Restaurant show looking for a sizzling 'Hot Chef'
Show off your culinary skills in a two-minute video and you could win your way to the demo stage at the National Restaurant Association's annual show in Chicago next month.
Professional chefs and home cooks alike can upload entries to YouTube. The video must show the cook preparing a recipe that uses one food ingredient and one alcohol item as identified in the NRA's "What's Hot & What's Not" survey, www.restaurant.org/pdfs/research/200711chefsurvey.pdf.
The winner of the Hot Chef contest, as selected by fellow YouTube users and the National Restaurant Association, will showcase his or her culinary creations among a lineup of leading chefs and tens of thousands of attendees at the restaurant industry event May 17-20 at McCormick Place.
Contest details at www.youtube.com/group/nrashowhotchef.
Here's the scoop: There's nothing like the promise of cheap ice cream to bring out the best in people.
Head to your local Baskin Robbins from 5 to 10 p.m. today and you can devour a scoop of any flavor ice cream for just 31 cents and benefit a good cause. Baskin Robbins is donating all proceeds to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
If ice cream isn't enough to get the kids out of the house, tell them local fire departments will be at some Baskin Robbins stores with fire trucks for them to explore.
Celebrating chocolate: Chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolate-drizzled pretzels, chocolate martinis and more will be available this weekend at the ninth annual Long Grove Chocolate Fest.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday to Sunday the historic town will be awash in all things chocolate. Enjoy demonstrations by chocolatiers and pastry chefs, live entertainment throughout the village, pony rides and children's activities.
Free parking is available in downtown lots; there will be extra parking and a free shuttle at Geimer's Greenhouses (Old Route 53 north of Lake-Cook Road) on Saturday and Sunday. Long Grove is located at the intersection of Robert Parker Coffin and Old McHenry roads, one-quarter mile northwest of routes 83 and 53, just north of Lake-Cook Road. Call (847) 634-0888 or log on to www.longgroveonline.com
Cellar raid: Some of Chicago's most renowned chefs and respected sommeliers will help mark the sixth annual Gourmet Wine Cellar, an interactive event benefiting the American Institute of Wine and Food.
The evening includes a variety of wine and food tastings, cooking demonstrations by Gourmet executive chef Sara Moulton, wine seminars and the naming of Bin 36 wine guru Brian Duncan as Wine Director of the Year for Chicago. Duncan is being cited for his efforts to make wine approachable and enjoyable as well as his stellar dedication to the Chicago market.
The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. May 15 at the Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive. Tickets cost $90 if purchased by May 1 and are expected to sell out, so order soon at www.gourmetscoop.com/winecellar or (877) 490-3337.