Entries associated with the tag "Taste Food and Wine":

thursday30

Zapatista hosts a winemaker dinner with Sebastian Zuccardi, the third-generation owner of Familia Zucardi, one of the largest family-owned winery in Argentina. A reception with sparkling wine and hors d'oeuvres will be followed by five courses, each paired with a Zuccardi wine. 7-9 PM, 1307 S. Wabash, 312-435-1307, $50 (not including tax and tip).

friday31

The Chopping Block’s Merchandise Mart location presents Haunted Happy Hour, with a wine tasting and appetizers including "grilled bat wings, bacon-wrapped cockroaches, skeleton mix, and deep-fried eyeballs." Costumes encouraged; reservations required. 5-7 PM, 350 N. Orleans, 312-644-6360, free.

A five-course Halloween Winemaker Dinner [PDF] at Trattoria Roma features Vasse River and Beach Head wines from Margaret River Wines in western Australia; winemaker Sharna Kowalczuk will attend. Among the menu options: Caesar salad, pumpkin-filled ravioli with sage-brown butter sauce, and veal medallions sauteed in a lemon, white wine, and caper sauce. Costumes are optional, but the best ones will win prizes. 6:30 PM, 1535 N. Wells, 708-383-7543, $59.

saturday1

Taste Food and Wine offers a free Unibroue Beer Tasting; selections from the Canadian brewery’s lineup will include Blanche de Chambly, Maudite, La Fin du Monde, and Trois Pistoles. 3-6 PM, 1506 W. Jarvis, 773-761-3663.

monday3

The American Institute of Wine and Food hosts a dinner at Kendall College to benefit Share Our Strength, which works to end hunger for kids in the U.S. Kendall alumni, including Elizabeth Dahl (Boka), Shawn McClain (Custom House, Green Zebra, Spring), and Kristine Subido (Wave) will prepare dinner, with wine pairings by sommelier Angela Roman of the Signature Room at the 95th. 6 PM, The Dining Room at Kendall College, 900 N. North Branch, 202-478-6528, $150.

wednesday5

In Fine Spirits hosts a six-course Harvest Beer Dinner featuring brews from Flossmoor Station Brewing Company, with brewmaster Matt Van Wyk in attendance. 7:30-9:30 PM, 5420 N. Clark, 773-334-9463, $60.

saturday11

The North Park Village Nature Center hosts a free Harvest Festival today and tomorrow with a farmers’ market, food vendors, tours of the nature preserve, a scarecrow-building contest, storytelling, and live music. Sat-Sun 10 AM-3 PM, 5801 N. Pulaski, 312-744-5472.

The Culinary Historians of Chicago presents The Sweet History of French Pastry with Mark Seaman, pastry chef and owner of local catering company Marked for Dessert. He’ll discuss regional variations on French desserts and the influence of the French Revolution on madeleines, macarons, and crepes. “Reference materials” include samples of Seaman’s pastries. 10 AM-noon, Kendall College, 900 N. North Branch, 708-788-0338, rsvpchc@yahoo.com, $5.

The Alliance Française presents a class on cooking with cider, from beef and onions braised in cider to cider-soaked pain perdu with apples and cinnamon-apple ice cream. There'll also be a tasting of hard ciders from around the world. 10 AM-12:30 PM, 810 N. Dearborn, 312-337-1070, $85 ($75 members).

Taste Food and Wine hosts an Oktoberfest celebration with beer (including Spaten), cheese, and sausages. 7-8:30 PM, 1506 Jarvis, 773-761-3663, $25, $20 in advance. 

sunday12

The Andersonville Dessert Crawl is actually two crawls, each hitting a dozen restaurants: the Swedish Stroll, 1-4 PM, includes Ann Sather, Swedish Bakery, and Pasticceria Natalina; the Rainbow Route, from 3-6 PM, features Big Jones, Kopi, M. Henry, and others. In Fine Spirits is also offering ten-wine tastings at 3 and 5 PM. Both routes start at the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark, 773-728-7552, $25 for one, $40 for two, $20 for wine tasting.

wednesday15

Galleria Liqueurs on Southport hosts a champagne tasting of ten brands, including Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot. 6-8 PM, 3409 N. Southport, 773-857-6200, $10.

Delilah's celebrates its 15th anniversary and a year that saw its 5,000th straight day of being open (in case you were wondering, that's 13.7 years) with a party Thursday from 11 AM to 2 AM. They'll be opening the first bottle of Delilah's Chicago 15-Year-Old Single Cask Rye Whiskey, the third installment in the "Delilah's Whiskies of the World Collection." 

Thursday at 7 PM, Mark Bires, chef and co-owner of Jerry’s Wicker Park (1938 W. Division), prepares a six-course meal with beer pairings from Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Co.; Patrick Conway, co-owner of Great Lakes, will be on hand to discuss the brews. The menu includes roasted tomato soup paired with Eliot Ness Vienna Lager, fried green tomatoes and shrimp remoulade over a buttermilk biscuit paired with Burning River American Pale Ale and Commodore Perry India Pale Ale, and collapsed chocolate souffle cake with creme anglaise paired with Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. $48, reservations required.

Also Thursday at 7 PM, Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro hosts a "Drink Local Beer" tasting pairing cheeses with local beers. $20, $15 in advance.

Through next Friday, In Fine Spirits is offering a special gin menu featuring martinis, negronis, and other gin-based cocktails, including a gin-and-tonic tasting flight (Zuidam Genever, Hendrick’s, and Martin Miller’s Westbourne Strength Dry Gin, all with Fever-Tree tonic). A tasting flight of North Shore gins (No. 6, No. 11, and Alphonso Mango No. 11) can be paired with creations by chef Marianne Sundquist, including cold pea soup with lavender honey and pea shoots, cucumber salad with whipped goat cheese and sage-lemon vinaigrette, and coconut panna cotta.

Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM, Taste Food and Wine's weekly free wine tasting features Red Dirt Red, Terra Rosa Malbec, Adegas Ladairo Godello, and Verdicchio Luzano. And from 6 to 9 PM, Lush Wine and Spirits on Halsted (1257 S. Halsted) hosts a free tasting of North Shore Distillery spirits, including their new absinthe.

Pastoral's Lakeview location offers free samples of La-Dee-Dahs, caramel and nougat swirls dipped in chocolate from the new Chicago company Whimsical Candy, tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Owner Chris Kadow-Dougherty will be on hand to answer questions; there'll also be wine pairings.

Friday from 7 to 9 PM, Treasure Island Foods (2121 N. Clybourn) hosts a Belgian beer tasting class with Johnny Fincioen of the Global Beer Network and Anthony Norkus of Louis Glunz Beer. They'll lead a sampling of ten beers, including Wittekerke White, Piraat Triple, and Petrus Blonde Ale. $20, reservations required (773-880-8880).

Great Chefs, the annual fund-raiser for the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Chicago, is Friday from 5 to 9 PM at the Sheraton Chicago. There'll be dishes like mango-lobster mousse and mushroom bruschetta from Carnivale, Chalkboard, La Madia, and others, plus cocktails, wine, and a silent auction. $100.

Saturday from 6:30-8:30 PM, Taste Food and Wine hosts a free tasting of Partida Tequila, with margaritas as well as samples of the blanco, reposado, and anejo tequilas.

Also Saturday from 6:30-8:30 PM, Pastoral's Loop location offers a free tasting of their picks for summer picnic wines. 

777 Wine Week starts Monday at David Burke’s Primehouse, which means that through Friday diners can taste seven wines with lunch (11:30 AM-3 PM) for a $7 donation to Common Threads, a nonprofit (cofounded by Oprah chef Art Smith) devoted to kids’ nutrition. There’s a different theme each day, starting with chardonnay and continuing with cabernet sauvignon, summer wine, “new” old-world wine, and South American wine. Chef Rick Gresh will prepare daily specials that pair well with the featured wines.

Geja's Cafe's Winemaker Dinner, Monday from 6:30-9:30 PM, pairs wines from Hahn Estate with cheese, meat, and chocolate fondues. $50 (includes tax and tip). 

Today is the annual Great American Meatout, an international effort encouraging people to "kick the meat habit (at least for a day) and explore a wholesome, nonviolent diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains." Chicago Diner and Alice and Friends Vegetarian Cafe are celebrating by offering vegetarian specials and samples, and Saturday from 2-4 PM, the Bucktown-Wicker Park library branch hosts a lecture on how to choose healthy vegetarian foods.

Winemaker Scott McLeod of Rubicon Estate pours new wines from the vineyard in a tasting at the Binny’s South Loop location Thursday from 6-8 PM. $5, free for Binny's members.

Taste Food and Wine highlights rosés from France, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and the U.S. at a tasting Friday from 6-7:30 PM.

National Corndog Day, declared a holiday by some schmoes in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1992, is celebrated on the first Saturday of the NCAA men’s basketball championship. The official Web site lists local parties, both public and private, including 199 so far in Illinois, and defines the ultimate goal of the day, the “triple-double”: consuming ten corn dogs, ten cans of beer, and 100 tater tots. In tribute, Evanston's The Weiner and Still Champion (802 Dempster, 847-869-0100) is offering its hand-dipped dogs for $1.25 all day.

This week's Saturday tasting at Just Grapes, from 1-4 PM, focuses on wines for Easter, highlighting light, crisp spring selections like a chenin blanc from Vouvray, a dry Austrian Riesling, an Oregon pinot noir, and a Shiraz rosé from southern Australia. a 1-4 PM, 560 W. Washington, 312-627-9463. Ftuesday25

The regular Tuesday three-course tasting menu at Marigold this week celebrates the Hindu Holi, or Festival of Colors. Featured items include boti kebabs, grilled lamb skewers marinated in tandoori spices; and dahi wada, black gram lentil dumplings with yogurt and two chutneys. $25. 

A Wildfire Chicago dinner Wednesday from 6:30-9 PM features Byron Wines; winemaker Jonathan Nagy will be on hand to discuss them. Among the four courses are almond-crusted sea bass and a selection of artisan cheeses. $90.

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.