Causing A Stir

By Erin in Food on Aug 17, 2005 11:42AM

Admittedly, Chicagoist tends to be on the jaded side when it comes to ...

Well, everything.

But one thing we're incredibly excited about and encouraged by is the city's five-month long series, "Stirring Things Up in Chicago."

The series has everything culinary related you can imagine, from cooking classes to the Marc Smith poem written especially for program co-sponsor, Lou Malnati's, honoring the city's deep-dish pizza. "Stirring Things Up" is a " ... feast for the senses as we pair our distinctive restaurants, world-renowned cuisine, remarkable chefs, culinary schools, food producers, retailers and more, with the city's culinary, visual, literary and performing arts."

Last night had a group of teenage chefs getting in on the action with a Teen Charcoal Challenge, with area high school students making appetizers such as grilled calamari salad with a sweet chili vinegar.

While the summer is coming to a conclusion, the program lasts until October and it's not too late to take advantage of incredibly cool events such as "Choosing and Making Chinese Tea" at the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago or even intimate gatherings that Chicagoist finds the coolest of all: Shop With the Chef, your chance to go with Noah Bekofsky, Executive Chef of Aria, on his weekly shopping excursion to Chicago's Green City Market. For $100, you'll spend from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 31 meeting local chefs, producers and farmers, touring with Chef Bekofsky and end that day with lunch at Aria.

For more information on the program, visit the city's tourism Web site at www.877chicago.com.