On Thursday morning, Mayor Richard Daley and the Illinois Restaurant Association hosted a press conference at the Chicago Cultural Center to reveal the details of the second Chicago Gourmet event. Slated to return to Millennium Park September 26, the two-day happening will offer food and wine tastings, educational seminars, and celebrity-chef appearances from the likes of Top Chef's Stephanie Izard.
According to Sheila O'Grady, president of the restaurant association, this year's event will differ from its 2008 iteration in a few major ways: there will be twice as many food-tasting stations, wine tastings from 300 wineries—only 200 were represented last year—and two cooking-demo stages instead of one. This year's ticket prices, which run $120 to $150, will include admission to food seminars. Another new component, the Dine Around program, offers free admission to anyone who orders a special prix-fixe menu at five local restaurants between August 24 and September 27. (A complete list of participating eateries will be available here soon.)
O'Grady said last year's event drew some 6,500 guests, and she expects to see similar or larger crowds this year.
