Chicagoist hasn't been the only one covering the event. Here are some other reviews of Chicago Gourmet. I don't know what festival Phil Vettel attended, but it sounded really fucking good. Mr. "One fork per plate" found no "shortage of richness"; at one point, Stolpman and I had to go to America's Dog to grab a bite. Apparently, Vettel didn't bother to share that same spoil of riches with fellow Stew correspondent Chris Borrelli.......

Film For $10 dollars, you can see The Atom Smashers tonight and get a peek into Fermilab scientists’ journey to the ultimate understanding of the atom. No lie, this story is full of twists and turns: international competition, diminished support for experimentation, crazy underground facilities. The movie screening takes place at the Museum of Science and Industry at 7 p.m., followed by a panel discussion with scientists from the film. Music If you’re feeling kinda......

The long-anticipated and much-discussed Chicago Gourmet festival at Millennium Park is just over a week away. It's no secret that entrance to the event itself will cost some their entire month's rent, and then some. In that vein, Chicagoist has a special online offer for folks interested in attending and buying tickets online at the Chicago Gourmet website. Enter the promotional code "CG2008TEN" and receive a 10 percent discount on tickets.......

It doesn't bear repeating, but we're doing it, anyway. Here at Chicagoist we're big fans of the Art of the Cocktail. If you aren't getting your fix from the "Properly Sauced" series, you can taste for yourself impeccably crafted cocktails while watching silk screen exhibitions and enjoying artwork. Starting Thursday night and running through October 9, Campari and Swindle Magazine are teaming up to host "The Art of the Cocktail" exhibitions throughout the city. The......

The Grainger Ballroom at Symphony Center will be the site for taste TV's inaugural Chicago Luxury Chocolate Salon Sunday from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Over two dozen chocolatiers, confectioners and chocolate-related companies will be showcasing their products, offering tastings and chefs demonstrations, and panel discussions with confectioners and authors. The salon will also feature a judged competition. Tickets are $17.50 in advance; $20 at the door. The advance tix can be purchased here.......

Despite being one of the city’s most notorious warm-weather tourist hubs, Millennium Park just keeps bangin’ out some rather impressive locally oriented programming. This week is no exception, as the Park celebrates Blockbuster Week, a celebration of some of Chicago’s “most beloved cultural gems.” Two highlights, both of which come at no charge to you: Tonight, Sept. 3, 6:30 pm - String connoisseur and whistling pro Andrew Bird takes the stage at the Jay Pritzker......

WineStyles Chicago (1433 W. Belmont) is hosting a tasting this evening from 6-8 p.m. to benefit the Alzheimer's Association. Cost is $25, $20 of which is tax deductible. There is limited availablility, call 847-933-2413 for more information. Lush Wine and Spirits University Village location (1257 S. Halsted) is opening their outdoor patio for customers and their dogs this evening from 6-9 p.m. Godmother of the Slow Food Movement Alice Waters will be at Green......

Today is National HIV Testing Day, "an annual campaign produced by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA-US) to encourage at-risk individuals to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing." Testing centers around the country will be providing HIV tests, health fairs, and outreach to anyone wishing to participate. It comes on the heels of unsettling news from the CDC: between 2001 and 2006, HIV/AIDS cases in gay men climbed 8.6 percent. According to other......

There have been a lot of things said on this site about Taste of Chicago over the years. There are over 750,000 people who head downtown every year to sun, frolic and get their fill of giant turkey legs and corn on sticks. 'Course, that isn't all Taste of Chicago has to offer; even with Chicago Gourmet set to launch in September, Taste is still the food event for the everyman. For those of you......

We've got a Taste of Chicago preview for you later. In the meantime, here are some things around town to check out in the coming days. The Red Witch Pirate will set sail this evening for a 2-hour cruise and dinner with food catered by Bonsoiree. Cost is $45 and interested parties may RSVP here. The churrasco-meets-slow-food restaurant ZED451 (739 N. Clark St.), which has become one of the hottest destination restaurants in town largely......

Discounted passes for September's Chicago Gourmet event at Millennium Park will end Monday. If you want to save $20 off the $150 ticket price, act fast.......

Until Bottom Lounge (re-)opened, in order to find a good tiki lounge one had to travel to the suburbs. Within the city limits Trader Vic's closed last year, paving the way for the overpriced and subpar Lockwood restaurant. Trader Vic's was the lone standout for years after Ciral's House of Tiki in Hyde Park put up the shutters in 2000. Bottom Lounge's "Volcano Room" is possibly the club's star attraction. A 5,000 square-foot tiki-themed lounge......

Gourmet and Cookie Magazines are teaming up for Kids' Restaurant Week. Things kick off Saturday morning at Green City Market with cooking demonstrations from George Bumbaris of Prairie Grass Café, Rick Bayless and the Spatulatta girls, Olivia and Isabella Gerasole. Throughout the week, families may dine at participating restaurants from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Children ages 11 and under pay their age for dinner; all others pay $20.08.......

This is wheat ale weather, people. This evening from 6-9 p.m. at West Lakeview Liquors, Kalamazoo Brewing Company (popularly known as Bell's) will be tasting out the amber, wheat and hop solution brands. The Lincoln Park Young Professionals will do their best to tie status symbols together this evening with their summer wine festival at Howard Orloff Imports (1924 N. Paulina). Cost for the $35 per person event will grant you access to samples......

Graham Elliot Bowles' eponymous restaurant (217 W. Huron) had a soft BYOB opening over the weekend. Mike Nagrant attended. So did we (bypassing a planned trip to Lincoln Square Mayfest) and HOLY SHITE we can't return fast enough. If what we ate was an indication of what Bowles has in store, this will easily become the most sought after reservation since Art Smith opened Table Fifty-Two last year, except without Oprah's army having been......

Maybe we're nerds [Ed note: Maybe?], but we've always loved catching ESPN's coverage of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, not to mention we're huge fans of the outstanding documentary Spellbound. And we're not the only ones: for the third year in a row, the Championship Round is going prime-time on national television. The preliminary rounds have wrapped up and the quarterfinals are this afternoon from 1 - 4:30 p.m.(broadcast on ESPN360.com), while the semis will......

Before last week it had been a while since we caught up with local underground chef Efrain Cuevas, so we RSVP'd to his latest dinner, which was to be held on the rooftop of a grocery store on the north side. The location turned out to be fortuitous as Cuevas was able to buy most of the spices, herbs and vegetables for the dinner at the store. The threat of inclement weather forced Chefrain, his......

Tomorrow marks the start of the National Restaurant Association's annual trade show at McCormick Place. Happening simultaneously at the show is the inaugural International Wine Spirits and Beer Event. Senator John McCain is scheduled to address the show Monday. That should be an exciting speech . We'll be filing reports next week from the show, which runs through Tuesday. $75 must be the standard rate for culinary classes at the Alliance Francaise, because that's......

Kids are always stirring up trouble in the kitchen, but this weekend they can make a mess of the pots and pans at someone else’s place. Whole Foods, which will be hosting cooking classes for kids and adults all summer at the Farm House in Lincoln Park Zoo, is holding a special children’s program on Saturday that features berries as the main ingredient. The instructor is Chef Melissa Graham of Purple Asparagus, a local non-profit......

Those of you heading to Millennium Park this evening to see Don Giovanni might want to head to the Artisan Cellar at Merchandise Mart from 4-6 p.m. this afternoon for a free tasting of Andre Clouet Champagne, which the Artisan Cellar touts as their most popular sparkling selection in recent memory. a member of the Clouet family will be on hand to discuss the champagne. Saturday at Provenance Food and Wine's Logan Square location,......

The photography of international wine consultant Anna Pakula is currently on display at the Merchandise Mart as part of “The Artist Project.” Her work reflects the true essence of the art of winemaking and the finished wine by not only through capturing the faces, labor and passion of those who tend the vines, harvest the grapes and work the cellar, but also depicting the forces of nature at play in determining the direction of......

In an effort to battle big box retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy, a group of record store alliances have come together to sponsor smaller, independent retailers with an event creatively called "Record Store Day," happening Saturday, April 19. The Alliance Of Independent Media Stores, Coalition Of Independent Music Stores, Music Monitor Network, Newbury Comics, and Value Music Group Of Indie Stores have banded together to push shopping at 300 smaller record shops across......

It’s days like today -- when the forecast temperature of 66 degrees is twelve degrees higher than today’s normal -- that get us thinking about summer. And what do we love most about summer in the city? Street festivals! Mark your calendar know for the city’s biggest and best festivals. Chicago Gospel Music Fest, May 30-June 1 Chicago Blues Fest, June 5-8 Taste of Chicago, June 27-July 6 Chicago Outdoor Film Fest, July 15-August......

If there are any of you downtown worker bees in the vicinity of Emerald Loop tomorrow before 9 a.m. might want to drop in and enjoy a complimentary breakfast. Because the saying around here is, "If it's free, it's for me." The trade-off is that you'll also be sharing space with the WGN Morning News crew. But if you've long harbored breaking bread with Larry, Robin and the gang, tomorrow's your chance.......

Chicago's Air and Water Show is one of the longest running spectator events in the country. This summer the event will return for its 50th year and to celebrate the city is adding an extra day of festivities. At 3pm on Friday, August 15th the Air Show will officially kick off with performances from the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Army Golden Knights. After the performances there will be a free concert at......

Pete Sampras and Roger Federer are facing off in an exhibition match tonight, and while it's a little late to make it to Madison Square Garden, you probably have time to get to the Landmark Theater at 2828 N Clark, where you can watch the match on a movie screen. For...$20. Which seems like a lot. But it could be cool! We're actually surprised there aren't more sporting events broadcast to movie theaters. The showdown......

We've always wanted to have a Russian Writers Party, wherein everyone has a typewriter, a shot glass, and a bottle of vodka. We still think it's a good idea, but have decided it's best left unrealized. Unlike our ill-conceived notion of mixing books and booze, the folks at Reading Under the Influence (RUI) got it right. Hosted every first Wednesday of the month, a group of writers and drinkers get together to read short pieces......

While a Chicagoland Legoland is years away, The Graham Foundation’s latest exhibit is architectural fun with Lego models. “Models” doesn't quite describe them. No, they’re “7 New Architectural Species from the Danish Welfare State,” the brainchildren of Copenhagen’s Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). BIG’s big idea is to find new practical utopias by “investing in the overlap between radical and reality,” to create a “new breed in urban life forms.” We assume they're speaking metaphorically. Either......

Random things that we like: those who do what they love, and groups that help to foster that experience. That’s why we are kinda interested when we hear about organizations like the Chicago Cello Society which, since its inception in 1980, has strived to unite Chicago amateur and professional cellists to promote the art of playing the instrument as well as its standing in the musical world. David Sanders –- currently a cellist in......

It should be a lighter than normal traffic day tomorrow, President’s Day. No mail delivery. Most banks, federal offices, city offices and state offices will be closed. School will be out. Courts will not be in session, and you won’t be able to pick up something to read at the library. The third Monday of February is the day we recognize the men (and hopefully one day, women) who have served our country as president.......