Chicago Restaurant Reviews

Alinea
Avec
The Aviary
Do-Rite Donuts
Frontera Grill
Giordano's Pizza
Longman and Eagle
Next Restaurant (Trio menu)
The Office (Grant Achatz')
Parson's Chicken and Fish (Logan Square)

Special Viewing Party: Bizarre Foods - Baja at La Guelaguetza

A fellow foodblogger, Street Gourmet LA, has made it big. You may have seen him recently as a guest judge on Top Chef Masters: Scary Surf & Turf episode. Now he's going to be on screen with Andrew Zimmern, acting as his guide in the Bizarre Foods episode in Baja!

La Guelaguetza on 3014 W. Olympic Blvd will be holding a special viewing party for him on Monday June 14th (hopefully on their new 150" screen?) and will be offering some great $5 special deals.
The $5 specials include chapulines (grasshoppers), Taquitos, Clayudas, and some awesome specialty mezcal and tequila cocktails including the Donaji garnished with crushed agave worm salt and other less adventurous cocktails.

The party starts at 6 PM and the viewing will start at 7 PM. There will also be a special message from Andrew Zimmern via satellite and everyone is invited!

Giveaway: Wine Competition Swag Bag + Tickets to LA County Fair

I was recently invited to preview/taste the winning wines of the 71st Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, selected from 3,165 wines by 75 judges. Alas, I can't attend the preview because I'm out of town, but they generously offered a gift bag for me to give away to one lucky reader!

The gift bag, valued at $75, will include:

• A variety of spirits and olive oil samples from this year's competition.
• A pair of tickets to the L.A. County Fair
• Vouchers to the wine-tasting seminars at this year's Fair.

Before you enter, make sure you can attend the L.A. County Fair!





You can get up to 2 entries. Here's how to enter:
1. Leave a comment with your contact information below.
2. Tweet: "Win a gift bag($75 value) from LA Int'l Wine Competition via @gourmetpigs! Enter here: http://bit.ly/afgZxL "
Once you tweet, leave me a separate comment telling me you did so (easier for me to count the entries this way).


Once you win, I will contact you for your mailing address and they will mail you your gift bag.

You have until midnight on Thursday, June 17 to enter. Good luck!

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Also, the LA International Wine & Spirits Competition is also holding a fundraiser, Wine & Cars Under the Stars, where for the first time the public can taste the winning wines. Taking place on June 19, tickets for this event are $100 each and benefit The Learning Centers at Fairplex, which offers educational programming for the community.