Some great events are coming up this month starting with the Green City Market BBQ on Thursday the 15th. I believe this year will be the biggest turnout ever for the event. After the weather we had last year, we are due to have a beautiful night for it this year!! On the following Thursday the 22nd we are participating in the Chefs and the City event at the Peninsula Hotel which benefits Vital Bridges. It is going to be a great night for a great cause.

Our patio has been rocking with the nice weather. Let’s hope it stays this way and we hope to see you here soon!!

Even though I am allergic to seeded berries, I am always excited to have strawberries show up. Presently we are doing a strawberry tartlet with vanilla bean ice cream and vanilla honey. I’m being told that we will begin to see other berries possibly as soon as next week.

Soft Shell Crabs have been very beautiful this season and we are still featuring them two ways. One as a bisque and the other pan roasted with a salsa of ramps, avocados and serrano chilies. Hopefully they will be around a bit longer.

It’s June and hockey season is going strong here in Chicago. So far this has been a very exciting series with game five tomorrow night. For a change we have a home team to root for!!!

The Green City Market officially opened this week and I am really looking forward to all the great products from all of our awesome Midwest farmers.  There are lots of fun things going on with Rioja weeks running right now and Monday and Tuesday two events with our friends from Three Floyds Brewery celebrating Craft Beer Week.  We have a Spanish Wine tasting event Wednesday with nine wines and passed appetizers for $25 starting at 5:30 pm. Then Friday night kicks off the annual NRA show which is always an exciting time. It’s great to get a chance to see people who make it to Chicago that we don’t often get to see. And on Sunday afternoon we will participate in one of my favorite events, the 10^th annual Food Arts Magazine BBQ which benefits Share Our Strength.  This is going to be the ninth year in a row for me. I have been there when it has been too hot, too cold and also beautiful. We are due for a beautiful day for the event this year!

I had the opportunity to participate in an event at the Cultural Center with Les Dames d’Escoffier this past Monday night called Fashion Plates. Six chefs were paired with some amazing and talented local fashion designers. Each pair was given two words to inspire a dish and an outfit. I was very lucky to be paired with Richard Morse and Daryl Sneed from Studio 5p1t who were just great to work with. The event was fantastic and Limelight Catering and their staff did an amazing job getting out multiple courses of 275 plates. Judith Hines and Melissa Gamble from the Cultural Affairs Department conceived the event and it is always so nice to work with them.

So the Bulls beat the Cavs last night and hopefully will continue to make this series interesting. And let’s hope the Blackhawks can win this round and get to the next series.

Tomorrow our first Asparagus are getting delivered and we are starting to see some more items being available with this unusually early warming spring.  More and more greens are coming around and we are very close to seeing the Green City Market move to its spring, summer and fall location again. One of my favorite spring veggies are fava beans. We are pairing those up with some spring onions, spring garlic, piquillo peppers and some fresh ricotta cheese that we herb and infuse with roasted garlic.

The dish gets a little bit of preserved lemon vinaigrette to finish it.

This next month is a fun one as we get ready for lots of events and it’s only four weeks until the National Restaurant Show is in town.  This coming Thursday kicks off a great weekend, the annual Art Chicago event at the Merchandise Mart.

We started getting some beautiful lamb ribs from Pinn Oak Farm in Wisconsin and put them on the menu last weekend. We braise them with Robert the Bruce beer from Three Floyds, some molasses and poblano peppers. The braising liquid is the base of the BBQ sauce for the ribs. We smoke some sour cream slaw dressing for a chayote-jicama-cabbage slaw and serve that with the ribs.

Saturday is going to be a fun event, the second annual Baconfest. I love bacon like everyone else, but who knew how wild people are about it. Apparently they sold out the event in minutes. We are making a cured and smoked pork belly, with crispy bacon, and an avocado and lettuce salsa with roasted garlic aioli. We are doing the morning event which is 11 am until 2 pm.

Next Tuesday is our dinner with Dietzler Farms and I am going to take a trip up and see the farm on Monday. Let’s hope the sun is shining again soon!

On the thirteenth of April we are doing a dinner with Michelle Dietzler of Dietzler Farms. Lots of great beef from her farm, and we have some fun dishes on the menu that evening. It begins with a reception and follows with a four course dinner for sixty five dollars per person inclusive of tax and gratuity. I am excited to be doing the dinner and excited to have Michelle here for it.

The new schedule for the Outstanding in the Field dinners is out and we are doing a dinner with Growing Power Farms in Grant Park on Wednesday August fourth. We are very happy to be working with Outstanding in the Field again this year.

Tomorrow the shade sail goes up on the patio and Tuesday the furniture comes out. And yes, I am optimistic!!

I went and served some food at the Redmoon Theater Anniversary event last evening. It was an amazing party with so many talented performers, musicians, and some great restaurants serving food. If you haven’t had a chance to see the theater company, you definitely owe it to yourself to get over and see them.  I wish I could have stayed later but it been a long day.

One more week and it’s the official beginning of spring. I just hope it begins to really feel like that!!

Last Wednesday we started our Beer and a Burger night at the bar. Its ten dollars for a Burger and a pint of Three Floyds Beer. We had a nice turnout last week and I look forward to seeing some new faces on Wednesday.

Today made me feel like the wait for spring is not that long away. It is so nice to see the sun and have an almost balmy fifty degree day.  I know that we are only two weeks away on the calendar but this is Chicago after all. I am making plans to get the patio ready the first week of April though. I’m feeling optimistic!

So David Romanelli who is a wellness expert, is doing a tour around the country called yoga for foodies. He is pairing up with chefs to do a yoga class that is followed by a multi course meal with beverage pairings. We have two events with David at Province on Monday and Tuesday March eighth and ninth. The Monday event is now sold out and we have some spots open for the Tuesday event. David’s tour was in the New York Times recently.

I always like doing things with food that are a bit out of the box and this event is one of them. I am excited to talk to the guests and find out their take on the combination of the two experiences together.

And this week the catchers and pitchers reported to spring training. Patio season is not too far away. Just another three months!