.png)
More Than $275,000 in Ticket Sales to Support Non-Profit Mission
Green City Market on Thursday (September 5) proved once again why its Chef BBQ fundraiser is Chicago's most anxiously awaited culinary tasting event each year.
Held at the flagship Lincoln Park location of the city's most prominent farmers market, this year's Chef BBQ outdid its usual success. The market reported this morning that more than 1,500 food lovers attended, which amounted to more than $275,000 in ticket sales. In return for this generosity, the attendees faced the hard choices of selecting small plate samples from more than 100 chefs and restaurants, washed down with a wide range of beverages (most of them locally produced).
This might sound indulgent if it weren't for such a good cause. Green City Market was founded 25 years ago, setting the standard for producer-only markets and a defined geographical sourcing region in the four states surrounding Lake Michigan.
In the years since, it has been an engine of support for the rising local food movement, providing city folks like me with access to the freshest, most delicious, nutritious, and sustainably and humanely produced food while enabling local farmers, both rural and urban, to survive and thrive.
The market is also a leader in promoting access for those enduring food insecurity. One of the first markets in the region to accept food assistance benefits (federal SNAP and Illinois Link) as payments, it has within the past few years been one of the few markets anywhere that triples the value of those benefits. The market also has an educational mission, teaching our youngest eaters about good food through its Club Sprouts program.
As a resident of nearby Lakeview and a Green City Market customer since Barb and I moved here in 2011, it is always a pleasure to witness the support the market receives from the culinary community and the general public at the Chef BBQ.
So how much did I eat? Two answers:
a) Plenty.
b) Much less than I would have if I had no self control.
The sad truth is that I just can't consume food the way I used to. I once had a running joke that all-you-can-eat buffets weren't a bargain, they were a challenge. But alas, that was long ago, though I guess being a reasonably svelte old dude is my reward.
That said, let's get to some photos to mark the occasion...
The Chef BBQ is that rare event in which you can get face time (and your food served to you by) pillars of the region's culinary community...
Rick Bayless of the Frontera Restaurant Group, one of Green City Market's founding Board members.
Chef Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe, also a founder and still a member of the Green City Market Board of Directors.
Darnell Reed of Luella's Southern Kitchen
Paul Fehribach of Big Jones.
... And rising stars...
Sebastian White, founder of the non-profit The Evolved Network.
Samantha Demichael of Flock and Forage
Arshiya Farheen (right) of Verzênay.
All that food, glorious food...
And a flight of local beverage producers such as...
Kevin Cary (right) is Begyle Brewing's owner and longtime president of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild.
OK, time to let the embers cool for now. Green City Market gets back to normal routine Saturday (September 7) with its regular markets at Lincoln Park (open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and West Loop (8 a.m. to 1 p.m.).
Can't wait to attend the next Chef BBQ? Mark your calendar for September 4, 2025.
Comments