Entries associated with the tag "Osteria via Stato":

Chez Panisse's Alice Waters, champion of local and seasonal cuisine, does Chicago:

• Today at 3 PM, she'll be at Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook for a sold-out book signing with appetizers served.
• She's signing her new book, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes From a Delicious Revolution, at the Michigan Avenue Borders tomorrow at 7 PM.
• At 6 PM Friday, Waters is the featured guest at a reception and five-course dinner at Kendall College to benefit Slow Food Nation and Slow Food Chicago. Tickets are $150.
• Green City Market hosts her 9 AM Saturday book signing.
• At 11:30 AM Saturday, she'll attend a sold-out farm-to-table brunch at North Pond Restaurant. 
• And finally, Saturday at 2:30 PM Waters will give a talk and read excerpts from her new book at Northwestern University's Thorne Auditorium. Audience questions and a book signing will follow. Tickets are $10.

For its France vs. the Rest of the World showdown Thursday at 7 PM, the French Wine Society will select one French wine made from each of eight major wine grapes (e.g., sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, syrah) for comparison with a wine of that grape from anywhere else in the world. Wines will be selected from Chicago-area wine stores and retail for $25 (whites) or $35 (reds). Attendees will blind taste the wines, try to identify which is which, and vote for their favorites. It costs $55 for members, $65 for nonmembers.

Can you list the first-growth chateaus of Bordeaux? The Ultimate Wine IQ Challenge this Saturday and Sunday from 12-4 PM at Sam’s Wines & Spirits aims to separate the connoisseurs from the amateurs (no professional sommeliers allowed, though) with written and verbal tests, plus blind tastings, in three elimination rounds. It kicks off with tastings, games, and prizes, along with a written test for first-round contestants; the grand prize is a $1,000 Sam’s shopping spree. 

Swirl Wine Bar celebrates its one-year anniversary Saturday with a free cocktail and wine reception from 9-10:30 PM. There'll also be hors d'oeuvres and a flamenco performance by Ojos Gitanos at 10:30.

The craze for all things porcine reaches new heights Monday at Osteria via Stato with Swine & Wine, a prix fixe dinner at 6:30 PM introducing baconcello, a creation of wine director Adam Seger. Described as “indescribable, like an infused vodka that’s both smoky and a bit sweet,” it will be served as an aperitif to a five-course meal with wine pairings. Featured items include pork confit crostini, Italian pork sausage with black lentils, risotto with house-cured bacon, pasta with a wild boar Bolognese, and pork chops from Gunthorp Farms. Apparently--thankfully--there’s no pig in the dessert, an almond cake with wine-poached pears and vanilla gelato. It's $69 a person.

The Chopping Block celebrates Saveur magazine's first-ever issue devoted entirely to Chicago with a hands-on tasting event at its Merchandise Mart location Wednesday at 6:30. Saveur editors and cooks featured in the Chicago issue will do cooking demonstrations of recipes from the issue, which will be available for tasting, as will wine and Goose Island beer. Tickets are $60; part of the proceeds will go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Want to do your part to fight colony collapse? At Saturday's Urban Beekeeping II workshop at Angelic Organics Learning Center aspiring beekeepers will learn methods for harvesting, extracting, and bottling honey, organic disease control, and preparing the hive for winter. Participants will also taste fresh urban honey, which is supposed to taste pretty similar to wildflower honey, although advocates claim that urban bees can produce a "richer variety" of honey because of the wide selection of plants in parks and gardens. It starts at 2 PM and costs $50; registration required.

Ballo is accepting recipe submissions for its second annual meatball contest, "Just Roll With It," through September 15. The challenge is to top the restaurant's own "Mama's Meatballs," and 10 finalists will compete in a cook-off on October 14 for the grand prize, a trip for two to Napa Valley.

Wine Compliments offers a free in-store wine tasting in conjunction with Edison Park Fest this Saturday and Sunday from 2-8 PM. The festival itself, featuring a beer garden, local food vendors, an arts and crafts fair and a dog show (plus the requisite rides, games, etc.) runs Friday from 5 PM to 11 PM, Saturday 9 AM-11 PM, and Sunday 9 AM-10 PM.

Slow Food Chicago hosts high tea this Sunday at 3:30 at Angel Food Bakery, with treats made from from stone fruits provided by Seedling. It's $19; reservations recommended.

Also Sunday, Chicago pastor and amateur chef Dominic Grassi signs Bumping into God in the Kitchen: Savory Stories of Food, Family, and Faith, a collection of fifty food-related stories plus some of his favorite recipes. The signing is at 2 PM at the Webster Place Barnes & Noble.

Osteria Via Stato's Sultry Summer Wine Fling on Wednesday is already sold out, but if you've got your heart set on sipping Italian wine and munching hors d'ouevres with master sommelier Alpana Singh and advanced sommelier Adam Seger, now might be a good time to make reservations for the next "20 for $20" wine tasting, on September 19 at 5:30 PM (or for the October 17 or November 14 dates).

If you can't wait that long to taste a couple dozen wines at once, Mon Ami Gabi has a tasting of 25 French wines for $25 (not including tax and tip) this Monday from 6 to 8 PM. Reservations are required.

And if 25 wines still isn't enough, try 30 wines for $30 this Tuesday at the Tasting Room at Randolph Wine Cellars, 6-8 PM. This month's theme is Goin' Green, and will focus on wines and winemakers that support biodiversity as well as organic and sustainable vineyard and wine-making practices. Reservations are highly recommended.

Chicago Culinary Adventures, a new social group "for those who enjoy food, wine, and culture" created by Get A Life! In the City, kicks off with a screening of Amelie at Alliance Francaise from 6:30-9:30 PM Thursday. The $45 ticket ($35 if booked in advance) includes wine, appetizers, and a goodie bag; for reservations call 1-800-495-6038.

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.

Another busy week with the National Restaurant Association show and American Craft Beer Week, but unless you've been in a food coma all month, you know the big gig is Slow Food International founder Carlo Petrini's lecture at Northwestern Law School. You can read my Critic's Choice writeup in the paper (not online yet) here and buy your tickets here.

In the meantime, tonight Gourmet Magazine's Gourmet Wine Cellar hoedown at the River East Arts Center, 335 E. Illinois, happens at 6. There'll be tastings, seminars, and cooking demos by the likes of Sara Moulton, Achatz, and Bayless, and noshes from some 16 local restos. $100 benefits the Greater Chicago Food Depository. 

Friday, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs presents a dinner at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson, featuring the work of local gals Deann Bayless, Ina Pinkney, Michele Garcia, and others. It's $150 .

Saturday Bobtail Ice Cream Company outlets at 2951 N. Broadway, 3425 N. Southport, and 338 W. Armitage is giving away free scoops between noon and 3 PM.

Also on Saturday The Drinking & Writing Brewery, which "works to keep the tradition of the hard-drinking writer alive," presents the Beerfly Alleyfight at Rock Bottom Brewery, 1 W. Grand. Ten home brewers will pair a special beer of their own making to a special dish which will then be interpreted by a dancer, actor, musician, photographer, or some other artist. It's $10 and starts at 1 PM

Sunday Clotilde Dusoulier creator of Chocolate and Zucchini, is signing her Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen at the Book Cellar at 1:30 PM. 

On Wednesday at 7 PM Alpana Singh and Adam Seger conduct a tasting of 20 Italian wines for $20 at Osteria via Stato, 620 N. State. Call 312-642-8450 for reservations. 

Also on Wednesday at 7,  Lucy Saunders, author of Grilling With Beer: Bastes, BBQ Sauces, Mops, Marinades & More, Made with Craft Beer, will be signing the book at the Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln. She promises beer from Unibroue.