Tag Archives: city winery chicago

Meet Executive Sous Chef, Kevin Coulter

Posted on by rita

Kevin Coulter may sound like the name of a singer/songwriter lighting up the City Winery Chicago music stage, but he’s actually a talented young chef heating up the kitchen as our executive sous chef.

Born and raised in Racine, Wisc. (where he still lives!), he grew up in the hospitality business and began cooking at age 12 at his parent’s bar. He spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he developed patience and honed his management style. Following his stint in the Corps, he followed his true passion for food and began taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu Chicago.

After graduation, he worked in nearly every department for the Marriott in Racine, and worked in numerous other restaurants and bars. Then, his spark was really lit when he worked with chef John Fuente at Prix Fixe in Lincoln Square, where he developed and perfected his real passion for cooking and fine dining.

At City Winery Chicago, he brings his culinary talents and skills but also focuses on the critical role of mentoring staff and other cooks. One of his proudest achievements, he says, has been mentoring great line cooks who became successful sous chefs, and some even run their own kitchens now. As Kevin says, “teaching others is what being a chef is all about; anyone can cook a slider.”

He’s been in the kitchen at City Winery Chicago since September 2012, and is responsible for a number of creative dishes on our menu. One new dish he created for our new spring menu is root beer rubbed pork belly with savory French toast and a maple bourbon demi glace. He’s a talented chef and excellent problem solver whom we are thrilled to have performing in our kitchen nightly!

The Art of Food and Wine Pairing

Posted on by rita

Here at City Winery Chicago, it’s imperative that we perfectly pair food and wine. I work hand-in-hand with our sommelier, Rachel Speckan, to taste our wines and look for flavors and notes that I can pair with food. This spring, I’ve been working closely with Rachel to pair new menu items with her selection of new seasonal wines. As you may have noticed, our menu is laid out as a guide for food and wine pairing—starting with sparkling and whites working on down to reds—to make it easier for guests to make selections.

One new wine we are offering is a sparking wine called Jane Ventura, which is a Cava from Spain. After tasting the Cava, I knew what dish on our new spring menu to pair with it—fried smoked chicken served with a pickled watermelon salad. The effervescence of the sparkling wine stands up to the smokiness of the chicken while the sweetness of the wine goes nicely with watermelon.

We also tasted another new wine, Mercouri, which is a Chardonnay from Greece. It is briny like the sea, so I wanted to pair it with our new scallop dish, which is a pan-seared scallop with celery root and apple puree. The wine complements the natural sweetness of the scallops.

One new red we’re offering is The Loop, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon from California. We have a new lamb offering for spring that we’re really excited about, and I knew I had to match it with the wine’s deep red berry flavors. The homemade lamb merguez is a slightly spicy sausage served with cous cous, toasted Marcona almonds and a roasted red pepper yogurt sauce.

If you want a “sneak peak” of these dishes, we’re currently running them as specials to try them out, so come on in and let us know what you think!

- Chef Andres Barrera

April Brings the Heat to City Winery Chicago

Posted on by rita

The days are slowly getting warmer (we hope), but things inside our venue are staying at a heated pace. We’ve got music coming from classic knights, rock ‘n roll kings, and celebrated queens, that you shouldn’t miss.

This Monday, April 15th, we have two big names in Chicago music coming together to play the music of the biggest name in rock. Phil Angotti (The Idea) and Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden) are coming together to play the music of Sir Paul McCartney. As part of our Think Pink month at CWC, Angotti and Dawson will be playing McCartney’s post-Beatle hits including the 1971 release, Ram. With a full backing band made up of Chicago music friends, the duo will be pumping out your favorites from Sir Paul, while we pair the tracks with some great wines in our cozy venue. Great wines and great music are the order of the (k)night, and how could you go wrong? Live a little! Be a gypsy, and get around. Get your feet up off the ground and get your tickets!

The Verve Pipe

The Verve Pipe plays City Winery Chicago Thursday, April 18.

Thursday, April 18th, we’ve got a chart-topping, award winning rock band that you’re sure to remember: The Verve Pipe. Since their 1996 platinum album, Villians, which spawned the #1 single, “The Freshmen,” The Verve Pipe have been releasing hit albums and selling out stadiums across the U.S. and Europe. Three albums, a couple EPs, and endless touring, have set up The Verve Pipe for the works of a new record for their legion of fans. They also recently released an acclaimed album for kids called The Family Album. They’re bringing their deep back catalogue to our Randolph Street venue for a solid night of music.

The next night, April 19th, we will have the vocal force of Holly Near. Near has been a celebrated musician and activist since she made her name during multiple protests of the Vietnam War along side Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. She’s worked with Arlo Guthrie, Jackson Browne, and Joan Baez among others on an impressive discography spanning nearly 30 albums. Her music has been honored by multiple outlets, while Near’s activism has been recognized by the ACLU, National Organization for Women, and the National Lawyers Guild. Get your tickets now to hear one of the best voices in music and activism perform on our stage. I for one am quite excited to hear the music and relive the stories of Holly Near Band.

For more information on tickets and other great shows, check out website at citywinery.com/chicago, call us at 312-RED-WINE (312-733-9463), or email us at chicagoconcierge@citywinery.com! We hope to see you at the show!

Wine-Infused Flatbread Pizza Dough

Posted on by rita

Because we are a fully functioning winery, our kitchen has access to unusual ingredients from the winemaking process. A big advantage is I have a constant supply of wine “lees” and wine at my disposal. One very unique dish we make is our flatbread pizza dough, which we infuse with “lees.”

Wine lees refers to the dead or residual yeast that settles to the bottom of the vat of wine during fermentation. We use the white lees from white wine. The result is a flavor similar to sourdough, and you can actually detect the taste of wine in the dough. In case you were wondering, red wine produces a pink wine lees that, yes, will change the color of dough to purple and more greatly affects the flavor of the dough, so we steer away from using red wine lees.

Other than the addition of lees, we make our dough as simply as possible with only yeast, water, salt and high-gluten organic flour. It is mixed at various speeds for different times and proofs overnight.

We offer three different flatbreads made with this dough, our most popular being the Wild Mushroom Flatbread. The base is a bechamel sauce made with goat cheese, and we use a nice variety of mushrooms: velvet pioppini, Hen of the Woods, Honshimeji, oyster and nameko.

For our flatbreads that feature red sauce—such as our Margherita and Salame Flatbreads—our red sauce is a no-cook sauce. We use DOC San Marzanos tomatoes and mill them through a course food mill and only add salt to taste. San Marzano tomatoes are known for their bittersweet flavor as well as being less acidic than regular plum tomatoes.

Be sure to check out our flatbreads next time you’re in!

Andres Barrera

April Rocks in the West Loop!

Posted on by rita

April is a new glorious spring month, and with it comes a new set of great shows at the City Winery Chicago! We are kicking off spring with some big shows from some musical heavy weights. Won’t you join us?

First up we have the fantastic double bill of David Bromberg and Allen Toussaint on April 6th and 7th. Two greats in the musical world, Bromberg and Toussaint have played with and written songs for an incredible number of musicians. From George Harrison and Paul McCartney to Levon Helm and Bob Dylan, to more modern artists like Widespread Panic, Bromberg and Toussaint have been all over the map. Bromberg has focused mainly on folk, bluegrass, rock, and country, while playing pretty much any stringed instrument you put in his hands. His progressive recording of “Mr. Bojangles”, which featured spoken word stories of his travels with Jerry Jeff Walker, made a big radio splash upon its release in 1972. Toussaint’s brand of New Orleans R&B has been respected for years by musicians, and he has written some of the great songs of his generation, including “Working in a Coal Mine”, “Fortune Teller”, and “Southern Nights”. Toussaint is still a fixture in the New Orleans music scene, and he has done a lot in the rebuilding process since Hurricane Katrina.

After that fantastic double bill, we have another major double bill with two major Icons, with a big capital “I”, in the bluegrass and mandolin world: David Grisman and Andy Statman playing on April 9th and 10th. Grisman is the founder of what became known as “Dawg” music (an affectionate nickname given to Grisman by Jerry Garcia) which is a combination of jazz, folk, and bluegrass. His solo mandolin work, as well as his work with the David Grisman Quintet, has been celebrated fans and musicians for years. Andy Statman is also an influential mandolin player, who is actually a protegé of David Grisman. Grisman taught Statman mandolin at an early age, and while Grisman went more toward jazz, Statman focused on bluegrass and klezmer music. With the teacher and the student playing together in our intimate venue at City Winery Chicago, you’re sure to see instrument mastery like you won’t see anywhere else. Make sure to get your tickets now if you are a bluegrass fan, mandolin fan, or just a fan of virtuosity. It’s sure to be a great night.

Rounding out our great first couple weeks, will be Ron Sexsmith, a singer/songwriter who has been recording and releasing music since his late teens. Sexsmith’s brand of poppy folk rock has been championed by Elvis Costello, Coldplay, Sir Elton John, and Rick Davies of the Kinks, and he’s been nominated for numerous award in his native Canada. He even had a documentary made about him and his life called, Love Shines, which followed him as he recorded his 2011 album, Long Player Late Bloomer. The film itself was nominated for awards as well. Sexsmith has a smooth laid back deliver, and his songs are infectiously catchy and amazingly written. He’ll be playing tunes from his newest album, Forever Endeavour, which I was able to review recently here.

For more information on tickets and other great shows, check out website at citywinery.com/chicago, call us at 312-RED-WINE (312-733-9463), or email us at chicagoconcierge@citywinery.com! We hope to see you at the show!

Nick – City Winery Chicago

Purveyor Close-Up: Rain Crow Ranch

Posted on by rita

This week, I want to take you behind the scenes into our kitchen to discuss one of our favorite purveyors—Rain Crow Ranch, a great family-owned farm in southern Missouri. Rain Crow supplies all our beef, and it is 100% grass-fed, free-range, and hormone & antibiotic-free.

The taste and quality of the beef is exceptional, but we also appreciate that all of their animals are treated humanely. It really comes through in the product. The cattle are born, raised and finished on open grass pastures, and the family is truly passionate about providing the healthiest, safest and highest quality beef possible.

I like to use the beef for our City Winery Sliders because it tastes like a real no fuss, no muss burger. An order of our sliders includes three mini all-beef burgers, served with lettuce and tomato on pretzel rolls. I don’t add a lot of fancy ingredients to the burgers and like that the natural beef flavors can stand on their own. On our new spring menu, we will be offering the sliders on a light brioche bun.

Another popular menu item made with Rain Crow beef is our Braised Short Rib. The short ribs are braised in red wine and stock at a low temperature in the oven for close to six hours. They are served over creamy rosemary scented polenta and topped with a tangy tomato chutney. It’s an elegant, delicious dish.

These are two of our most popular items, thanks to Rain Crow Ranch. The sliders are a big hit with kids, too, and are great for sharing and even hearty enough to be an entree. Even if you are a vegetarian, this meat will make you wish you weren’t! I’m exaggerating, but you are missing out if you haven’t tried these menu items!

- Chef Andres Barrera

You Can Go Home Again…and I’m Happy to Be Back!

Posted on by rita

Welcome to our weekly food column. We will be writing a new post each week with the latest on our menu, specials, food and wine pairings, our chefs and more at City Winery Chicago!

For the first installment of our weekly food column, I want to take a moment to introduce myself and tell you how thrilled I am to be here at City Winery Chicago!

I’m a Chicago boy who took a great detour working at some wonderful establishments in NYC, including City Winery New York, but now I’ve come full circle by returning to Chicago to be your executive chef at City Winery Chicago.

My passion for food and cooking started as a young boy growing up in Marquette Park on the South Side. I was inspired by the great chefs I watched on television, such as Jeff Smith, Martin Yan and Julia Child (I was also intrigued by Jack Tripper from Three’s Company and the Swedish Chef!). I learned the basics from my mother, grandmothers and aunts, cooking with them from the time I was 10 years old. My love of food and cooking continued to evolve as I attended Le Cordon Bleu here in Chicago, where I studied classical French and Italian cuisine. I then moved to NYC, where I learned precise cooking and perfect plating techniques at the renowned Capital restaurant, worked slinging pizzas at the famed Franny’s in Brooklyn, then headed up the kitchen at City Winery New York.

I’m now happy to bring all of these experiences to the menu at City Winery Chicago. I love the challenge of creating a menu inspired by the wine producing regions of the world while also making food designed around our customers, many of whom are here to enjoy music or to dine in the bar with friends. I love creating sharable plates that are delicious and delight guests. A personal favorite of mine on the menu is our seared scallops with a carrot puree and bacon chutney. Another dish I am really excited about is an item we currently are developing for our spring menu called faux marrow. Conceived by my executive sous chef Kevin Coulter, this play on bone marrow is a vegetarian dish made from a variety of hand-foraged mushrooms we source from a great local purveyor. Be sure to come in later this spring to check it out!

I look forward to serving you and hope you enjoy your dining experience at City Winery Chicago!

Coming Soon to the West Loop! – David Wilcox, Catie Curtis, Martha Wainwright, Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra

Posted on by rita

Welcome to our weekly music column straight from the West Loop and into your homes. We will be writing a new post each week to give everyone information on upcoming shows, special events, and even sneak peeks of shows not yet announced at the City Winery Chicago!

For our first post, we are highlighting some great acts coming up this week at our beautiful concert venue on Randolph St. This Friday, March 22nd, we will have the one-two folk punch of David Wilcox and Catie Curtis. David Wilcox is an incredibly creative singer/songwriter who has been playing and recording music for over 20 years. He has been lauded by artists (such as k.d. lang) and critics (such as Rolling Stone and the New York Times) for his poetic lyrics and expressive guitar work. In 2008, he and Bob Dylan both received the same songwriter award from Acoustic Guitar magazine. Pretty great company I’d say. Combine that with who the New Yorker calls a “folk-rock goddess” in Catie Curtis, and you’ve got a great night of music! Curtis has had music featured on Grey’s Anatomy, toured and recorded with country star Mary Chapin Carpenter, and has played for President Obama…TWICE! You know that President Obama has good taste in music, so anyone he would invite back has got to have something special.

Speaking of something special, we have Martha Wainwright coming Sunday March 24th. There’s no better musical family pedigree than the Wainwrights. From a Grammy Award winning father, Loudon Wainwright III, to Juno Award winning mother Kate McGarrigle, Martha and her brother Rufus have some great genes with which to work. Martha Wainwright has been recording albums since the late 90s, receiving praise from SPIN magazine, The Guardian, and the BBC. She also has star studded guest lists on her albums including Pete Townsend (The Who), Rufus Wainwright, her mother Kate, Garth Hudson (The Band), and Nels Cline (Wilco), to name a few. Wainwright’s voice will fill our intimate venue, and Sunday’s show is sure to be a fantastic experience with one of the premiere performers from one of the greatest musical families.

Rounding out our week of great music will be our dear friends, and City Winery Chicago vets, The Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra (NTO). They will be back for a second preview of their newest rockin’ album For The Baby Doll on Tuesday, March 26th. NTO have been making rock and blues music for nearly 25 years, while also playing with the likes of Billy Corgan, Keith Richards, Ronnie Spector, and Ian Hunter. Each night they come to City Winery, they blow the roof off the place. The last show they played here back in February was a packed house of dancin’ and sweatin’, and you can’t miss it this time because they’ll be joined by Springsteen favorite Willie Nile. That’s right. The Boss has hand picked Willie Nile to play with the E-Street Band, and we’ll have him on our stage. Enticed?

All information for tickets and show times can be found at www.citywinery.com/chicago, by calling our box office at 312.RED.WINE (312.733.9463), or emailing chicagoconcierge@citywinery.com.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel Opens City Winery

Posted on by Nathan

Mayor Rahm Emanuel opened City Winery Chicago last night along with Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. and City Winery founder, Michael Dorf and 1,000 guests in attendance!  The night started out with Moet & Chandon Champagne handed to guests as they arrived.  There was plenty of City Winery tap wine flowing along with hand crafted appetizers by Chef John Fuente.  DJ Warp aka Brian Keigher provided the musical landscape in City Winery’s intimate 300 seat venue.

 

photo credit: John “NuNu” Zomot

 

City Winery Stage Sign Goes Up

Posted on by Nathan

The stage has been poured with concrete and the wood cover is going on now.  Amazing to see floor plugs for electricity, microphone and speaker plugs being done in such a neat way.   Sound panels on the ceiling and walls installed, lighting grids and Meyer Sound equipment arriving in next few days for installation.   Already, the main performance space sounds great acoustically, looks really cool, and it is clear how nice a show will be in this space.

The main curtain wall, 30 feet tall, 120 feet deep has been framed and is being installed with more glass every few hours–this is a huge wall.  The building then will be fully buttoned up and we then turn on our air-conditioning.  Painting, wood trim, lighting fixtures, we are in the final push to complete and still very much on target to finished on August 1st and ready for our first show on August 15th.  Inside the new wood floors, bars are being sanded, and various coats of stain, sealer, and other smells permeate throughout the place.

We are starting to see the arrival of furniture, tables, chairs, kitchen equipment, and lots of cardboard boxes.  We have ordered a few extra dumpsters for just the wrapping material on the 600 chairs, there really is a lot waste with all of that stuff coming.  But it feels like a big birthday party starting to happen with the unwrapping.  Another week of this and we starting putting it all into place.

Check out the latest photos from City Winery Chicago including one of the City Winery exterior signs, taken by our neighbor, The Breakfast Queen, Ina Pinkney, of Ina’s across the street from City Winery!

City Winery Chicago World Music Primer

Posted on by Chicago Intern

Here at City Winery Chicago, we have an expansive and eclectic line-up of music coming through our state of the art venue. Not only the top folk, rock, and jazz artists, but also a wide swath of the top artists in world music. What exactly is world music? Well, just like there are different genres within rock and jazz, there are many different types of music in the overarching “world music” universe. Depending on which country the groups are from will dictate where the emphasis lies in the rhythm, instruments and tone. Here are a few quick explanations of some of the world music artists we have coming in the next few months to City Winery Chicago.

- One of the biggest reoccurring events we will have is the weekly Sunday Klezmer Brunch where we will have groups from Chicago and beyond playing traditional Klezmer music while the audience dines on delicious lox, bagels and more. Klezmer music has its origins in Eastern Europe and is a musical tradition in Judaism. The music is written for dances (such as the Hora) and religious ceremonies (such as weddings). The most popular usage, and most recognizable, is from the musical and film The Fiddler on the Roof. The Klezmer groups, musicians known as Klemorim, consist of violins, piano, tsimbl (a kind of dulcimer), and most importantly a clarinet. The music is lively, melodic, and irresistible to dance to, and often mimics the human voice in tone and musicality. The first group we’ll have performing is the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble. You can check out a clip of them performing a dance tune here.

- Brazilian artist Bebel Gilberto will take over our stage for two nights September 14th and 15th. Gilberto is one of the top-selling Brazilian artists in the US and has had her music featured in movies such as Closer, Rio, and Eat, Pray, Love, as well as TV shows such as “Sex and the City” and “Six Feet Under”. She beautifully combines the bossa nova beats of her native Brazil with jazz and electronic music to create an intoxicating sound that will quickly transport you to a quiet beach in Rio. Gilberto has an extraordinary voice that floats and flows over the music like a calming tide. Give her a listen with this video here and this one here.

- From Brazil we will jump across the Atlantic to Portugal for an evening with Deolinda, a group who takes inspiration from the traditional Portuguese musical style, Fado, and then gives it an upbeat spin. Traditionally Fado is a more melancholy style born from the lower class workers in the harbors of Portugal. However, Deolinda takes only the structure and idea of Fado; their songs are far from sad. They infuse a playful upbeat nature in their music. The guitars jump and dance around the melody while lead singer Ana Bacalhau’s exquisite voice slides and turns around the guitars. Come join us September 24th for what is sure to be a night of beautiful music couple with delicious wines from Portugal. See a preview of Deolinda here.

- Portugal one night, to Romania the next! September 25th brings Romanian brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia to the City Winery Chicago stage. Consisting of 12 members playing trumpets, bass drums, tubas, clarinets and more, Fanfare Ciocarlia is a world-famous group that has played in over a thousand shows in 50 countries. Their music includes hints of Romanian folk music, traditional Serbian music, and even Hollywood and Bollywood music. They play fast and they play energetically. It’s hard to exactly describe their sound, but know you will not be disappointed, nor will you be able to resist clapping your hands and stomping your feet. Take a look at this video for their cover of “Born to be Wild” and try not to smile.

- In October we have a truly unique group of musicians gracing our stage. Acoustic Africa will be bringing an evening of exciting, rhythmic, and inspiring music from some of the continents greatest female vocalists and musicians. Featuring Grammy winner vocalist/percussionist/dancer Dobet Ghanore, accomplished bassist and vocalist Manou Gallo, and new sensation vocalist/guitarist Kareyce Fotso, they will showcase an intoxicating blend of traditional African music, pop, R&B, and dance. All three artists are famous throughout the world on their own, and it will definitely be a special evening when they all join together in our intimate venue. How we are going to contain all that talent in one room is anybody’s guess. We may have to open the doors to the patio for extra dance space.

We hope this has helped give you a better understanding of the wide range of amazing acts we have coming to City Winery Chicago, and entices you to pay us a visit. For more information about our shows and these artists, check out our calendar page!

City Winery Chicago is Taking Shape!

Posted on by Nathan

We are moving into the last month of construction and the finishes are starting to take some shape.  The winery equipment arrived and the stainless steel fermenting tanks designed by David Lecomte and manufactured by Vinquip from South Africa are set in place looking really cool.  The tanks will give us a capacity to crush about 90 tons of grapes a season or the equivalent of making 6000 cases of wine.

We have the first prototype of the wine bottle chandeliers hanging in the entrance hall way, the first of 6 and the color needs to conform, but the 6 foot tall bottles will look really cool against the full 30 foot tall glass curtain wall being completed this week.

The bottle wall, which curves along a coat check and will serve as the railing for a staircase up to our mezzanine is being finished now. This will be a really dramatic visual set in the restaurant amongst our large fireplace, and tap tasting bar. The bars and painting get done next week and the floors put in – its taking wonderful shape.

City Winery Chicago Brings the Heat in August!

Posted on by Chicago Intern

The offices of City Winery Chicago are at a full-bore excited hum these days as construction nears completion, and the final pieces slide into place. All of our managers get positively giddy when they start talking about City Winery Chicago opening, and every event already on the docket. We are just over a month away from that official opening, and that means the beginning of an incredible month of events to introduce you to our new beautiful, shiny facility and top quality entertainment.

Our first event is a five-night residency from world famous comedian, TV personality, actor, and author, Lewis Black. That’s right, five nights. For those five nights, August 15th-19th, Black will bring his patented brand of anger and outrage at the absurdity of the world to our stage. We couldn’t be happier to have such a talented performer welcome you into our venue for the very first time, and kick off our opening week with a screaming bang.

That’s not where our exciting programming for August ends, though. Oh, absolutely not. How about the following week including back-to-back nights of fantastic music from singer/songwriters Jesse Harris (Wednesday, August 22nd) and Howie Day (Thursday, August 23rd)? What if I were to also say that this one-two punch is followed by yet another? We have not one, but two nights of legendary soul/R&B singer Sam Moore? We’re talking about the “Soul Man” himself for two nights in a row (August 24th and 25th). We then follow that up with another two-night residency from rock ‘n roll legend Lindsey Buckingham (August 26th 27th). Throw in The Waco Brothers, a gumbo and cabernet night with Lost Bayou Ramblers, and two nights with John Sebastian and Jimmy Vivino, and you’ve got one of the greatest opening line-ups a venue could have.

That’s just the music side of things. We also have great programming in our City Winery restaurant and winery. A wine making class with our resident wine maker Robert Kowal in our secluded and plush Barrel room? Check. The beginning of our weekly, and amazing, Klezmer brunch every Sunday morning? Double check (you have to have the bagels and lox). We will even have a dinner hosted by Chicago’s own Greg Hall, owner and operator of Virtue Cider, where he will discuss cider’s versatility coupled with a coursed meal.

It’s hard to beat events like this, and it’s just the first month. For more information on these events, and the many more coming up, check out our calendar here.