Mouth-watering Scenes from the 2011 Great Chefs Tasting Party

By Roger Kamholz in Food on Mar 18, 2011 7:00PM

Chef Jason Hammel (right), of Lula Cafe and Nightwood, whipped up sweet potato and black truffle panade for the UCP of Greater Chicago\'s 2011 Great Chefs Tasting Party.

Hammel\'s panade, plated and topped with greens.

A view of the Sheraton\'s cavernous ballroom, site of the UCP of Greater Chicago\'s 2011 Great Chefs Tasting Party.

Chef Dale Levitski of Sprout dusted his dishes with the restaurant\'s housemade granola.

Levitski\'s dish, fully composed: \"smoked duck salad, mandarin-quat-greens-pistachio-bitters.\"

Super-fresh crab cocktails from Hugo\'s Frog Bar & Fish House.

A luscious, smoky goat empanada from event \"headliner\" and Girl & the Goat chef, Stephanie Izard.

Chefs from the Purple Pig plating their pigs\' tails braised in balsamic, which disappeared so fast, we didn\'t get to try it.

Chef Jimmy Bannos Sr. chats with a colleague. Both Heaven on Seven and the Purple Pig participated in the Great Chefs Tasting Party.

Big Star brought along moist and smoky tacos de chivo.

Not to be outdone by other taco slingers, Mercadito served tacos de estilo Baja, which featured beer-battered mahi mahi, Mexican-style cole slaw and chipotle aioli.

A big crowd gathered around Ben Pao\'s table to sample its modern take on Chinese cuisine.

Chef Nick Lacasse of the Drawing Room showed off his delicate hand with fluke crudo. Black radish mignonette, opal basil, sesame tempura crumbs and watercress oil finished the dish.

Mike Ditka\'s Restaurant channeled the Coach himself to decorate its table.

Chef Michael Fiorello of Mercat a la Planxa served butternut squash dumplings with lamb ragout and beech mushroom escabeche - dazzlingly complex for a single bite.

Sable Kitchen & Bar, helmed by Chef Heather Terhune (left), offered up smoked black cod with bright housemade pickles.

A chef from Highwood, Illinois, restaurant Sage Grille added a final flourish of frisee to Duroc pork belly with bacon-tomato jam.

Attendees browsed the fund-raiser\'s silent auction lots, which included signed jerseys from Chicago pro athletes, gift certificates to participating restaurants, and experiences like cooking classes and weekend stays at the Sheraton.

Beautiful chocolate cakes were among the evening\'s dessert choices.

More artfully crafted desserts, these courtesy of Coco Pazzo.

United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Chicago hosted its 19th annual Great Chefs Tasting Party at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers on Wednesday, luring scores of hungry guests thanks to an all-star lineup of Chicago-area chefs. UCP of Greater Chicago is a 60-year-old nonprofit whose mission is to help advocate for and enrich the lives of people with disabilities. Attendees not only grazed on some incredible food from more than 40 talented chefs, they also showed their support for the cause to the tune of approximately $160,000 in donations.

The Sheraton's ballroom was abuzz with activity Wednesday evening as guests bounced between chef's stations, eating their way through the delicious offerings. They also browsed goodies that had been donated for the event's silent auction, including signed jerseys and other memorabilia from Chicago pro athletes, exclusive private cooking classes at Chicago restaurants, and a weekend at the Sheraton complete with dinner at the hotel.

But back to the food. Event headliner Stephanie Izard of Girl & the Goat and Sprout's Dale Levitski kicked off the evening with cooking demos during a VIP guest reception, and both followed up with delicious treats once the tastings began. Izard and her team served crispy, smoky goat empanadas, while Levitski plated a superb smoked duck salad. And they weren't the only chefs to bring their A games Wednesday evening. For one, it was a taco-lover's heaven: the folks from Big Star were pressing fresh tortillas for their juicy tacos de chivo, while across the room the team from Mercadito Chicago plated light and crunchy beer-battered-fish tacos with Mexican slaw and chipotle aioli. Chef Heather Terhune of Sable Kitchen & Bar crafted elegant, well-balanced spoonfuls of smoked black cod topped with housemade pickles while, just a few feet away, Chef Frank Brunacci from Sixteen sliced up comforting quarters of toasted lobster roll. We'd go on gushing but, in truth, there were simply too many great dishes to mention.

As a whole, the event was not only a vivid reminder of how creative, skilled, friendly and profoundly charitable our city's chefs are, it also demonstrated what amazing variety and diversity exist across Chicago's dining landscape.