Yesterday night we blew into Chicago to enjoy the Ninth Annual CHILL event presented by Luxe Home in the Merchandise Mart. (For those of you who don’t live in Midwest, we were having 30-40 mile wind gusts so we literally blew into the city!)
The silent auction and mystery wine raffle put the fun in “fun”draising.
Each boutique we walked into seemed like a new adventure. There were mariachi bands, fantastic piano playing and the amazingly talented Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. The wafts of deliciously cooked food would hit your senses and the sight of each food display made my mouth water. (Kudos to the chefs and their teams for making such beautiful presentations of not only their dishes but also the tables.)
I’ve seen this young man perform in previous years and he is just really talented!
Everything was out of this world but I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves instead of using a thousand words.
These rabbit rillettes were my favorite bite of the night. The cherry-mustard vinaigrette and the brussels sprouts just made the dish!Special thank you to Chef Tim Kirker for ALWAYS taking time to talk to his guests each year at CHILL. You have become one of my favorite people to see.My “entourage” favorite was Carnivale’s Ropa Vieja. The braised brisket melted in my mouth!Rural Society’s Carpaccio de Pulpo: Braised Octopus served with tomato escabeche and malbec chipsGuess who won his episode of CHOPPED? CHEF CORY MORRIS!!!! Congratulations!Chef Evan Behmer of Mercat a la Planxa did not disappoint with his balls. I mean, his duck and lamb meatballs with apricot escabeche. (I just write dirty stuff to see who reads the captions!)Mercadito’s Camoron shrimp had the perfect amount of heat in their chiptotle mayoRA Sushi can never go wrong with a platter of Tootsy Maki.RA also served a perfectly seared tuna and their garlic edamame (which I could eat all day!)Fred’s at Barneys New York shined with Smoked salmon and caviar on fresh cucumberKinmont’s Chef Aaron Cuschieri (Top Chef New Orleans) and team were having a blast!Kinmont’s Burger Slider made with bone marrow, smoked gouda, mayo, pickles and grilled romaineSienna Tavern served a nice Butternut Squash Tortellacci with parmesan brown butter and crispy sage. (My favorite squash dish of the night.)Osteria Langhe had a delicious rabbit confit with la fur, hazelnuts, arugula and an AWESOME house made Barolo vinegarTWO Restaurant & Bar keeping it real with braised beef cheeksThe living art always is an event favorite but it is discouraged to pick the grapes off of her!Marion Street Cheese Market Braised Beef crostinis with marmalade shallots and micro radish was also a group favorite.TheWitHotel not only shined with their bison meatloaf slider but the Brussels Sprout “trees” also made their table seem like a produce wonderland.There was also ample beers and wines to try.Our friends thought the wine selections were indeed spectacular.Burrata Cheese with a Calabrian chili vinaigrette and almond pesto from WoodRevolucion Mexican Steak House made a Taquitos de Tinga de pollo. I loved the crispiness of the taquito!
This was my last big food event for the year and I must say it was the perfect ending to an amazing food year. (The rest of the year will be my own home kitchen adventures.) Tasting the food from all these talented chefs inspires me to be more creative in my own life (and it gives me some great places to look for next time I am in the city.)
Special thank you to all of the LuxeHome boutiques who open the doors and let us enjoy this event in a truly unique space and the chefs who transported us to another world.
This was the most beautiful kitchen appliance (Bertazzoni) I’ve ever seen!
Also, thank you to the team at IMR for continuing to give me events to look forward to year after year.
And finally thank you to my support “entourage” who FINALLY took our suggestion of joining us at CHILL. Best summed up by our friend, Eric, “Barb writes about food and blogs or something…and told us we should come to this.” With support like that, it is no wonder I haven’t gone viral. Haha
Laura and Eric W. had so much fun that they are ready to buy their tickets again for next year.Thank you Earl. Your support and willingness to carry my purse is the only way I can do what I do!
Lovely. And yes, I read the captions, so I had a good, mid-caption guffaw [meatball picture]!
Glad you had such a wonderful time!
BTW, YEARS ago [eons, actually), before WMAQ TV/NBC had it’s own building, it was on the top floors of the Mart. I worked there[at “Q”] from 1969 thru 1972. I wasn’t a foodie and never got invited to that part of the building, but several co-workers and I made forays into some of the fashion houses, where we shopped the samples.
I, too, read every caption. I don’t know how you ate all of those small plates without exploding. Everything looked amazing. (I cannot imagine only TWO garlic edamame on a plate). Your posts always encourage me to look up new and exciting vocabulary. I learned 2 new food words from your blog. Thanks for the yummy images, I am so glad you had such a great experience.
Barbsays:
I will not confirm or deny that we went back for more edamame. We did leave with food babies in our belly.
Lovely. And yes, I read the captions, so I had a good, mid-caption guffaw [meatball picture]!
Glad you had such a wonderful time!
BTW, YEARS ago [eons, actually), before WMAQ TV/NBC had it’s own building, it was on the top floors of the Mart. I worked there[at “Q”] from 1969 thru 1972. I wasn’t a foodie and never got invited to that part of the building, but several co-workers and I made forays into some of the fashion houses, where we shopped the samples.
It truly is a beautiful place. : )
I love Chicago!
I, too, read every caption. I don’t know how you ate all of those small plates without exploding. Everything looked amazing. (I cannot imagine only TWO garlic edamame on a plate). Your posts always encourage me to look up new and exciting vocabulary. I learned 2 new food words from your blog. Thanks for the yummy images, I am so glad you had such a great experience.
I will not confirm or deny that we went back for more edamame. We did leave with food babies in our belly.
Me too!!!!!!!!!!!