Get Stuffed at the 9th Annual Chicago Gourmet

Tents will rise in Millennium Park this week to be filled with plenty of hungry and thirsty patrons for two days of learning (but mostly eating the food and sipping the libations) with a stellar lineup of local and national culinary talents. The Illinois Restaurant Association and Bon Appétit lead Chicago Gourmet into its ninth year, this time under the motif “Food Is Art!” and the stewardship of our very own Rick Bayless.

The festival has relied on a loyal conglomerate of chefs from the beginning, but Bayless is the festival’s first bona fide Chef Host. The honor could occur in no better year: next month, Bayless will become the second recipient of the Julia Child Award, to be presented in Washington D.C., at The Smithsonian’s Institute’s Food History Gala.

One of his signature events – another first for the weekend festival – features, of course, the humble taco. A spinoff of the festival’s successful Hamburger Hop (fifteen chefs will compete for the Best Burger title on Friday night), The Tao of Tacos follows the same thread of friendly competition on the Harris Theater Rooftop Saturday.

“[Rick’s] enthusiasm and knowledge opened the floodgates when it came to the ideation of panels, cooking demonstrations and especially his Saturday night event,” said Sam Toia, President and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA). “It was important to him to unite a group of friends that could truly represent global flavors in taco form.”

These ancillary events keep chefs intrigued and engaged, says the IRA, and provide a forum to support a related culinary cause. Saturday night’s event benefits Bayless’s Frontera Farm Foundation, for instance, and the Rise ’n’ Shine yoga breakfasts (all four sessions are already sold out) benefit the educational efforts of Pilot Light.

More than 250 chefs and bartenders will showcase their talents during a dozen demos each day, in eight seminars, or behind the table at one of 12 packed pavilions. I’ll host two demos on the main stage on Saturday: Jose Garces of Rural Society and Mercat a la Planxa and Richard Sandoval of Latinicity take on octopus at 2:45 p.m.; then Carlos Gaytan of Mexique and Darren Walsh from Lula Bistro in Guadalajara make mole at 4:45 p.m. Please stop by and say hello.

This year the weekend’s esteemed Grand Cru events are constructed along artistic lines with the help of Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Culinary Complete Works, where chefs create dishes inspired by a selected play. Sunday tickets, along with evening party tickets, are still available; Saturday and weekend passes are entirely sold out.

Sunday includes plenty of quality programming, including discussions on dive bars with folks from Maria’s Packaged Goods, Pub Royale, and Billy Sunday, plus restaurant design tactics with three James Beard award winners for Outstanding Restaurant Design. Demos focus on poke, barbeque, grilled cheese, noodles, and meatballs.

“We know that consumer palates have become more curious, more adventurous,” explains Toia. The variety of chefs presenting inside the pavilions, including international visitors, run the gamut and back again.

Chicago Gourmet
Millennium Park
201 E. Randolph St.
Tickets: $50-$205