Chicago Foodies

Chicago Craft Beer Week Events: Three Floyds at Big Star

This is exciting.  Big Star, the heralded taco stand, patio, and restaurant known for its rather artistic and addictive takes on traditional taqueria fare, is celebrating Chicago Craft Beer Week with a Three Floyds Brewing tap takeover.  On Tuesday, May 24th, at 6 p.m., Three Floyds will be offered on all Big Star taps, followed by some DJ activity at 8 by the bar's beer directors.

I'll update this post with details on specific beers as the information arrives; but imagine:  Dreadnaught with Tacos Al Pastor; Alpha King with Tacos De Borrego; Pride and Joy with the Tostada De Pollo.  That sounds muy bueno.  Viva Tres Floyds. 

Big Star is located at 1531 N. Damen Avenue in Bucktown.

--Mark Sheppard

Craft Beer Week: Thursday Kickoff

The event I've been waiting for is finally on the horizon. Craft beer week begins Thursday, May 19 with a kickoff party hosted by the Garfield Park Conservatory. There are also other events to check out tomorrow evening.

Beer Under Glass:

Local restaurants will serve small plates to compliment the 25 breweries offering up their finest beers. The event is $50 at the door. All guests will receive a passport upon entry. The passport is your ticket into exclusive events and tastings.

Go to Garfield Park tomorrow from 5 - 9 p.m. to experience great beers and food.

Located at 300 North Central Park Avenue.

Around the World in 80 Sips – (ahem, Discounted Tickets)

From 8-10pm this Friday is Around the World in 80 Sips, actually more than 80 types of international wines paired with cheeses, charcuterie. It's at the MCA and if you spring for the VIP access you get early admission, maybe some choice pours but it costs a bit more.

Chicago Foodies readers can get a 15% discount by typing in ChicagoFoodies when prompted for the code. Tickets are available here.

Belvedere Bloody Mary Vodka Launch in Chicago

On Wednesday the 11th there was a launch of  Belvedere Bloody Mary, held at the Mercat a la Planxa in the Blackstone Hotel in the South Loop.  A main attraction was  Chelsea Handler, whom I'm told is a late-night television talk show host.   I had no clue who she was prior to the event and had to ask around to find out what she was known for, and it caught me off guard when there was a media circus of photographers and television cameras.  It turns out that she was in town to promote her book, Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me.  She was joined by Adam Rapoport, the new editor of Bon Appétit magazine.   Other well-known local names included  Chef Tony Montuano of Spiaggia, and Chef Takashi Yagihashi of Takashi restaurant, Miss Jane of Lush Wine & Spirits, and Alpana Singh, who initially offered to give me her business card regarding an interview but then changed her mind (ouch on the snub!).

Chicago Craft Beer Week, May 19-27, 2011

It is not far away.  Chicago Craft Beer Week is making its return on May 19th, as a number of organizations and bars are sponsoring beer related-events across a number of venues during the 9-day celerbration of craft brewing.  For $10, you can obtain a passport that grants access to various Craft Beer Week events that do not require any additional payment, including exclusive access to several events. 

A listing of Craft Beer Week events is here.   The exciting list includes an IPA cruise, a South Loop pub crawl, food pairing seminars, brewer meet-and-greets, and new brewery unveilings. 

This event is further noted in The Stew blog in The Tribune. 

--Mark Sheppard

Eating Healthy with My Diabetes

There is a new campaign heading to local Jewel Oscos that inform Chicagoans about living healthy with diabetes. There are over 500,000 people living with Diabetes in Chicago alone. Health care professionals, including dietitians and pharmacists, will lead the educational tours. They will teach guests about proper dieting techniques, the importance of balanced nutrition, and choosing from a variety of acceptable meals.

The free programs will last two-hours each, and guests will have the opppourtunity to make follow-up appointments with their local pharmacist.

Three Floyds Brewing's Dark Lord Day 2011

Never has beer geekdom been so cool.  The culminaiton of weeks, if not months, of excitement in the beer community, on April 30, Three Floyds Brewing hosted Dark Lord Day. DLD is the annual party to celebrate the release of its highly acclaimed Russian Imperial Stout, the aptly-named Dark Lord. It seemed as if every beer lover, bartender, liquor store owner, and partygoer in Chicago was there partaking in the festivities.  Chicago Foodies was represented as well as Josh and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend.  And we lived to tell about it.

DLD was scaled back this year from previous years, not suprising since they instituted a policy this year that attendees had to have a ticket to be on the facility's grounds.  There was not nearly as large of a crowd this year in the area surrounding the brewery's property.  In previous years, the party spilled over to the pond area on industrial property south of the brewery and across the drive to the huge grassy - make that muddy - field to the east.  I didn't see many barbeque grills going, bags games, or nearly as much congregating outside the brewery property. 

Evil Twin Beer Tasting at Local Option

Local Option pub in Lincoln Park, one of Chicago's preeminent beer bars known for carrying unique craft brews on tap (and general awesomeness), is featuring the beers of Evil Twin Brewing this coming Monday, May 2, at 6 p.m., as part of the brewer's premiere in the Midwest.  According to Local Option:

Evil Twin Brewing is the brainchild of Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø. An avid beer geek since 1997, Jeppe began home-brewing in Copenhagen, Denmark in June ‘03. His first foray into the commercial craft beer scene commenced in September ‘05, when he opened the now world-famous bottle shop Ølbutikken in Copenhagen. The reputation of Jeppe & his shop grew quickly, and myriad side projects began (including his collaboration with Cantillon on the Blåbær Lambik – one of this most highly regarded, highly sought-after lambics in the world). Evil Twin Brewing is Jeppe’s latest venture, and is the culmination of the vast knowledge, experiences, and relationships he’s built over the years.

What's Literally On-Tap at Dark Lord Day

Here's an abbreviated list of what's on tap in addition to Three Floyd's taps at Dark Lord Day, emphasis is Mark Sheppard's, some have not been tried so feel free to add in comment's what must be tasted!

Founders Breakfast Stout, Founders Nemesis, Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Founders Backwoods Bastard, Founders Newaygo County Cherry, Founders Devil Dancer, Founders Double Trouble, Victory Smoked & Oats,Victory Headwaters Pale, Victory Braumeister Pils, 

From St. Louis – Schlafly Kolsch, Schlafly Imperial Stout, Van Steenberg Monk’s Ale, Brewdog paradox smokehead, Bells Batch 10,000, Bells Oatmeal Stout, Left Hand TNT weizen doppelbock, Dogfish Head My Antonia, Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout, Dogfish Head Old School Barleywine, Dogfish Head Burton Baton, Ommegang Gnomegang, Bruery Saison De Lente, Bruery Loakal Red, Bruery Old Richland, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Rare, Schlenkerla Fasten Beer, Schlenkerla Oat Smoke, Schlenkerla Maerzen, Futhermore Knot Stock, Futhermore Oscura, La Rulles Estivale, Aventinus Eisbock, Sierra NevadaOliva Dubbel, Oakshire Heart Shaped Box, Oakshire Imperial Overcast Espresso Stout. 

Plus a couple more on the way…

From their updates page.

Dining Out for Life

On Thursday, April 28th, the country will be participating in an annual fundraising event to help fight HIV/AIDS with Dining Out for Life. Established in 1991, Dining Out for Life now occurs in 55 cities with over 3500 participating restaurants, including Chicago.

Dine at one of the many participating restaurants tomorrow and a portion of your check will automatically go towards Edge Alliance to help provide housing and support to people living with HIV/AIDS, the disabled, and veterans. It's that simple!

http://www.diningoutforlife.com/Chicago

Dine Out. Fight AIDS!

--Betty Chen

NEXT Restaurant to Dark Lord Days - Hype or Hassle?

"I never expected that we would sell 20 tables in 1.5 seconds as we did this morning."
-Nick Kokonas, co-owner of NEXT (on LTHforum)

These days people are waiting in line for hours to get into Aviary, they're refreshing their Firefox browsers every second for hours on end to get tickets to NEXT. Craft beer fans had about a 2 minute window to score tickets online for Dark Lord Days and a slightly bigger window for Baconfest... Is it all worth it?

To quote Charlie Bucket from Willy Wonka, "I bet those Golden Tickets make the chocolate taste terrible."

Play for Life Best of Ballpark Cook-Off

Play for Life, started by University of Chicago graduates, benefits a great cause of intermingling young professionals with children from the economically depressed West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side by playing baseball, with the ultimate goal of making enough of a difference in their lives to convince them to go to college.  The event was co-sponsored by Dewar's, Goose Island, and Honest Tea.  They held a benefit April 1 at Galleria Marchetti.

Armon and Charlie, two of the baseball players from West Englewood, were our judges, who were not only gung-ho about judging but also selling raffle tickets.    They felt the most delicious dish was the lobster roll from RL.  Served on a very light, toasted, buttered baguette, the lobster roll  had a cautious dusting of mayonnaise that highlighted the lobster.  

Michigan Wines: Great Wine At Our Back Door

While it's very hard to find here in Chicago, but of good quality and a short ride away, Michigan wines have recently been surprising me.  Far from the wineries advertised by expressway billboards that serve blush wine and plonk, I was curious to network with people familiar with Wolverine State wine.  I asked to meet recently with Kelly Kniewel, co-owner of Fresh Coast Distributors, to give me more information regarding what Michigan wines have to offer fussy Chicago consumers.    We met at eno, a wine bar in the Fairmont Hotel just off of Wacker Drive just east of Michigan Avenue and met with Daniel Freedman, sommelier of eno and Aria.

Blackbird + Bristol + Old Town Social = Cafe des Architects: Les Amis du Chef

I always want to go to events that partner chefs up. I like the notion of kitchen sharing. There's got to be some positive energy when it's not a competition and more of a collaboration.

Tomorrow evening, chefs from Blackbird, Bristol and Old Town Social meet up at Cafe des Architects to assemble 5-courses of interpretations of classic French recipes, each one with a twist. Seating is limited and in the Sofitel's private room, Cigale.

This is the first of hopefully many "friends of the chef" dinners as Chef Greg Biggers seems to have some nice friends. We're looking forward to the included wine pairing as well.

Wednesday April 20th – 6pm
Cafe des Architects
$115 +tax/tip
email for tickets
or call 312-324-4062

Don Q Rum Mixologist Competition

 
On Sunday evening, 14 of Chicago's top mixologists competed in the Don Q Rum Ultimate Mixoff Challenge.

The contestants competed in two categories: fancy spirited cocktails and fruit forward long drinks. Each drink needed to contain at least one Don Q rum product. A winner was chosen from each category. The victors are awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the national competition in Manhattan.

This was just one of many contests that the mixologists compete in throughout the year. The competitions are in partnership with the United States Bartenders’ Guild.

No Next Tickets? There's Always Next Time.

So, like Dark Lord, Grant Achatz's Next Restaurant is tickets-only. This translates into a grey-market on Craigslist where we're seeing tickets go for around $1200 a pair. Considering a face value of $900 for opening night, this may not actually be a bad deal.However it does generate quite a circus around the event which I guess is the point.

With most other restaurants this would be kind of ridiculous. I won't even wait for most places but when the "Event" is the point it is more allowable in my opinion. It's kind of like getting tickets to El Bulli or French Laundry but for a much lower price you get the same volume of hype... it also stands to mention that it's a different sort of hype.

Play for Life's Season Opener – Best of the Ballpark

This Friday is Play for Life International's big fundraiser:

Play for Life International is a nonprofit that uses sports to help at-risk youth develop healthy relationships and learn essential life lessons.  It's not just about winning, it's about empowerment: the power to live a positive lifestyle, the power to treat others with respect, and the power to make responsible choices. Every day, we're reminding these kids that they're not victims of circumstances - they're contenders.

The Fourth Annual Season Opener: The Best of the Ball Park is their largest fundraiser of the year. Competing chefs include: Sean Cunneen from Inspiration Kitchens Uptown, Ryan Pitts from RL, Carlos Gaytan of Mexique, and Jason Petrie of Revolution Brewery face-off in a contest creating their own twist on ball park fare. Guests will be able to sample each chef’s creation, and, at the end of the night, one chef will be crowned The Best of the Ball Park.

Local Option – Beer Lineup: One of The Best Ever?

Just want to give a quick blurb about a recent beer event I attended on Wednesday, March 16th, at Local Option pub on Webster Avenue.  The Option did a rare beer tasting headlined by rare Founders brews and some other gems from the U.S. and across the pond.  Word got out about the event early enough that the keg tappings, which were to begin at 6, played to an already packed house by that time. 

"Never Order a 'Black and Tan' from an Irishman."

This St. Patrick's day order a "Half and Half."

Do yourself a favor this year on St. Patrick's Day. If you're wearing a "Kiss me..." shirt, well... O.K. but when you go to order your half Guinness and half lager/ale call it what it is... a "half and half," not a "Black and Tan." Then do everyone else a favor and explain why...

I was at a Guinness tasting last night and was surprised at their hyping the Black and Tan. I was in Ireland a couple of years ago and was repremanded repeatedly by Irish gents telling me emphatically, and in earnest, that a Black and Tan is "a dirty word" or "never order a black and tan from an Irishman." I asked the Guinness-shirt-wearing-folk the deal and got a big "I dunno..." The promoter eventually explained that the Black and Tans were British prisoners who were pressed into fighting against the Irish... which is not exactly true. With some digging I got the scoop...

For the Love of Chocolate Benefit 2011

One of my favorite annual benefits is For the Love of Chocolate, an annual black tie affair that not only serves a good cause that supports scholarships for the French Pastry School of the City Colleges of Chicago, but also provides relatively good value by showcasing some of Chicago's top chefs.   Due to its size it now takes up the full first floor at the Merchandise Mart, including several of the home furnishing showrooms, whose kitchens area actually put to use.