Chicago Gourmet Grand Cru to Celebrate Beard Awards

After pairing together local and international chefs at last year's event, 2014's Grand Cru at Chicago Gourmet will celebrate the James Beard Awards coming to the city in 2015. Featuring a lineup of elite chefs recognized by the James Beard Foundation (either as nominees or winners), this year's Grand Cru, taking place September 27 and 28, will feature dishes from such local culinary luminaries as Stephanie Izard, Tony Mantuano, Bruce Sherman and Ryan McCaskey.

In addition, the Grand Cru will pair up some prestigious out-of-town chefs with a local counterpart. Chicagoans will get a rare chance to sample cooking from Minneapolis, MN's Michelle Gayer (working with Mindy Segal); Boston, MA's Jamie Bissonnette (matched with Izard); Milwaukee, WI's Justin Aprahamian (joined by Mantuano); and Cleveland, OH's Jonathan Sawyer (partnered with Perry Hendrix).

Below is the full list of the sixteen participating chefs.

Saturday, September 27 Jimmy Bannos Jr. (The Purple Pig), Bruce Sherman (North Pond), Tony Mantuano and Chris Marchino (Spiaggia), Justin Aprahamian (Sanford), Stephanie Izard (Girl & the Goat), Andrew Zimmerman (Sepia) and Jamie Bissonnette (Coppa).

Sunday, September 28 Mindy Segal (Hot Chocolate), Michelle Gayer (Salty Tart), Ryan McCaskey (Acadia), Jonathan Sawyer (The Greenhouse Tavern), Perry Hendrix (Blackbird), Roland Liccioni (Les Nomades), Paul Virant (Perennial Virant, Vie) and Rohini Dey (Vermilion).

This year's Grand Cru will also boast the largest group of master sommeliers in its history, with guests getting the opportunity to interact with Alpana Singh (The Boarding House), Fred Dame (Southern Wine & Spirits of California), Larry Stone (Quintessa Vineyards) and more.

The 2014 Grand Cru located at the Harris Theatre Rooftop, is presented by Country Financial and is a separate ticketed event from Chicago Gourmet (now in its seventh year). Tickets, which are $199 plus tax per person, are on sale now. Space for the Grand Cru is limited to four hundred people each day.
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