Friday Buffet

By L. Stolpman in Food on Aug 29, 2008 3:00PM

venice%20sandwich.jpg Lots of upcoming events in September. Get out those calendars and start making your reservations for some good food and drink.

September 3-4: TOP CHEF COMES TO CHICAGO! Top Chef's Tour will be at the Green City Market. Come see Dale Levitsky (Sept 3rd and 4th), Stephanie Izard (Sept 3rd), and CJ Jacobsen (September 4th). 1799 N. Clark. First come, first served.

September 3 - 7: The Zoppe, an Italian family circus will be setting up shop at Dvorak Park in the Pilsen Neighborhood of Chicago. On September 5, Clandestino will be offering 3 different homemade sausages and serving award-winning Memphis Style BBQ, smoked on site. You can sit down under the big top for the show at 7:30 then stay for some bbq backstage after the performance. You are welcome to BYOB. Cost includes circus performance and bbq. Tickets and more information here.

September 7: Football season is here. Saturday through Monday, you can head to Cityscape bar for $6 beer flights and 1/2 price appetizers. Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, 15th Floor 350 W. Mart Center Drive

September 9: Each Tuesday in September (beginning with the 9th), La Madia will do a wine tasting that will focus on a different varietal each week. Chef/Owner Jonathan Fox is a certified Sommelier and will lead each week's tasting as well as prepare passed hors d'oeuvres that pair nicely with each week's wine selection. The first week's tasting will feature Chardonnay (complete menu is below). Upcoming tastings include Pinot Noir, Chianti and Roses. 59 W. Grand Ave. $25.

September 11: Big Night, a tasting to benefit Chicago Animal Care & Control. Big Night guests will enjoy tastings from over a dozen of Chicago’s most celebrated restaurant chefs. While guests kick back with delicious food, great wine, or one of FCACC’s infamous “Muttinis,” they’ll be taking in live music performed by Delmark recording artist Dave Specter and the Bluebirds and looking over the Silent Auction under the newly restored Tiffany Dome of Preston Bradley Hall. Among the items to bid on are dinner at some of Chicago’s most noteworthy restaurants, exquisite jewelry from Sidney Garber, and a unique, private tour of Soldier Field. Tickets here. Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, $80.

September 15 - 19: AI Japanese restaurant will celebrate its first anniversary with lunch, drink, and dinner specials. Lunches $13.50 and under at $8, Sangria for $3 and four course dinners for $35. With sake pairings, $50. 358 W. Ontario.

September 15 - 21: Carnivale's final Farm to Table event this year. Chef Mark Mendez will showcase seasonal ingredients from his favorite local farms. 702 West Fulton Market. 3 courses, $40.

September 17: Mmm, Gin Social! Join Brasserie JO and G’Vine Gin for an evening of Gin cocktails paired with Brasserie JO’s classic French cuisine (appetizers). 6 p.m. 59 W. Hubbard. $30.

September 20-21: For two days, the Eli's Cheesecake Campus on Chicago's northwest side is turned into a cheesecake fantasy land: Cheesecake eating contests, cheesecake bingo, free cheesecake samples, etc. Donate a non-perishable food item to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and get a free pre-packaged slice of Eli's Cheesecake. 6701 W. Forest Preserve Drive, Chicago, 773-736-3417. Free event and free parking.