Culinary Complete Works Headlines Exclusive Grand Cru Event

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) partners with Bon Appétit presents Chicago Gourmet to create an unprecedented and exclusive Grand Cruexperience in honor of the yearlong Shakespeare 400 Chicago festival marking 400 years of Shakespeare's legacy. Headlining the event is the Culinary Complete Works, a yearlong initiative in which 38 of Chicago's most talented chefs interpret Shakespeare's 38 plays in their restaurants throughout 2016. This complete culinary tour of the Bard's plays is curated by Alpana Singh, star restaurateur and tastemaker in Chicago's world-renowned food scene, and CST Creative Producer Rick Boynton. A selection of participatingCulinary Complete Works chefs will present their Shakespeare title-inspired dishes alongside artful representations of Shakespeare's most famous scenes and symbols in this premier "event within the event" on Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25, 2:00pm-4:00pm, on the Harris Theater rooftop overlooking Millennium Park.

The annual Bon Appétit presents Chicago Gourmet, a celebration of food and wine in Millennium Park, is one of the nation's most anticipated culinary events. The ultimate weekend for food lovers is filled with tasting from the City's best restaurants, wineries, spirit purveyors, and breweries, as well as live cooking demos and seminars from top chefs. Now in its ninth year, the event ushers in its first-ever theme "Food is Art!" and names its firstHost Chef Rick Bayless, James Beard Award-winning chef of the Frontera Restaurants group and Culinary Complete Works chef in 2016. Bayless is set to channel A Midsummer Night's Dream with a special tasting menu at his Michelin-starred Topolobampo in October. Joining Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Shakespeare 400 Chicago in partnering with this year's event are EXPO Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Grand Cru is the ultimate in culinary indulgence, complete with tastings of elite wines from around the world curated by Master Sommelier Serafin Alvarado. Dotting the event landscape will be actors embodying iconic characters from Shakespeare's canon-attired in lavish costumes and wigs by CST's award-winning designers. The Culinary Complete Works chefs featured include:

Saturday, September 24, 2016

• Sarah Grueneberg, Monteverde - The Comedy of Errors
• Perry Hendrix, avec - The Tempest
• John Manion, La Sirena Clandestina - Othello
• Tony Priolo, Piccolo Sogno - Troilus and Cressida
• Bruce Sherman, North Pond - Much Ado About Nothing

Sunday, September 25, 2016

• Tanya Baker, The Boarding House - The Taming of the Shrew
• Phillip Foss, EL Ideas - Macbeth
• Danny Grant, Maple & Ash - Pericles
• Ryan McCaskey, Acadia - The Winter's Tale
• Tom Van Lente, Lucille - Henry IV, Part 1

Each of the 38 Culinary Complete Works chefs imaginatively translates one of Shakespeare's plays into a featured dish, menu or event at their restaurant for varying lengths of time throughout the year. Showcasing the vibrant restaurant scene that makes Chicago an international dining destination, Culinary Complete Works features restaurants ranging from James Beard Award-winning and Michelin-starred fine dining to hidden neighborhood gems, span ethnic cuisines of all varieties and explore the sweet and savory-at every price point.

Culinary Complete Works is only one facet of the yearlong Shakespeare 400 Chicagofestival, which commemorates the playwright's 400-year legacy through the world's great theater, dance, literature, music, exhibits and cinema in 850 events across the city's leading cultural institutions.

More information on Culinary Complete Works at www.shakespeare400chicago.com/culinary.

Select tickets for Bon Appétit presents Chicago Gourmet are still available atwww.chicagogourmet.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.