Gateway Green's "Green Tie Ball" Lights up Chicago
By Anthony Todd in Food on Sep 19, 2011 6:00PM
In this case, we mean the headline literally - if you happened to notice that some of Chicago's iconic buildings were lit in green this weekend, it was to honor the Green Tie Ball, Gateway Green's annual charity blowout. The event turned an industrial area (home of metalwork factory A. Finkl and Sons) into the land of Oz for one intensely green night. Charity balls aren't really our scene (and our green tuxedo happened to be at the cleaners), but we found a few things to keep us amused.
Gateway Green's mission is the beautification of Chicago's parks and expressway. As is often the case, the eco-mission got a bit lost amid the sea of tossed-out plastic dishes and electricity-draining spotlights. But local restaurants turned out in droves, and Goose Island showed off a unique, locally-brewed concoction. Minx, a high-alcohol belgian IPA, isn't often to be found anywhere, and you should seek it out if you can.
For sports fans, the Auction items were spectacular - a football signed by Mike Ditka hid in a sea of signed basketball, football and hockey memorabilia donated by all of Chicago's greats. On the food side of things, our favorite dishes were contributed by Chicago's culinary schools. One in particular from Cordon Bleu, a dehydrated mix of fall vegetables and herbs christened "flavors of fall dehydrated," could've come straight from the kitchen at moto.
Though not many guests noticed, the last round of the Supreme Lobster competition was held at the Green Tie Ball, and we got a few shots of the dishes. The competition was won by Andrew Zimmerman, of Sepia, who received bragging rights and $1000 cash.
Take a look at the pictures for a quick transport to Oz on this dreary Monday.