In Pictures: Green City Market Chefs BBQ
By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jul 16, 2010 4:00PM
The crowd on the Green City Market grounds, early in the evening.
Rick Bayless serving up food for the guests.
Marisol, a collaborative beer Bayless brewed with Goose Island\'s Jared Rouben, is a lager infused with tropical fruit elements, including ugly fruit, that was a good weapon to fight the heat.
A slider from Chris Curran of Blue 13, with peach slices as a garnish.
Sausage and corn relish from John Manion of Branch 27. Manion ground fresh habaneros and habanero-infused vinegar into the sausage, which gave it a good spicy kick. Branch 27 also served micheladas.
Meatball slider with fresh vegetable escabeche from Mark Mendez of Carnivale.
From City Provisions, a corn fritter
Mercadito\'s Daniel De Olivera (left) and Wirtz Beverage\'s Peter Vestinos whip up cocktails.
Death\'s Door Spirits\' John Kinder, all out of cocktail mixers, makes a gin and ginger beer highball.
The team from Franks \'N Dawgs working.
From Dirk Flanigan of The Gage, sausage with fresh vegetables and edible flowers.
Gazpacho with fresh basil.
Boudin blanc with summer squash and eggplant from Goose Island Clybourn.
Rick Gresh from David Burke\'s Primehouse (second from right) poses for a photo with guests.
From Inovasi, Dietzler Farms Beef with chiles and creme fraiche.
Sloppy joe filling from Lockwood.
Bahn Mi (chicken liver mousse and country pate with pickled summer vegetables, spicy mayo and cilantro
Beer can chicken from NoMI.
House-made hot dog with house-made sauerkraut from Old Town Social.
Peach sorbet from Hot Chocolate.
Mindy Segal discusses her ideas for ice cream bars.
Apricot and prosciutto flat bread from Spiaggia.
LTHForum regular Ron \"Ronnie Suburban\" Kaplan discusses some of his favorites.
Unlike last year, when a fast but furious downpour hit just as the gates opened, the weather cooperated at last night's Green City Market Chefs BBQ. With the talents of most of the city's best chefs and cocktail alchemists on display, some folks have called the annual event "the real Taste of Chicago." It's certainly a Bizzaro version of Taste. While there weren't any turkey legs bigger than a baby's arm or random acts of violence, there was beer can chicken (courtesy of the folks at NoMI) and an estimated 2,000 people paying $100 a ticket for the chance to get their grub on during a hot and muggy Chicago evening.
The sheer volume of restaurants participating make it really hard for guests to hit every one of them. It's usually best here to plot out a plan of attack, share favorites with other guests and simply enjoy walking around the grounds. Rick Bayless (natch) had the longest line, but other chefs swamped by folks with hands out included Andrew Zimmerman of Sepia, Sprout's Dale Levitski and the Lula Café/Nightwood table. Even burrito chain Chipotle, which sources the meats and produce for their locations from local farms, has a good line.
The best part of the event, for me, was the all in commitment to the localvore aesthetic in the form of showcasing local wines. Lynfred Winery, August Hill Winery and Prairie State Winery — three of the best Illinois wineries — all had tables set up with attendees curious to discover if their products. Lynfred's marketing director Christina Anderson-Heller was going through cases of rosé and peach wine faster than they could be chilled.
