Foodievents

Join North Pond for a Midwestern Chefs Dinner November 9

Steve Plotnicki, who helped plan dinner.
Steve Plotnicki, who helped plan dinner.

We have so many fine chefs in Chicago cooking straight from farmer’s markets that we don’t pay much attention to people doing the same thing in other parts of the Midwest. But there are outstanding chefs scattered around the area, cooking with much the same things as the Virants and Kahans of our city, and next Wednesday is a rare opportunity to try their food without leaving town. Four top chefs from around the region will join North Pond’s Bruce Sherman for a Midwestern farm-to-table dinner: Gerald Craft of Niche in St. Louis, Justin Aprahamian of Sanford in Milwaukee, Michael Bulkowski of Revolver in Findlay, Ohio, and Josh Adams of June in Peoria. But there’s more to the story, as our video below reveals.

Steve Plotnicki, who helped plan dinner.

The other motivator behind the meal besides Sherman is New York-based author and blogger Steve Plotnicki, who considers these five chefs representative of a new farm-to-table ethos in the Midwest he calls “Modern Midwestern Cuisine,” purer and less “cheffy” than many who cook with farm-to-table ingredients. Even after having lunch with him as he explained it all to us, we admit we’re not entirely clear on why one chef doing farm-to-table fits his category and another doesn’t. But you can try and figure it out for yourself by watching our video, and even better, by attending the dinner and trying these chefs’ dishes for yourself. The dinner is at 6:30 p.m. on November 9, and the price is $120 per guest for dinner, with wine pairings available. To see the full menu, go here, and to make your reservation, call North Pond at 773-477-5845.

Join North Pond for a Midwestern Chefs Dinner November 9