Results tagged “winetasting”

Tomorrow night from 6:30-8:30pm enjoy a free wine tasting at one of our favorite wine and cheese shops, Pastoral. The theme will be "Wines From Emerging Regions" and we're told the wines will be from "traditional wine countries (France, Spain, etc.) but will be from lesser known and upcoming regions." Pastoral also has a lot of upcoming events with a nominal fee for the month of April including an introductory "Cheese 101" class, an exploration of Italian cheeses and wines, and a course dedicated to pairing cheese with champagne and sparkling wines..

Celebrate April Fool's at Just Grapes for their monthly "First Wednesday Wine Tasting." Up for April are the under-appreciated, overlooked wines that Just Grapes so generously has rounded up for your tasting pleasure. They promise all the wines will be affordable, which we either believe or won't care about after two hours of drinking. Just Grapes is located at 560 W. Washington Blvd. (312-627-9463) Reservations reccommended.

We support anything that mixes charity and booze and the Starlight Children's Foundation Cheers to the Children Wine Tasting is no exception. Starlight will be hosting a wine tasting next week to raise money to for some of their charity work for sick children, which includes building play areas, providing them with toys and books, and providing families with needed information and support. Besides a fine selection of wines to sample, there will be Hors d’oeuvres, plus a raffle to help raise money as well.

We're going to be doing a special Valentine's Day version of the Buffet next week. Until then, here are some events to tie you over.

Continue reading "The Friday Buffet"

Today we continue our series of letting you know about the New Year's Eve packages being offered by local restaurants so that you have enough information to make a decision and not wait until the last minute to grab a table. In case you missed yesterday's installment, we've linked to it here for your review. Vegetarians rejoice! Green Zebra will offer an all vegetarian, 5 course tasting menu priced at $75 per person, with an...

This week's listings kick off this evening at Merchandise Mart with "Chill: an International Wine & Culinary Event" sponsored by Luxehome and Wine Spectator. Proceeds from the event benefit the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. The event runs from 5 - 8 p.m. Chicago Professionals for Youth is committed to improving the lives of local underprivileged youth through literacy and mentoring programs, college preparation, job training and career skills assistance. Saturday they're hosting...

Before we go to the listings, we want to bid farewell to the Tribune's Kevin Pang, who's heading over to the Tempo section. But he leaves the food beat with a profile of Peter Engler, the city's foremost expert on mother-in-law sandwiches, street food and other south side cheap eats. Shaw's Crab House concludes this year's edition of their "Royster with the Oyster" festival with their annual tent party at their Hubbard Street location tonight....

Or, since this will be an Oktoberfest-intensive installment, "Das Freitagsbüfett." Most of these are around the general vicinity of Lincoln Park, Lake View, and Wrigleyville. Things kick off this evening with St. Alphonsus' Sixth Annual Oktoberfest Chicago. Admission is $5, or free if you RSVP at going.com/oktoberfestchicago. First St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church hosts their Oktoberfest Saturday from 5-10 p.m. Cost is $20 ($15 for seniors, $10 for children under 12). St. Michael in Old...

While the fish-taco revolution is swimming across the area, there are plenty of other events happening this week. Before we list them, however, we should let you know that the cockroaches are taking over our downtown restaurants. This week's victim of the ultimate survivor, Bice. Cockroaches were the least of their problems, however. A Health Department inspection also found no hot running water in a kitchen sink and fruit flies in the bar. If you...

Well, after a brief hiatus we are bringing back WJ. This weekend we going to try and enjoy the weather with a few outdoor events. Ending the weekend with some sex wine and chocolate. We are heading over to the 39th annual Sheffield Garden Walk this evening, for a suggested donation of $10 ($6 prior to 5 p.m.) you can take self-guided tour of the 100+ gardens located at Sheffield and Webster. Be sure to...

Well, you really couldn't ask for a better weekend to get your keister out there and enjoy the weather. There's also so much going on, you have no excuse. Here are a few samplings: - We know some of you are going to the World's Largest Block Party this weekend. It ain't our speed, but we know there are some of you who still like to party like it's 1994 with Rusted Root and Big...

A funny thing happened to Chicagoist during cooking classes at Macy’s Culinary Studio: We discovered we are sorely lacking in the patience department. Here we thought we were simply going to improve our culinary skills, and then we ended up with a little self-discovery lesson along the way. Blame it on the heat coming from the two stoves or the wine we sipped between chopping, either way, we learned fairly quickly that a watched pot...

Chicagoist has a love-hate relationship with wine. We love slurping the stuff – hey, we’ve even managed the swirl-and-sniff technique without spilling… well, most of the time anyways – but we hate that we feel so intimidated, overwhelmed and just plain stupid at wine shops (is it us or are wine clerks getting younger and younger?). Just Grapes understands our plight. According to Don Sritong, managing partner/director of wine education, the mission of this West...

Another Friday, another edition of "Your Friday Food Buffet." This week, we'll try to avoid outright mentioning St. Patrick's Day. We will talk about corn (dogs) and green (as in sustainability). So let's cut the crap and hook up right now. "Eighty? You Don't Look a Day Over 72.": Italian Village turns 80 this year, and the Sun-Times ran an article Monday trying to uncover the secrets behind the Loop mainstay's longevity. It also suggests...

Last week Chicagoist was invited to a wine tasting at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro. We were told that there would be appetizers, an opportunity to meet the one and only Alpana Singh and, of course, wine to taste. It sounded like a good time, so we bundled ourselves up and got on the bus. Having never visited Mrs. Murphy's we weren't sure what to expect. In addition to being unfamiliar with the location,...

"Your Friday Food Buffet" is a new feature where we combine business-related news concerning food and drink with tastings and fixed-price dinners happening around town this weekend. Pretty cut-and-dried, don'cha think? Anyway, we hope you like it. Starbucks finally drops act, admits inspiration for business model: After test-marketing in Chicago and other markets throughout the country, Starbucks rolled out their breakfast sandwiches and drive-thru service in Boston and select Los Angeles locations. No information...

It's October, which means Chicago’s arts community is once again collaborating with the City to promote its glorious self during Chicago Artists Month. Through Halloween, you may discover (or be reminded) how accessible and downright friendly that community is and, if they have their way, you'll spend the frigid months touring galleries instead of watching shameful TV. There's simply not enough time for us to visit every event in every corner of the city, but we'll try to make time for these:

You know Alpana Singh from the show "Check Please!" and from constantly being reminded that at the age of 26 she was the youngest woman to be inducted into the Court of Master Sommeliers. But did you know she also just wrote a book, "Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine, and Having Great Relationships"? We're told that the main focus of the book is wine, of course, but it's also "peppered with off-the-cuff...

Okay, in all honesty, this place used to look like a crack den…bars on the windows and doors, a very small sign that said very quietly “Wine Discount Center.” If you were driving between the Target on Elston and the Home Depot on North Avenue, and you dozed off for a sec, you would’ve missed it. But now, WINE DISCOUNT CENTER has a peppy red and white sign on every side of the building, the front door is painted a bright red (very feng shui, the chi is happy!), and inside are the nicest people ever. Okay, the bars are still up, but they do carry alcohol...duh.

On your mark, get set, go: starting Saturday, you’ve got exactly eight days to pretend it’s Spring with the 2005 Chicago Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier. Yeah, it may not be the Spring you’ve been waiting for, but now’s not the time to get all fussy with the particulars—and if you’re anything like us, you’re total whores for a sure thing.

For two days Modern Bride and Bride's magazines are taking over Michigan Avenue and hosting the Wedding March on the Magnificent Mile. This event features celebrity seminars, top Chicago wedding experts, a 'Bridal Bash' kick-off party, a bridal fashion show, bridal makeovers, chef demonstrations, wine tasting, cake and floral displays, private shopping, gift bags and more. Chef Charlie Trotter's class is tempting to Chicagoist, but we would rather gouge our eyes out with a spork than surround ourselves with all this bridal fanfare.