Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Chicago's Avant Garde Cuisine

If you are planning to be in Chicago in April to attend IACP's annual Conference, then you might be interested in knowing that the city is home to some of the finest restaurants in the country. In fact, culinarily speaking, Chicago has been named the "Barcelona of North America".

We are fortunate because we will be able to meet a few of the chefs of these restaurants during our Annual Conference. Chef Charlie Trotter will give a cooking demonstration on sous vide and other modern techniques. His restaurant ranks 26 among the top 50 in the World. Make sure to make a reservation 8 to 10 weeks in advance if you plan on having dinner there.

Homaru Cantu and Ben Roche of Moto Restaurant in Chicago will give us a demonstration on their latest inventions on Thursday April 12 in the workshop named "A Savory and Sweet Look into Postmodern Cuisine". Make sure not to miss this unique opportunity to see chef Cantu in action.

Tru will be represented by Chef Gale Gand, who we will meet us on the Chocolate and Vanilla tour on Tuesday which includes lunch at the restaurant; she will also join us during the Kids in the Kitchen workshop on Wednesday afternoon.

Finally, there is Alinea, named the Best Restaurant in the USA in 2006 by Gourmet Magazine. The Chef is Grant Achatz, who worked with Thomas Keller at the French Laundry and did a brief "stage" with Ferrán Adriá at El Bulli. Called the new wunderkid, Chef Achatz marveled the audience at Madrid Fusion last week. Chef Achatz is not scheduled on our program but we are sure many of you will be interested in his cuisine and visit his restaurant.

If you are curious about what the food at Alinea looks like, here is a set of photos taken recently by a diner.

Enjoy!

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