There’s no better way to spend your Saturday than basking in beer samples & treats… for FIVE hours.

Next Saturday, January 21^st from 2-7 pm the Chicago “Brew Ho Ho” event is going down. For just $20 at the door you get 10 beer sample tickets & 5 treat tickets and a sample of Angel’s Envy bourbon.

Everyone’s invited but you must RSVP@brewhoho.com at which time you’ll receive an email confirmation with the location of the event.

Chef Won Kim (Marketing Event Chef At Whole Foods Lincoln Park and Private Chef) is the man behind the mystery and has been for the past “Brew Ha Ha” and “Brew Hey Hey” events that showcase local home brewers. This is the ONLY event in Chicago to showcase home brewing and the idea behind this fun event series is to experience one-of-a-kind beers from up-and-coming brewers with baked treats from yours truly, Chef Won Kim.

Here’s the list of featured brewers that you’re taste buds will be gushing over:

Brutally Honest Brewing, Powell Brewhouse, Big Dicks Brewing, Soma Ale Works, Corazon, Rockwell Brewing, New Oberpfalz and Second Story Brewing

So it’s safe to say that I know where I’ll be next Saturday & I suggest you meet me there.

-Amanda Rivera

I heard the news on the radio.  Taste of Chicago is going to be revamped (again) for 2012.  The Taste will be chopped from 10 days to 5, and moved from the 4^th of July week to mid-July (July 11-15 to be exact).  I had always thought that the excitement from the Taste came from its grand proportions – of food, music and crowds. Yes, I said it, the crowds.  The immense, hungry crowds walking their way into Grant Park, bibs tied on to catch the drool, in anticipation of sampling the flavors that make Chicago the dining capital of the world!  The Taste was the thing to do leading up to the 4^th of July.

So why make these changes?  The organizers want the focus to be put back into the food – with renowned chefs coming in, featuring not only Chicago favorites, but also “offerings from Chicago’s new and emerging culinary scene” – - less festival and more “foodie”.  And the reason for the change in date? It would mean less competition with other festivals that take place during that busy and bustling summer holiday, like Naperville’s Ribfest and Milwaukee’s Summerfest.

For me, the Taste of Chicago was the big kickoff to summer.  It was the turkey leg in hand, triple scoop of ice cream, and deep dish pizza enjoyment, while waiting for Elvis Costello one night and the spectacular fireworks production on another, simply feeling that sense of awe to be there.  That is now a thing of the past.  We’ll have to wait until the middle of summer to see just exactly what the new Taste will look like, but I’m sure I won’t be the only one who’ll still be heading there, with drool bib in hand.

Click here for upcoming details on Taste of Chicago 2012.

- Jocelyn Flojo

I moved to Illinois from New Jersey a month ago with big plans of starting my young life in Chicago. Almost every day a Chi-town veteran asks me one question, why Chi? You would think that having been so close to New York City I would get sucked into its gravitational pull, but no, I found asweet escape from those filthy streets. Coming from the NYC area few peoplerealize how delightfully overrated NYC truly is. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking my tri-state, but I certainly had a few clear reasons to leave the city that never sleeps for its Midwestern equivalent. Here are my top ten reasons to move to Chicago!

#10 Super Speedy Service – I ordered a sandwich for lunch today and as soon as she handed me my receipt the chef handed me my sandwich. Nice.

#9 Gorgeous and safe parks – No doubt you’ll find a park that fits your recreational needs in the largest park district in the US!

#8 Travelling with the Chicago Grid System – It’s impossible to get lost when the street signs tell you how far you are from your destination. Who needs a GPS when you’ve got the grid?

#7 Reasonable rent – Seriously I pay $550 a month and have a gorgeous room, gigantic closet and excellent roommates. This must be heaven.

#6 Swimming in Lake Michigan! – Clear water, hot beach bods, endless sunshine and waves

#5 Beautiful and clean streets with an amazingly clear skyline – With everything that Chicago has to offer I’m not surprised that it looks like a Winter Wonderland in January and a Shore side Metropolis in July.

#4 The food will make your taste buds dance – There’s no need to be fearful of where your fish came from or how long the veggies have been out. Food here is fresh and delicious, from subs to soups to brie sandwiches, you’re pallet will thank you.

#3 Summer festivals – What beats Lollapalooza, Taste of Chicago, Chicago Air & Water show, Chicago Jazz and World Music Festival?

#2 Endless labyrinth of night activities – Besides bar/club hopping, crazy last minute suggestions from friends will lead you to a verysuccessful night

#1 Reason to move to Chicago: The amazing Midwesterners who always seem to have time for a conversation – This is an excellent way to find out what’s going on around the city and make cool new friends.

Having never been to Chicago prior to now I had no idea what to expect of the city, but what I found was something I wasn’t willing to let go of any time soon. Chicago is a gorgeous, clean, whimsical town full of quality entertainment and class A people. Why would you ever leave?

-Wanjiku Kairu

‘Tis the season for holiday parties and sippin’ on spirits – but it is also a great time to give to those in need during this Holiday Season. Here is your chance to combine the two! From December 13-18 at Marigold, a unique Indian restaurant in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, they will donate 25% of its sales from customers who take one of two simple steps to show that they are supporters of Care For Real.

Care For Real strives to help their neighbors in the Edgewater community by providing food, clothing, and counseling services to those in need. Help them with their efforts.

1. Print out the “I support Care For Real” flyer on Marigold’s Facebook page and show it to your server.
- OR -
2. Show your server that you have “Checked-In” on Foursquare or Facebook to Marigold.

Also, keep an eye out for special deals at the restaurant for Care For Real supporters, such as half off all bottles of wine. Cheers to that!

- Evan Jones

I can’t believe this is the 20th anniversary of Green Tie Ball! I remember when I was graduating college and wanted to get involved in one charity that I knew could allow me to make a difference. I had always heard the best party of the year was called Green Tie Ball, so I did my research and found it was so much more than that I had to get involved.

The Green Tie Ball benefits Chicago Gateway Green, whose mission is dedicated to greening and beautifying Chicago’s expressways, gateways and neighborhoods. The non-profit organization was founded in 1986 and since then, have helped to improve both the local environment and the quality of life for millions of Chicago residents and visitors. They are able to improve our communities through three key programs: the Expressway Partnership, transforming city roadways into landscaped parkways; the International Sculpture Program, beautifying gateways through the installation of public, international art on expressways; and the Tree Partnership Program, a large-scale tree planting initiative that transforms vacant land into tree-filled green spaces.

12 years ago I started by stuffing gift bags and helping with whatever I could, I went on to book entertainment, then chaired the event and now was just voted on to the Executive Board of Directors! This Saturday marks the 20th anniversary and it’s back where it originated at A. Finkl & Sons and a “Return to Emerald City” theme. Saturday will be Co-Chaired by Tim Smithe – Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design and Stephanie Castagnier – NBC’s The Apprentice 2010, plus we have over 60 of Chicago’s top restaurants including Sunda & Rockit Bar & Grill. Expect fabulous drinks and the best entertainment by Too White Crew, Dr. Bombay and tunes by DJ’s Rock City, Yours Truly and DJ Galvan – with the official after-party at The Underground. Tickets and more info – www.gatewaygreen.org.

- Jon Landan

A lot of talk is given to fast food and the restaurants that are associated with the “eat on the go” movement. However, there is a shift taking place right here in Chicago which prides itself on moving at a slower pace – actually tasting your meal and knowing that it was prepared through sustainable means. Slow Food, a not-for-profit organization believes that “the food we eat should taste good and that our food should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health.” Additionally, Slow Food focuses on the producers, stating that they “should receive fair compensation for their work, and be treated with respect in their communities.”

With over 300 members associated with the Chicago chapter, eating slow is catching on fast. If you are interested in joining or simply want to learn more, bring your appetite to the 3rd Annual Goose Island Pig Roast on September 11, 2011 from 2-5p.m. at the Goose Island Beer Company, located at 1800 West Fulton Street. Featuring Slagel Farm pigs prepared by local chefs, beer and soft drinks by Goose Island Brewery, and coffee by Intelligenstia. Not interested in locally raised pork? A vegetarian dish will be provided by Uncommon Ground. Tickets are $60 dollars, proceeds benefiting Slow Food Chicago.

-  Evan Jones, Intern

I am constantly asked by customers to lend tips and tricks on anything pastry related. I lend such advice, including the importance of selecting the finest and freshest ingredients available, and making sure you’re always using the right tool to execute the right technique.  Recently, I found myself in a complete role reversal!  I was asked by Food Network Challenge (picture above is of all the teams!) to compete in creating a 3-foot tall moving dinosaur cake. The process of making this is as daunting as it sounds.

I enlisted the help of my amazing cake decorator, Sunny Lee. Among the four teams competing, we were the only rookies. Knowing that our lack of experience could potentially hurt our chances of winning the $10,000 prize, we pounded our elbows to the baking table. When we had been selected to compete, my first call was to my mentor, and owner of the French Pastry School of Chicago (where I graduated in December ’03), Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer. He politely let me know, “if you do not win, you cannot come home.” My particular affinity for Chicago (where I have lived my entire life) motivated me to put in some extra hours, taking some brush-up classes from Chef Jacquy, and giving Sunny, aka Super Sunny, the green light to make sure she whipped me back into top notch pastry shape. A lot of what I currently do is business related (meeting with brides about wedding cakes, etc) so I was on a mission to prove that I “still had it in me!”

Besides the sheer raw talent of Super Sunny, our advantage was a tremendous amount of support and expert advice from family, friends and pastry industry experts. My mom suggested I call my cousin, Matt Flynn, who builds sets for a living. Matt ultimately created an impressive motor contraption that allowed the dinosaur’s head to move (and tail to wiggle). Chef Jacquy lent us several innovative pastry tools and taught us a few new techniques to have up our sleeves to impress the judges. After just a few weeks of training, we headed to Colorado to compete (with five gigantic suitcases of tools and ingredients in tote). Quite serendipitously, my best friend, Erin Slater, had just moved to Denver two months prior and opened up her kitchen to provide a space for us to prep our items for the Big Day and a laundry list of items to have waiting for us upon arrival (you know, all of the essentials like air-dust spray, a large fan, knives, scissors, etc). My Uncle Page was given the ultra important task of buying the actual board that we would build this monstrosity of a cake on. Although Uncle Page claimed that “all three of you could stand on this board and it wouldn’t budge,” but upon moving our 3’ tall cake to the judges’ table, the board did bend, breaking a chocolate palm tree leaf!

I can’t reveal too much more, but we are hosting a viewing party at Mastro’s Steakhouse this Sunday, August 21^st (when the episode airs) at 6pm, in honor of our dear friend and Chef, Rafael Ornelas, and raising money for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation…come check us out and thank you to all of our loyal customers and fans for their incredible support!

For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit www.sarahscandies.com

-Sarah Levy -Founder, Sarah’s Candies

I woke up at 5am this morning for a BIG press day with Billy.  We had to do 5 radio shows, a live tv show & a PSA all in 5 hours when he literally just stepped off a plane from France, Hungary, and Austria 12 hours prior.  When he initially told me about how much press he wanted to do BEFORE he was live on Windy City Live- I thought it was absurd, but in all the time I have known him, I can say he pushes himself to work beyond what most people think is feasible.  The main purpose behind all this press was to talk about two events that are the very important to him to support art & theatre in Chicago & raise scholarships for kids -  The Madhatter’s Ball & The Piven Theatre Gala.

The schedule of the day went as follows:
6am – Picked up  Chicago Reader, heard BD won “Best Person to Follow on Twitter”                                                                                                                                          6:15am – Car Pickup

6:30am – Stop at Rockit to pick up Burgers
6:45am – Live on Kiss FM with Angi Taylor at Brother Fred
7:30am – J & Julian Show on B96
7:40am – Fresh with Scotty & Rebecca
7:50am – K-Hits with Eddie & Jobo
8:30am – Make-up & Producer’s Session for ABC’s Windy City Live
9-10am – Live on ABC’s Windy City Live
11am – Steve Dahl Show
11:30am – PSA Shoot for Chicago’s Go Do Good Campaign that Connects Art to Action
1-3pm – Work at Rockit Ranch Productions
3pm – Call in with Andy Giersher

I took my camera with me to show you guys what it’s like to be Behind the Scenes when you are live on radio & tv!!! It was a crazy, fun-filled day, and I was shocked to see that Billy was still even standing to make it out that night! (Billy attended a party for Factor Models and worked at Sunda later that night.  I, on the other hand, was asleep by 10pm)

By the way, for those who follow Billy on facebook & twitter – You may have seen the picture of the bird that he posted that seemed to be injured right outside his office on that day.  I’m very happy to report that by the end of the day, the bird was saved thanks to the help from the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors – we will post a video we took and share the whole story here tomorrow!

-Amy

Hey BillyDec.com readers! Matt Kochis here, Summer Intern for Billy – thought I would share this fun event happening this weekend! The Chicago Cubs are throwing their first ever “Wrigleyville Block Party!” This block party is inspired by the one-day festival held last year during the Northwestern-Illinois football game at Wrigley. The festival, nicknamed “Wildcat Way,” ended up being a great success and the Cubs are hoping the same for their three-day one. I was able to attend the Wildcat Way last year and had a blast at it. Between the food, drinks, good people, and the game, what was not to like? This block party will take place across three weekends during the summer weekend series against the Yankees, Sox, and Cardinals.

The Wrigleyville Block Party will feature live music from some of Chicago’s top cover bands, family-friendly activities such as arts and crafts, a basketball hoop attached to PNC Bank’s Virtual Wallet Van, a photo booth, a Wii Home Run Derby station, and the new Cubs Trolley complete with eight flat-screen TVs, video game consoles and more. This block party sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun and a great way for the Cubs to provide something extra for their fans. It’s nice to see them giving back to their supporters and wanting them to have an awesome time at Wrigley besides just watching the game. Rockit Wrigley is also right across the street so if you ever get hungry or thirsty and don’t want what the block party offers, there are other options out there!

The festivities will take place on the Cubs’ red and purple parking lots which are located on the west side of Wrigley Field. Party will start at 11 a.m. and go until 8 p.m. daily throughout the festival weekends starting on June 17. Come on out and support the Cubs and join in on the fun that Wrigleyville has to offer!

Fans of the Bears, helping the community, Education, great food & drink, meeting amazing people… This event is for you!!!  Chicago Bears’ Rashied Davis has supported my philanthropic events for art, theatre, feeding poor.. for years.. and I am honored to help him get the word out about how his huge heart has taken it to the next level by hosting his own huge party for a wonderful cause on Tuesday May 17th from 6-8p at Rockit Bar & Grill (22 W. Hubbard)!

This amazing event will support Rashied Davis Charities’ efforts to “teach students how to overcome obstacles to success through inspiration, preparation and discipline.” They help empower the fundamentals of reading, writing and speech to underserved kids teaching them how to apply tools to problem solve, communicate properly and just be an all around contributing member of society. I’m fully on board w/their mission, I have often talked about how communication leads to relationship building which leads to personal growth and opportunities.. And I’m always behind a fun time to help accomplish all of that!

So join us May 17th!  You can mingle with a bunch of Chicago Bears like Lance Briggs, Alex Brown, Anthony Adams, Jerry Azumah, Earl Bennett, Johnny Knox… different local celebrities, media, and all around fun supporters from everywhere who just care like you… cocktails, appetizers, silent auction & more… Get your tickets now: http://rashieddavischarities.org/homepage.aspx and I’ll see you there!