Day 1 of 366 — Ready for Another Go-Round
Birthday edition includes Pilot Light dinner, Evening of Hope reminder, and that pitch
It’s a Nice Day to Start Again
Just finished another long trip around the sun. Thanks for the nice birthday greeting, Sol!
Food, Glorious Food at the Pilot Light Gala
Yesterday’s Local Food Forum recapped the Pilot Light non-profit’s food education mission and its fundraising success at its Feed Your Mind gala on November 3. But when you gather many of our region’s best (and most generous) chefs, you know the meal they prepare is going to be newsworthy as well.
So stand by for a hunger-inducing rundown of the menu, with photos, of course. But first…
It’s My Birthday, So, You Know…
Is it gauche to suggest that a paid subscription to Local Food Forum would make a lovely birthday present? Maybe, but I’ve committed way more gauche offenses than that.
$5 a month or $50 a year. Twenty percent of proceeds to charity. Sounds like a win-win. Your help greatly appreciated.
Reminder: Evening of Hope Tasting Fundraiser Thursday
Reminder: This Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., join Tigist Reda of Demera Ethiopian Restaurant and an amazing lineup of generous culinary artists at An Evening of Hope: Arts & Food for Humanity. The tasting dinner will take place at Guild Row, 3130 N. Rockwell St. in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood.
Tigist is a native of Tigray, an Ethiopian province where a devastating civil war displaced much of the population. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit Health Professionals Network for Tigray (HPN4Tigray), which provides critical health care services for those in need in Tigray and at refugee camps in Sudan.
When you attend the event, you will be informed about what HPN4Tigray is doing for women and children, while immersing yourself in culture, culinary delights, captivating performances and live art demonstrations. Not only will you get to enjoy great food and art but you'll also be contributing to making a significant difference in the lives of countless people.
Along with her own fundraisers for her native province, Tigist was the inspiration for the Chicago Chefs Cook for Tigray event in September 2022.
Now, Back to That Pilot Light Feast
The evening’s feast began during the opening reception with passed canapes. Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark of Parachute and Anelya restaurants prepared 4 Onion Pickled Hokkaido Herring (on black bread with fresh wasabi and sour cream) and Fried Crimean Style Olives (stuffed with lamb sausage and Buddha’s Hand citron).
From James Martin of Bocadillo Market came Tuna Crudo (with avocado, harissa, citrus, almonds, crostini and crispy amaranth) and Mushroom Croquetas (with mojo rojo aioli and nasturium.
Once seated, the attendees enjoyed an amuse bouche from Pilot Light founding chefs Jason Hammel, Paul Kahan, Justin Large and Matthias Merges. It consisted of small bites of Chanterelle Toast (caviar, dill, rye); Chicken Liver Mousse (pickled fall fruit, cider syrup); Gougères (white miso lebneh, chestnut mushrooms); and Ocean Trout Gillette (turnip kimchi, lemon, roe).
Then came one amazing course after another:
From Jonathan Zaragoza of Birrieria Zaragosa, Ceviche Negro Tostadita (squid ink masa, striped bass, charred habanero, cucumber, avocado, cilantro)
From Erick Williams of Virtue and Mustard Seed Kitchen, Seared Maine Scallops (pickled turnips, charred okra, black lentils, chermoula)
From Joe Flamm of Rose Mary and BLVD Steakhouse, Truffle Risotto (Midnight Moon goat cheese, truffle honey).
From Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno, Roman-Style Porchetta (cannellini beans, black cabbage, house-cured pancetta, apple cider agrodolce).
And to cap the meal, Genie Kwan and Tim Flores of Kasama — a restaurant enjoying local acclaim and national attention from its cameo on The Bear television series — produced an amazing Black Truffle Croissant, stuffed with Délice de Bourgogne cheese with honey and Belgian pearl sugar.
Some attendees may have gone home with their wallets lighter after their victories in the live and silent auctions, but it’s a fair bet that no one went home hungry.
Click below to learn more about Pilot Light’s important mission and to make a donation.
Bob’s World, and Welcome to It
Birthdays are a good time for reflection. So yesterday (November 13), I took advantage of this gorgeous mid-November weather to visit my beloved North Pond and took photos of… reflections.
This is a bit meta. The building in the background is Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, which I am proud to say is staging a year-long exhibit of my nature photography at… North Pond. It’s open through next October. I hope you’ll stop by — there are other very cool things at the museum, most notably the Butterfly Haven — and if you’d like, let me know in advance that you’re coming and I’ll meet you there.
There is a little concrete platform, tucked away at the south end of North Pond, from which I’ve taken many pictures over the years. I’ve decided it would be fun to visit once a week during the length of my photo exhibit to capture what the view looks like in season, and then compile the pictures at the end of the process.