Chicago Gourmet 2010

Chicago Gourmet, 2010

Yesterday was the kick-off of Chicago Gourmet with Daley, Bayless and other dignitaries present. Tickets are not cheap, but you can get one comped if you "Dine Around" and eat prix fix menus at five local restaurants: http://www.illinoisrestaurants.org/asso ... /?page=200



(I'm pretty sure that's a security guy looking at me suspiciously -- must have been the beret-like hat I was wearing.)

There are some board favs on the pretty large Dine Around list (Lao Sze Chuan, Vie, Mercat La Planxa) -- it looks like all you do is get a "passport" at one of the participating restaurants and then bring it and receipts to Millennium Park, get a ticket, and keep eating.

For more information: http://www3.timeoutny.com/chicago/blog/ ... o-gourmet/

do you have to be 21 years old to be allowed in? THANK in advance

gocubs88 wrote:do you have to be 21 years old to be allowed in? THANK in advance

I don't think that's the case, but you should probably contact the organizers through the site link above and ask them that question.

I curious if anyone posting in this promotional thread for this event gets free tickets?

When I'm comped for a dinner or other event, I disclose that in the original post.

David Hammond wrote:Chicago Gourmet, 2010

Yesterday was the kick-off of Chicago Gourmet with Daley, Bayless and other dignitaries present. Tickets are not cheap, but you can get one comped if you "Dine Around" and eat prix fix menus at five local restaurants: http://www.illinoisrestaurants.org/asso ... /?page=200



(I'm pretty sure that's a security guy looking at me suspiciously -- must have been the beret-like hat I was wearing.)

There are some board favs on the pretty large Dine Around list (Lao Sze Chuan, Vie, Mercat La Planxa) -- it looks like all you do is get a "passport" at one of the participating restaurants and then bring it and receipts to Millennium Park, get a ticket, and keep eating.

I count one female chef out of 38 in the lineup, and this makes me really appreciate and want to patronize more female-run restaurants. Not an easy landscape or profession for women in our town, apparently, and something you don't get reminded about until you see images like this. I hope Hema is hidden somewhere in the back row.

Santander wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Chicago Gourmet, 2010

Yesterday was the kick-off of Chicago Gourmet with Daley, Bayless and other dignitaries present. Tickets are not cheap, but you can get one comped if you "Dine Around" and eat prix fix menus at five local restaurants: http://www.illinoisrestaurants.org/asso ... /?page=200



(I'm pretty sure that's a security guy looking at me suspiciously -- must have been the beret-like hat I was wearing.)

There are some board favs on the pretty large Dine Around list (Lao Sze Chuan, Vie, Mercat La Planxa) -- it looks like all you do is get a "passport" at one of the participating restaurants and then bring it and receipts to Millennium Park, get a ticket, and keep eating.

I count one female chef out of 38 in the lineup, and this makes me really appreciate and want to patronize more female-run restaurants. Not an easy landscape or profession for women in our town, apparently, and something you don't get reminded about until you see images like this. I hope Hema is hidden somewhere in the back row.

Agreed.

Disclaimer: I work for Groupon, and any Groupon you buy benefits me in a financial way, sooner or later...

Today's Groupon is a $89 Ticket to Chicago Gourmet on Sunday, September 26 in Millennium Park

http://www.groupon.com/deals/chicago-gourmet-10

CrazyC wrote:Disclaimer: I work for Groupon, and any Groupon you buy benefits me in a financial way, sooner or later...

Today's Groupon is a $89 Ticket to Chicago Gourmet on Sunday, September 26 in Millennium Park

http://www.groupon.com/deals/chicago-gourmet-10

What's the difference, if any, between Saturday and Sunday?

BR wrote:

CrazyC wrote:Disclaimer: I work for Groupon, and any Groupon you buy benefits me in a financial way, sooner or later...

Today's Groupon is a $89 Ticket to Chicago Gourmet on Sunday, September 26 in Millennium Park

http://www.groupon.com/deals/chicago-gourmet-10

What's the difference, if any, between Saturday and Sunday?

here's the line up
not a bad groupon deal, @50 chefs in 5 hours is doable at a speewalkers pace

I've always been on the fence about Chicago Gourmet, but this deal sold me. We'll be there.

We're doing the "Dine Around" to get our tix. It's been fun so far, monday is L2O's 4-course tasting menu

BR wrote:What's the difference, if any, between Saturday and Sunday?

1683 extra people on Sunday (as of 8 PM).

mhill95149 wrote:I curious if anyone posting in this promotional thread for this event gets free tickets?

I haven't written anything yet, but I won tickets for Sunday from WXRT.

Well, seemed like a good enough deal for me . . . I'm in!

I am going to be at Chicago Gourmet on Saturday and was looking at the schedule. I am very overwhelmed by all the choices there are, and was wondering if anyone had an insight into events that cant be missed?
Thanks

We decided L2O was a bit too much for us this week, so we're doing the Wed. Prix Fix at Takashi instead

As I noted up thread, a bunch of us have been doing the "Dine Around" and planning to come and pick up tickets at the gate. Yet the web site says that tickets are sold out. I wonder if this means that there will be no tickets for those of us who come with our Dine Around receipts? I've sent a note to the email address listed on the web site, will post with an update...

(edited to add)

Chicago Gourmet got back to me very quickly! They say
"Yes we set aside tickets for Dine Around Participants as long as you have you original receipts (no photo copied receipts will be accepted) You will be permitted your ticket, there is a special Dine Around Check in that will be to the right of the main entrance way for Dine Around."

gocubs88 wrote:do you have to be 21 years old to be allowed in? THANK in advance

The tickets say that paid tickets can only be used by those 21 or older, but that children five or under are free with a paying adult. So apparently the answer to the above question is no; you can be five or under, or 21 or over, but not in between.

I went there today. It was very very crowded, even if you arrived when they opened the doors; alot of the restaurant booths had long lines, although others didn't.

The one thing that seemed really, really odd is that you have food booths all over giving out food on plastic dishes and forks and such, but there were hardly any garbage cans. There were a few off in the corners, and a few individual booths had tiny garbage pails, but the primary refuse collection/disposal was by roving workers with huge trash bags taking individual items from diners and clearing them from tables and other surfaces throughout the event.

I'm sure others here will post their opinions.

BR wrote:What's the difference, if any, between Saturday and Sunday?

There are brief demonstrations and presentations according to a posted schedule throughout both days.

And unlike most of Taste of Chicago, many of the food booths are not there for the full duration of both days. For example, there's a "Latin/Asian Pavilion". Today, from 12:30 to 3:00, there were Latin restaurants represented (e.g. Mercat, Mercadito, and Mexique). They packed up at 3:00, and from 3:30 to 6:00, there were Asian restaurants represented (e.g. Le Colonial). There are similar schedules for many of the food pavilions. So you may sample from one set of restaurants on Saturday, and a mostly-different set of restaurants on Sunday (and even from one time of day to another).

A mixed bag today at Chicago Gourmet.

The good: The two cooking demos we went to were pretty entertaining (first was the Banos' then Art Smith...cooking vegetable lo mein for some reason). The retail tend had some interesting and tasty stuff. The seminar on port that I went to was interesting and I got to try some really good stuff (including a vintage port from '94).

The bad: The tasting tents were complete clusterfucks. Lines that put Disney World to shame. At one point I waited in line for 15 minutes for a shot of soup from Sunda, and then had the pleasure of getting back into line for another 20 minutes for a cold shrimp from L2O. Most people seemed to be there to take advantage of the insane amounts of wine, so they didn't seem to be that upset. But for someone who was there primarily for food, I thought the whole situation was shameful (especially for the price). Yes, some lines were longer than others, but the long lines made it impossible to see where the short lines actually started. The organizers of this event really need to rethink either the number of tickets they're selling, the location, or the layout. All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't pay full price. If I did, I would have been furious.

I too was at the Art Smith event. I loved him... Funny and so personable! But that lady announcer was annoying! I just wanted her to be quiet!

My friend and I took it easy. We got there right at noon, and stayed till the end. I ate a lot... I am honestly stuffed and will definitely not be having dinner. Standouts include the roast pig (23 hours slow roasted, pulled by hand, on potato rolls with bbq sauce), sweet chili dip from Australia, Nueske's bacon and ham, Pan roasted sea bream (accompanying pumpkin was meh) and macarons!

A few logistical nightmares, but all in all I had fun. But I saw a few people get downright nasty and started cutting in lines...

Cathy2 and I went this afternoon. Didn't go to see any speakers, mostly ate and milled around. We approached the tastings by splitting up and each getting two plates. This enabled us to get through twice as fast. We didn't bother with the Asian tent as it was one huge line as opposed to five shorter ones as with some of the other tasting tents. We were so stuffed by 2:30 p.m. that we never went to the second shift of tastings. We didn't feel bad since we got in for free, but if I had paid for tickets, I would have taken a different approach.

I guess I had a little bit better time than I expected.

Food tasting pavilions:

I had heard about the long food lines, so the lines didn't shock me . . . and they didn't bother me a ton. But they could be improved. First, make them all like the gourmet pavilion, where instead of lining up for each individual chef's item, you instead line up for all 4-5 tastes being offered and select what you'd like to taste. If they don't do that, it would be helpful to at least have the chefs' names and dishes listed at the top of the tent - the lines were so long that it was too difficult to tell which chef you were in line for when you first go in line. That being said, there were thousands of people at this event . . . far more than at the typical food tasting event . . . and fewer chefs. I don't know how you shorten the lines, but maybe they also need to consider mass hors d'oeuvres available to keep people from packing the food lines. Overall, many of the tastes I had were not as good as food I've had at other tasting events (e.g., Food & Wine showcase, Green City Market BBQ). Kevin Hickey made a nice piece of beef. Chopping Block's coq au vin was surprisingly tasty. Of course, Shawn McClain ran out of food with more than an hour of serving time to go.

Maybe my favorite item was the very tasty pumpkin ice cream from Labriola.

Directions and logistics:

Yes, there was a map posted and everyone was handed a guide. But maybe posts directing you around placed in a handful of locations would have helped. Not a huge deal though.

Booze:

Much shorter lines . . . some nice lounges set up and some very good wines and liquors.

Seating:

Lots of spots to sit and relax and eat comfortably. Very enjoyable.

Specialty food pavilion:

This was my favorite part of the day. The line where you tasted 20 or so award-winning food items and then picked you favorite was more like a great amusement park ride to me. Yes, that might make me pathetic, sad, or worse . . . but I really enjoyed that and there were some really great food items to taste. I picked the hibiscus vinegar by a nose over the apricot preserves (which were the best fruit preserves I've ever tasted).

In that pavilion, I also tasted some outstanding honeys from Mieli Thun, and bought a couple of jars. Apparently, they're sold around town (maybe Provenance and Pastoral?) and they are probably the best honeys I've ever tasted. There were a number of other excellent food items for taste in this pavilion, including the Nueske's bacon.

I enjoyed my time, certainly made better by the $89 Groupon price. I'll probably attend again assuming the discount price is offered. I'm not quite sure if I'd pay full price.

Hi,

A mention of maps, reminded me of the only map I saw displayed. No mapmaker worth his salt would have published it. Pavillions we knew were south, were on the right of this map. Pavillions on the north were on the left of this map. Maps usually have north represented at the top. If we had no prior experience with the layout, we would have gone off to never, never land.

Dividing and conquering was the best strategy. I began to believe a group of four would have been ideal. Most tasting tents had 4-5 stations, we could all just stand in different lines. In less than 20 minutes, we could have a tent conquered. As the afternoon progressed, the lines got longer and my interest to stand in lines faded with my full stomach. The food presented in the second half seemed to run out quicker than the first half.

The Allen Brothers tent had the least attractive food in the noon to 2:30 time frame. Myron & Phil's batch system for lamb chops made for idle servers and customers. When the chops arrived, some were generous, others were measly and a few burnt ones nobody wanted. A restaurant from Effingham, IL was serving BLT in cream puff shells on mini butcher blocks. Braised pork in a tortilla rounded off the not too great offerings.

At the food survey, I voted in favor of the one item no samples were available: a dog birthday cake. Why anyone wasted their promotional dollar sticking this into a people food survey was beyond me.

I was glad to attend to see what it was all about.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:A mention of maps, reminded me of the only map I saw displayed. No mapmaker worth his salt would have published it. Pavillions we knew were south, were on the right of this map. Pavillions on the north were on the left of this map. Maps usually have north represented at the top. If we had no prior experience with the layout, we would have gone off to never, never land.

We saw that map within a few minutes of arriving. There was a compass rose sort of thing that indicated that north was off to the side. Crazy.

To each his own, but I just have to point out that those little cream puffs are profiteroles...which yes, are used in cream puffs, but also are a dream of their own. These particular ones from the firefly were layered with Nueske bacon, Maytage Blue cheese, heirloom tomatoes fresh from their Effingham garden, sided with beet sprouts and served on a Boos Butcher block cutting board. Some folks missed the boat on the cutting board, choosing to leave it on the table - interesting to see people who know what Boos is all about picking them up off the table and dropping in their bags. It's the perfect size for the bar! I thought the Four Seasons in the same pavilion was delish, but didn't even bother with the other vendor as it appeared people were waiting a while. There was also a no show (maybe 2?) ...who gets in to a show like that and then doesn't go?? Another pavilion kept losing power, we went back twice and then finally gave up. They either need to let in fewer people next year or get more vendors to keep the lines short. There were a ton of wine/liquor merchants and virtually no lines at any of them.

jesteinf wrote:The bad: The tasting tents were complete clusterfucks. Lines that put Disney World to shame. At one point I waited in line for 15 minutes for a shot of soup from Sunda, and then had the pleasure of getting back into line for another 20 minutes for a cold shrimp from L2O. Most people seemed to be there to take advantage of the insane amounts of wine, so they didn't seem to be that upset. But for someone who was there primarily for food, I thought the whole situation was shameful (especially for the price). Yes, some lines were longer than others, but the long lines made it impossible to see where the short lines actually started. The organizers of this event really need to rethink either the number of tickets they're selling, the location, or the layout. All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't pay full price. If I did, I would have been furious.

Comments from a co-worker were similar. Moreover, there were no signs or descriptions of the dishes available at the food tents (or in the program), so she often didn't know what specifically she was waiting in line for. She avoided eating earlier in the day and actually left the event hungry.

With the seemingly better focus and access to the wines and spirits the event provided, couldn't they include some snacks in a goody bag with the ticket? Even biscotti, nuts, chocolates, toffee, chips would make going from wine to wine more stomachable if one wanted to avoid the food lines to keep from tottering.

That and a transparent price / access system could actually get me to the next one.

I enjoyed my time, certainly made better by the $89 Groupon price. I'll probably attend again assuming the discount price is offered. I'm not quite sure if I'd pay full price.

Interestingly, at about 3pm yesterday, I heard one of the gatekeepers quote the $89 dollar price as the admission price to a curious passerby. Not sure if that was an end of day discount.

I thought the food lines were ridiculous. Not sure what they can do to fix it, but maybe they need to advertise it as a wine and liquor event with some limited food available, which is closer to the reality.

I probably would not attend again.

Santander wrote:

jesteinf wrote:The bad: The tasting tents were complete clusterfucks. Lines that put Disney World to shame. At one point I waited in line for 15 minutes for a shot of soup from Sunda, and then had the pleasure of getting back into line for another 20 minutes for a cold shrimp from L2O. Most people seemed to be there to take advantage of the insane amounts of wine, so they didn't seem to be that upset. But for someone who was there primarily for food, I thought the whole situation was shameful (especially for the price). Yes, some lines were longer than others, but the long lines made it impossible to see where the short lines actually started. The organizers of this event really need to rethink either the number of tickets they're selling, the location, or the layout. All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't pay full price. If I did, I would have been furious.

Comments from a co-worker were similar. Moreover, there were no signs or descriptions of the dishes available at the food tents (or in the program), so she often didn't know what specifically she was waiting in line for. She avoided eating earlier in the day and actually left the event hungry.

With the seemingly better focus and access to the wines and spirits the event provided, couldn't they include some snacks in a goody bag with the ticket? Even biscotti, nuts, chocolates, toffee, chips would make going from wine to wine more stomachable if one wanted to avoid the food lines to keep from tottering.

That and a transparent price / access system could actually get me to the next one.

The funny (sad) thing is that a lot of the people I observed didn't seem to care what they were eating. When I would ask a chef what they were serving, half of them almost seemed surprised at the question. IMO, there were a lot of people there mainly for the booze, to see "celebrity chefs", and to brag about how much of a "foodie" they are.