Another sold out crowd descended upon Millennium Park for Chicago Gourmet, as the event celebrated nine years over the weekend. The exclusive formula remained the same, as the city and Bon Appétit once more lured Chicago's top culinary talent for two days of gluttony with cooking demonstrations, along with wines and rare spirits at the Grand Cru. The question remains is what will Chicago Gourmet do for an encore next year when it celebrates its 10-year anniversary?
As organizers ponder that, this year's fest featured unique bites like the blue velvet coconut doughnut from Stan's Donuts & Coffee, which when through more then 5,000 of the sweets over two days. The Duck Inn's Kevin Hickey shared the stage with Duck Duck Goat's Stephanie Izard during the one demonstration, as Hickey unveiled what Tribune critic Phil Vettel called "the least-messy Chicago-style hot dog of all time."
Sunday's final demo put the trio of Tony Mantuano (Spiaggia), Jimmy Bannos Sr. (Heaven on Seven) and John Hogan (River Roast) together. Host Lin Brehmer played referee as the three playfully ribbed each other and boasted about their respective heritages.
Relive the weekend by checking out the scene from Millennium Park in the photos below.
