Localicious and the Family Farmed Expo @ UIC Forum 3/17-3/19

Co Chairing this years Localicious event during the Family Farmed Expo @ the UIC Forum 3/17-3/19.

The Localicious event Friday 3/18 has all the makings of an excellent evening. This years criteria to participate is that @ least 50% of the food and drink ingredients are grown/brewed/distilled locally in Illinois or a bordering state. A great line up of LTH family farm favorites like Slagel, Nichols, Three Sisters, and Living Waters are pairing with chef-driven restaurants such as Province, Big Jones, Alliance Bakery and Osteria Via Stato for the pleasure your palates. In total we've got nearly 20 restaurants plus 10 wineries, brewers and distillers. I will start teasing you with menu items shortly.

http://www.familyfarmedexpo.com/localicious.html

http://www.familyfarmedexpo.com/

Another local twist this year is that entertainment will be provided by Chicago's own Grammy nominated Liquid Soul. Killer band if you haven't seen them. They will tear it up.

http://www.myspace.com/lsoul

The Expo itself features conferences like Thursday's Financing Farm to Fork that supports the local food movement by encouraging investment in farm and food production, processing and distribution businesses.

Friday features the Midwest’s leading local food trade show, a school food track, an innovative Food Policy Summit ending with Localicious that evening in the main ballroom.

Saturday features cooking demos from celebrity chefs, educational workshops, Sally Fallon and an interactive Kids Corner.

This is the type of event LTH'rs could get behind and support. No doubt a good and more importantly, thought provoking time will be had by all. Come by and say hi.

Teaser #1. Rabbit Soong, Water Chestnuts, Lemongrass, Chilies, Pea Shoots

Alliance Bakery:

Slow Roasted Apple Pave with White Cheddar Cream

White chocolate Yogurt and Raspberry Confit cakes with Almond Nougatine.

Spiced Pears with Caramel Emulsion, Gingerbread Cake and Sesame Brittle.

Jazzfood wrote:Alliance Bakery:

Slow Roasted Apple Pave with White Cheddar Cream

White chocolate Yogurt and Raspberry Confit cakes with Almond Nougatine.

Spiced Pears with Caramel Emulsion, Gingerbread Cake and Sesame Brittle.

Alliance Bakery did my birthday cake. It actually tasted as good as it looks.

I love them.

Big Jones:

Posole with Gunthorp Farm chicken, pork, and Three Sisters Garden corn.

This will be our first time at Localicious. We're looking forward to it. Thanks to Jazzfood for posting teasers.

Here's another, this from Nana:

Grilled Gunthorp Farms Chicken Thigh, Taro Root Tostada, Mole, Capriole Farms O'Banon
Pickled Hidden Valley Farm Mushrooms, Garden to Be Pea Tendrils.

Any lth'rs, please stop and say hello. I'll be the guy in chef's drag not cooking.

Marion St. Cheese call it "beef & cheddar"

Braised Black Earth meats shortribs + Heritage Prairie Market Cornmeal cakes + Pasturelands Millville farmers clothbound cheddar + pickled onions

I can't come until Saturday, but I'm reallylooking forward to this. Nice coverage by Steve Dolinsky on the news.

I'll be bringing the littlest 'gotcha with me on Saturday. We've been to similar events before in Kansas City, and I'm really looking forward to checking out the Windy City version! Will anyone else be going?

Jazzfood, you wouldn't happen to need any volunteers for Friday evening, would you? We live on a shoestring, so the way I usually get to witness stuff like this is by volunteering (like at KC's Forks & Corks fundraiser). I know it's kinda late, but hey, can't hurt to ask! And good luck with the party... it's sounds like an awesome lineup.

I'll be there for a while Saturday afternoon at the Local Beet table, to talk local beers and other irrelevant stuff.

Much applauds to Alan "Jazzfood" Lake and the rest of the Localicious crew who really put out a localicious event on Friday. This is the 3rd one I've attended, and I found this one the most satisfying. Of course, I've learned the secret to events like this and the GCM BBQ is to eat first, schmooze second, so I pretty much had the opportunity to try all the offerings (except Chicago Diner, which, 'fraid to say, gave me the willie's--buffalo seitan). In general, there was an excellent mix of dishes, wide enough spacing, ample drink, and a nice band to wash it all down.

Like I say, given that I skipped the seitan, I found pretty much all of the other dishes nearly of equal caliber in localicious delish-i-a-icious. I tried to talk Sugar Toad into giving over their pickled beets to the Local Beet's exhibit table on Saturday, but they did not go for it. I would say that for a place pretty far from radar, Localicious made me now a lot more interested in trying it. Likewise, prasino is a place that's always seemed a bit too sprout-y for me, but their fried Lake Michigan smelts were the last thing thereof. If I had to narrow it down, I'd put those smelts, with another tiny fish, Province's, er I mean Old Town Social, sardines, as my favorite dishes.

I was glad to see some other LTHers supporting this great cause. I look forward to next year's event, and I hope Alan stays involved. I think he has it down pretty well.

edited to correct misplaced sardine kudo

Thanks for the kind words. I had lots of help from my co-chairs Ann Duffy and Portia Belloc Lowndes. It seems to have been the best attended "Localicious" to date as well. We'll be upping the amount we ask of our participating restauranteurs next yr in anticipation of the larger crowds. Also, I promise more vegi options as they will be incorporated into the criteria instead of just suggested strongly.

Just to clear a small discrepancy, the cured sardines were from Old Town Social. Province was just next to them with a killer Dietzler Farms Short Rib Ropa Vieja.

Hope to see you next year.

Vital Information wrote:Of course, I've learned the secret to events like this and the GCM BBQ is to eat first, schmooze second, so I pretty much had the opportunity to try all the offerings (except Chicago Diner, which, 'fraid to say, gave me the willie's--buffalo seitan).

Wiser than me. I spent the first hour plus just talking and the last 30 minutes moving rapidly to try as many things as possible before they ran out.

The Wife really like the buffalo seitan. I actually fried up some of this stuff at home in the past week, and found that BBQ sauce was a very good complement.

Localicious is very lucky to have Comrade Lake on board.

David Hammond wrote:Localicious is very lucky to have Comrade Lake on board.

Great event (although I stupidly mis-read it, and spent time at UIC Pavilion trying to figure out why I couldn't get in). Kudos to Alan, and I think my cousin might have helped out, too.

Jazzfood wrote:Thanks for the kind words. I had lots of help from my co-chairs Ann Duffy and Portia Belloc Lowndes.