Latest news with #HamburgerHop
Eater
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
A Revved Up Chicago Gourmet Returns in 2025 With a NASCAR Dinner
As Chicago's street festivals struggle, Chicago Gourmet is swinging for the fences in 2025 and leaning into the city's passion for sports. Organizers have announced a battery of events, including a dinner on the NASCAR Chicago Street Course with food from the chefs behind Bar Siena, Daisies, and Piccolo Sogno. Chicago Gourmet takes place annually each summer, with many of the city's best chefs and the country's most popular wine producers gathering at the Grand Cru in Millennium Park. Over the years, the event series has transformed. COVID forced it to reduce its footprint at the park while focusing more on ancillary events such as the Hamburger Hop, which crowns the city's best burger. Those tickets will go on sale in July. This year, the fest's theme, Step Up to the Plate, puts sports front and center, attempting to inject some excitement for fans. Lord knows, even with Pete-Crow Armstrong, that Chicago sports teams haven't been inspiring lately. While the Grand Cru will still take place on Saturday, September 27, at the Harris Bank Rooftop near Millennium Park, there are new events such as the aforementioned NASCAR dinner, which will take place on Wednesday, July 2, ahead of the third annual Chicago Street Race on Sunday, July 5. Diners will eat a five-course meal at the start/finish line in what organizers bill as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But what if it's a success? We'll see how 2025 goes. Tickets, $250, are already for sale online. The chef lineup consists of Fabio Viviani (Siena Tavern, Bar Siena, Bombobar), Joe Frillman and Leigh Omilinsky (Daisies), Tony Priolo (Piccolo Sogno), and Steve Maak (Levy Restaurants). Then, on Friday, July 25, a lineup of chefs will be at the ballpark for Game Day Gourmet at the Crosstown Classic in concert with the Cubs' and White Sox's interleague games in July at Rate Field on the South Side. It's a hot dog competition to see whose upscale spin on a wiener will reign supreme. Chefs will be tasked with zhuzhing special Duck Dogs, a duck fat-infused frank made famous by the Duck Inn. Participating chefs include Duck Inn's own Kevin Hickey, Frontier and Ina Mae's Package Goods' Brian Jupiter, and Mirra's Rishi Kumar and Zubair Mohajir. Win or lose, rain or shine, folks who shell out the $250 per ticket will get to sample the specialty sausages from a suite overlooking the game. Tickets are available for purchase online. Finally, Jackie Robinson may not have strong ties to Chicago, but Major League Baseball's first Black player is celebrated around the country. His No. 42 is retired by all teams, and all players wear the number during MLB's annual Jackie Robinson Day. James Beard Award-winning chefs Erick Williams and Damarr Brown of Virtue will host a tribute dinner to Robinson on Wednesday, August 20. A cocktail reception will precede a three-course dinner. Marqueal Jordan & The Wachezaji will provide the music. Tickets cost $225 per person and are available online. Proceeds benefit Virtue Leadership Development and the IRA Educational Foundation. Sign up for our newsletter.
Chicago Tribune
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Gourmet announces 2025 dates, new sports theme with a crosstown twist and all-star roster of chefs
Chicago Gourmet, the upscale food festival that celebrates the city as a 'culinary capital,' will return to Millennium Park from Sept. 25 to 28 with a new, sporty twist. This year's theme, 'Step up to the Plate,' is a marriage of food and sports, showcasing 'all-star chefs, big-time bites and championship-level sips,' said Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association. 'Like pro sports, great food requires skill, strategy and passion,' Toia said. 'No doubt Chicago is a top sports town, but our restaurant teams are the real MVPs of the city.' Like in previous years, host chefs will collaborate with local businesses, restaurants and drink vendors over four days. Organizers said they will soon announce additional pre-game events. In the 18th iteration of the event since it began in 2008, the festival typically generates buzz around Hamburger Hop, a fan-favorite burger competition in which chefs compete to win the celebrity-judged award and the audience-judged People's Choice. This year's 'cross-town classic' Hamburger Hop will be co-hosted by Joe Flamm, chef and owner of il Carciofo and Rose Mary, who will represent the South Side, and Sarah Grueneberg, chef and co-owner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, representing the North Side. 'This event has always been a Chicago Gourmet highlight and I'll be decked out in my beloved Cubbies jersey,' Grueneberg said. Flamm said he's excited about the added element of a crosstown rivalry to an already thrilling event. 'I love that Hamburger Hop is a chance for chefs from all around the city to show off their grilling skills while getting creative and having fun,' Flamm said. 'I've been a part of Chicago Gourmet for as long as I can remember, so being back to host an event like this again is a full-circle moment for me.' Hamburger Hop, hosted on the Harris Theater rooftop, will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 26. Over 100 chefs and restaurateurs are slated to participate, including Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill, Topolobampo), Marcos Carbajal (Carnitas Uruapan), Diana Dávila (Mi Tocaya Antojería), Jenner Tomaska (The Alston, Esmé), Norman Fenton (Cariňo), Israel Idonije (Signature, The Staley) and Jeff Mauro (Mauro Provisions). Other host chefs and ticket prices will be announced later, but many of the main events from previous years are scheduled to return. The crowd favorite Tacos & Tequilas will be hosted by Bayless and Carbajal on Sept. 25. Rise and Shine Gourmet, hosted by Art Smith, Lorena Garcia and Jernard Wells, will serve up sweet and savory brunch bites from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28. Late Night Gourmet Asian Street Market — a new after-party addition hosted by chef Thai Dang of HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen — will be from 9 p.m. to midnight Sept. 26. Grand Cru on Sept. 27 takes inspiration from 'the greatest of all times,' such as Michael Jordan and Jordan Biles, and will be hosted by Stephanie Izard, executive chef and partner of four Chicago restaurants: Girl & the Goat, Little Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Cabra. 'I always say Chicago is the culinary capital of the world and Chicago Gourmet just highlights that each year,' Toia said. 'It's where talent, creativity and our city's enduring competitive spirit gets to shine.' Programming at Chicago Gourmet will benefit the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which works with high school students to build the hospitality workforce through career exploration. Ticket prices have not yet been announced but will be available starting in July at
