Foodie Bridal Shower Brunch/Tea - suggestions needed!

A dear friend who is engaged is quite the gourmet (she introduced me to LTH before she moved ) and lives abroad. She has graciously volunteered to come to Chicago for the bachelorette party and bridal shower, as she is from the area originally and the vast majority of friends and relatives live here, but we need to do everything on one day as to minimize her travel. I've been entrusted with planning. I've got the bachelorette party covered - tasteful and food/wine oriented, but need suggestions for the bridal shower. I would host at my place, but my apartment is too tiny for the number of guests that would be present and my kitchen too small to prepare adequate food for the numbers.

I need suggestions for a 'foodie' bridal shower that would be around lunch or brunch time. I'm guessing we will have between ten and twenty women, some of which are in their 50s and above, with the majority being in their 20s. The bride loves new experiences and cuisines, but many of the guests would not. Therefore, I need a fairly 'safe' location, but with food that the bride will like. I think a tea would be appropriate. We've already done the Drake high tea for another shower and the Peninsula or Four Seasons is a bit out of my pricerange, as I want it to be a treat for my friend and her guests. We would like to stay on the northside of the city to make travel easier for most guests. Any suggestions or alternatives would be greatly appreciated!

What month, and what day of the week?

North Pond Cafe, for example, serves lunch during the summer, I think, but not in other seasons.

Oops - sorry. We're shooting for some time in the summer and on a Saturday.

I'm not sure how "foodie" it is, but how about one of those girlie Ethel's Chocolate Lounges?

I noticed in another thread you recently dined at erwin. That may be a good solution for your event. I enjoyed a shower there several years ago.

I did and I love it there. I think it would fit the bill in terms of good food and creativity with a perfect atmosphere, but am concerned about price range. Do you know how pricey it was or were you a guest who was not involved in the monetary aspect of the shower?

I just checked their website and it says they only do private events on Mondays, which would not work.

Something along those lines, however, would be perfect!

If you could go more informal, perhaps something like Heaven on Seven?

Hi,

High Tea with Gerri is a caterer of Irish extraction who specializes in teas. She is an all-round caterer as well, though her teas set her apart. I have used her three times in the last year and got raves from guests each time.

Regards,

I was at Julius Meinl recently, and was surprised to learn that they do an afternoon tea (available by reservation only). I think they said the cost was in the $14-16 range, and included tea, sandwiches and pastries. They don't have a private room, but if they'd reserve an entire section of the restaurant for you, you should easily be able to fit in 10-20 people.

How about The Tasting Room on Randolph? They have a great space upstairs (beautiful view of Chicago and comfortable sofas) and could probably put together a nice assortment of food and wine for you.

The Bourgeois Pig also has a room that can be reserved for private events and they have all sorts of teas.

If you want to meet in a restaurant, I'd suggest choosing your favorite small and pleasant place and asking them if they'll let you use that for a private event.

I think Sweets and Savories used to have afternoon tea, but their website makes no mention of it now. It may be worth giving them a call to see what they offer in terms of special events. I think it would be the perfect place for a shower.

While I have never dined there, the TeaGschwendner at 2142 N. Halsted serves food. They have an outstanding selection of teas, and I imagine that a great deal of care would go into the food also. Their phone number is 773-525-0671. The room is quite pleasant.

Do you know how pricey it was or were you a guest who was not involved in the monetary aspect of the shower?

I was a guest so the cost was not on my radar.

Another option is Cafe Suron. I know they have a small private room off to the left of the main restaurant. Prices are reasonable and the food is good.

Cafe Suron
1146 W. Pratt
773-465-6500
http://www.cafesuron.com/

I went to a baby shower type event at Unique So Chique, a boutiquey shop with a small room where they have tea service. With a full complement of 20 guests it might be a little crowded, but you would have it all to yourselves, so that's nice. It may have been the only time in my life I've had tea service, so I can't judge it against the bigger name places, but we had a nice time.

Unique So Chique
4600 N Magnolia Ave Ste C (Cross Street: Wilson Avenue)
Chicago, IL 60640View Map
(773) 561-0324

I saw Unique So Chique online before and was intrigued as a possible venue. I was a little turned off by the overly cutesy name, but now am curious. What is the room like and what accompanied the tea? 20 was the absolute high estimate and it will be much closer to 15 or even 10, so not really an issue there...

Thank you so much for all your help. It is very much appreciated.

Well, the baby whose impending arrival was celebrated just had her first haircut^* so my descriptions will not be the sharpest.

The tea room is in back of a boutique. The boutique is funkier and less cutesy than I would have guessed from the name, myself, but it is not without cutesiness.^** But you walk right through to the back room if you come for a tea event and could barely notice the store part.

The back room is spartan. It is finished, but it also has some shelves with tea stuff on them -- not decorative, but either stock for the tea operation and/or sneaking in a little more retail real estate for shoppers (note the general public wouldn't come back during an event, but I bet they might to buy some tea at other times.)

The food service was nice enough. I'm not sure it's the kind of food that would fire me up too much, but I think it's pretty standard tea kinds of food: cookies, finger sandwiches, etc.

It fits your North side, modest costs, and true "tea service" points -- if you're considering it at all you probably ought to drop by and check it out, but it might be a good fit... we had a good time, but this is a group of friends with whom that's going to happen regardless of the venue.

*It's a cute picture, why shouldn't I link to it? (No, not mine, I'm just an "uncle".)


**Honestly, I'm not sure I qualify as an arbiter of these kinds of things, but they had Uglydolls. Are those funky or cutesy? I think they tipped me towards the funky eval.

I'm a somewhat seasoned high tea'er. I was very excited to try Unique So Chicque. I went last summer and thought the store was pretty interesting, a fun diversion along with the high tea. However, I felt that the actual food with the tea service wasn't as good as other places in town, such as the Drake and Ritz. The food wasn't bad, but it just didn't wow me. Just depends on what your priorities are for the event.