great time this week at the 11th annual food and wine entertaining showcase here in chicago at the museum of contemporary art.  i have been participating in the event for the past few years, at first with scylla then these last two years as top chef/the goat, and this year was fun as ever.

there was a new addition to the spread this time around…a patron tequila lounge in the back tent with a clubby vibe and a fun photo booth.  we were the only food table in the room so it was fun to have our own little party.  of course being right next to the tequila table is bound to make any room a great little party.

the usual crew came along with me to help out, wandering goat t-shirts all around.  even our friendly mannequin from the dinner series came along, sporting the ‘always hungry’ t-shirt from food and wine magazine.  we like to bring her along to give people a bit of, ‘wow these people are nuts’.  yes we are.  thank you.

nantucket bay scallops have just come into season so i could not help but load up on these tasty little delicacies for the event.  we served them over a nice rich sunchoke puree then topped them with pistachios, pancetta, preserved lemon and pomegranate.  anything that started with a ‘p’, just to make it more challenging for me to describe the dish hundreds of times.

thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the evening!  i always have fun working with the folks from food & wine and they always know how to put on a great event.  next stop, south beach food and wine in february… now that is a party.