateau Margaux tastes like but can't hack the $599 price tag for a bottle, it's not a bad deal. 

Swirl's monthly wine tasting, Tuesday at 6:30 PM, features a dozen South American and Spanish whites, plus hors d'oeuvres and a performance by jazz vocalist Elaine Dame. It's $25 in advance, $35 at the door.

Wine Enthusiast presents Toast of the Town tonight at the Field Museum, featuring over 500 wines and 30 restaurants. The "Grand Tasting" is $95 and starts at 7:30.

Friday at 5:30 mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim conducts a free tasting of "market fresh fruit" cocktails at Fox & Obel, 401 E. Illinois. Call 312-410-7301.

Saturday the Oak Park Conservatory's annual herb sale starts at 8 AM at 615 Garfield Street. Call 708-386-4700.

Kid-centric eating org Purple Asparagus is presenting a pizza making class at Spacca Napoli, 1769 W. Sunnyside at 2:30 pm Saturday. Tickets are $42 for adults; $16 for kids 5 to 12; 4 and under are free.

At 10 am on Saturday the Culinary Historians of Chicago host Patricia Wells on "Sensory Delights of the French Garden" at the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark. It's $10; call 708-788-0338 to reserve. Then on Sunday at 11 AM she'll sign copies of her new Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate at Fox & Obel, 401 E. Illinois. Call 312-410-7301.

Saturday Beerfest comes to Navy Pier in two four-hour sessions starting at noon and 6 PM; all the beer you can drink from dozens of brewers for $47.50 at the door; $37.50 in advance. Later that night Three Floyds is hosting a kick off party for Gumballhead wheat beer at the Handlebar, 2311 W. North. Call 773-384-9546.

In Fine Spirits, 5418 N. Clark, presents the Andersonville Wine Walk, Sunday at 2 PM. $20 buys you a glass and 40 different wines. Call 773-728-7552.

Sunday at 5 Alpana Singh hosts a wine tasting to benefit Lifeline Theatre at Hotel Allegro, 171 West Randolph, Tickets are $100. Call 773-761-4477. 

Tuesday at NoMI in the Park Hyatt Chicago, 800 N. Michigan, sommelier Fernando Beteta conducts a "Women Winemakers from Around the World" tasting. It's at 5:30. Call 312-239-4030.

Also on Tuesday, at 7, chef Charlie Socher of Cafe Matou, 1846 N. Milwaukee, will be pairing dishes to wines of the Val de Loire. It's $62. Call 773-384-8911.

Former Buddy Guy's Legends chef Jason Girard got his start as a bouncer at the soon-to-be-shuttered club while attending culinary school at Triton. Guy hired him to overhaul the fast food menu, and through his association with the bluesman's friends and relatives he acquired an enviable repetoire of pan-Southern dishes and a deep knowledge of their historical context. Despite lots of national media hype following the 2000 publication of his 84-recipe Blues Highways Cookbook, the compendium remains hard to find and expensive. Saturday Girard addresses the Culinary Historians of Chicago and will be hawking and signing copies, and dishing out some pulled pork and cole slaw. It starts at 10 AM at the Chicago Historical Museum, 1600 N. Clark, and it's $10. Call 708-788-0338. 

Natalie MacLean, publisher of the e-mail newsletter Nat Decants and author of the recent Red, White, and Drunk All Over, just unveiled a nifty database that helps you easily match wine and food. While it doesn't claim to be comprehensive, the "matcher" does spit out solutions to some pretty unlikely menu challenges. What goes with bacon and eggs? A botryitised semillion, perhaps. Cashews? Sherry fino or Tokaj. Sweet potatoes with marshmallows? Why, a nice viognier of course. 

And while we're on the subject, Alpana Singh --whose new Alpana Pours offers tips on pairing wine with Egg McMuffins (mimosas, natch) and Cheetos (a zippy zin)--is giving a talk at the Chicago History Museum on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, under the auspices of the Culinary Historians of Chicago. It's from 10 AM to noon at 1600 N. Clark. The $10 admission includes cookies; nothing yet on what might be paired with them. RSVP to 708-788-0338 or rsvpchc@yahoo.com. ChicaGourmets hosts a lunch with Singh at Custom House immediately following; the $65 ticket gets you a four-course meal with wine.