Taste the Trends Tour a huge success

For the second year, CSP Information Group co-hosted the annual Taste the Trends Tour, sponsored by Basic American Foods. The tour, which takes operators to various hot Chicago restaurants, brings together more than 130 operators on both the restaurant and non-commercial side for a day of innovative food, inspiring spaces and the latest trends. Diane Anderson, wife of Publisher Bill Anderson, and Robin Jensen, director of marketing for Basic American, spent months scouring the city for restaurants to impress the attendees, and their efforts did not disappoint.

The day began with the group gathering at The French Market, a collection of more than 30 food entrepreneurs and purveyors offering everything from coffees and teas to interesting takes on raw cuisine. We spent about an hour sampling foods and beverages from nine of the vendors before breaking up into four groups for our individual restaurant tours.

I myself was most taken with the raw “ravioli,” made with beets, and lemon curd with almonds and hazelnuts at RAW, and the lox and naan at Klay Oven Kitchen, which was an interesting take on lox and bagels.

The theme of the day was “reinvention,” and the restaurants on the tour certainly lived up to the billing. At Tavernita, a pintxo concept, we got to experience a new style—for Americans, at least—of Spanish cuisine, the bar food of the Basque region. Among our samplings were pork belly bocadillos, croquetas made with fermin serrano ham and served with a saffron aioli, meatballs made with wagyu beef, pork and a hazelnut romesco and even some housemade sodas.

At The Pump Room we got to see how to take an iconic space and transform it into something bright, hip and vibrant. Ian Shrager has taken the old Ambassador East Hotel and reinvented it as Public Chicago. Its restaurant may have kept its old name and the hundreds of celebrity photographs that adorned the walls but everything else about the space screams new life and vitality. Chef Massod Reaume prepared for us a tasting that included organic fried chicken served over butter braised spinach with housemade habanero hot sauce butter, roast carrot and avocado salad with a cumin seed citrus vinaigrette and a warm rhubarb cobbler. I was equally impressed with the food and the space’s transformation.

Pat Cobe, senior editor at our sister publication Restaurant Business had this to say about the two restaurants her group visited:

Paris Club: In step with the Taste the Trends theme of reinvention, RJ and Jerrod Melman, sons of Lettuce Entertain You founder and industry icon Richard Melman, reconfigured the space at the 25-year-old Brasserie Jo to create Paris Club. The new, multilevel restaurant features executive chef Tim Brown’s modern take on French food in the 350-seat dining area on the main floor and a hip night club on the top floor.

“The younger generation isn’t really aware of traditional French cuisine,” Brown told the attendees. “Our goal is to give them approachable French comfort foods presented a bit more elegantly and intended for sharing.” The three-course tasting included a starter of Croque Monsieur Fingers with Dip Madame—a shareable form of classic French grilled cheese sandwich cut into strips to dunk into a creamy béchamel dip. Coq au Vin was presented in a large shallow bowl, sliced into shareable portions. And the dessert was a shareable sampler that included chocolate mousse, crispy apple strudel “ends” and pistachio pot de crème.

Bar Toma: The gathering places of Italy are captured in Bar Toma, with its “bars” dedicated to well-loved iconic Italian foods—pizza, gelato, mozzarella and espresso. There’s also a regular bar serving wine, beer and cocktails. The restaurant was opened last December by revered Chicago chef Tony Matuano, as the more casual sibling of his fine-dining destination Spiaggia, and occupies the space that was Bistro 110.

Bar Toma’s menu reflects the lively space, featuring Italian favorites based on artisanal ingredients and authentic techniques. The group was treated to a tasting of hand-rolled mozzarella, arancini with spring peas, charred carrots with Capriole goat cheese and aged balsamic vinegar and seared Mortadella made by Chef Effy with his house-made giardinera (pickled vegetables including local ramps.) The Roman-style pizza had a crisp but chewy crust, thanks to Bar Toma’s 800-degree wood-burning pizza oven. Everyone still had room for dessert—bite-sized tartufi of frozen mint gelato covered with bittersweet chocolate.

The four groups reconvened at the end of the day at The Centered Chef, a combination culinary school and event space, where the center’s chefs teamed with Basic America chefs to prepare a tasting of items made with potatoes and black beans.

Operators left with their bellies full of food and the heads full of ideas they can consider for their own operations over the months to come.