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.
 read more »

this month i am teaching a few classes at various whole foods in the city and burbs—simple recipes that can be used during the holiday season and will not take all day to prepare. i have been having a lot of fun working more and more with whole foods. one great thing about the store is they are bringing in more local products. as a big supporter of going local, it is great to have products available conveniently for the home cook. chef-support of local products has grown substantially over the past few years as the farmers’ markets have grown, making it more feasible for chefs to support and get to know their local farmers. it is great to see this trend spread into the whole foods chain.

 read more »

a couple of nights ago i had a very fun and unique experience at my little condo in bucktown... about 35 guests whom i had never met before along with a television crew from NBC all piled in for a potluck to celebrate everyone's participation in virtual kitchen stadium. i have never had more than 5 people in this condo before, so it was a great way to break in the new pad. it was fun to see the place look so put together and clean (aside from my office, which reminded me of what it must have looked like under my bed growing up every time my mom asked me to clean my room). shhhh.
 read more »

the goat made a fun stop last week at the home of one of chicago's most prized chefs, art smith. art and i have become friends through work with his five and a half year old charity, common threads, that teaches underprivileged children about cooking and nutrition across cultures. art's huge heart and giving nature were evident as he welcomed me and my staff along with close to 100 guests into his home last thursday night for the third wandering goat dinner.
 read more »

it's been so long since the wandering goat last settled down that he's lost a bit of weight and slimmed down and therefore, won't be taking up as much room at the dinner tomorrow night and has freed up some space. and you know what that means?
 read more »