Celebrity Chef Rick Tramonto Featured at Chefs’ Fest April 22

Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau Hosts 15th Annual Event to Showcase More than 70 Local Restaurants and Businesses        

 

Schaumburg, IL – April 4, 2008 - Celebrity chef Rick Tramonto will be providing a cooking demonstration at this year’s Chefs’ Fest held on April 22.  First started in 1993, 2008 will mark the 15th Chefs’ Fest produced by the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau.  This year the event will be at Arlington Park Racecourse, Euclid Avenue and Route 53, Arlington Heights, IL from 5-8PM. 

 

The Chefs’ Fest is a multi-faceted event featuring:

  • Food and beverage samplings
  • Cooking demonstrations by local chefs
  • “Wine 101” by Lynfred Winery
  • Entertainment by the local group the Arlingtones Barbershop Chorus
  • Special “Meet the Mascots” event featuring mascots from the Schaumburg Flyers, Chicago Shamrox and CoCo Key Water Resort

Held annually, this culinary festival provides a showcase for food and hotel members of the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau and is an outstanding opportunity to spotlight local businesses and services.  A simultaneous Bureau-sponsored Hotel Showcase trade show will host nearly 100 professional meeting planners and member hotel partners to highlight area hotel amenities.  The Hotel Showcase tradeshow group will round out their day of meetings by attending the Chefs’ Fest to sample area restaurants and other businesses.

 

Tramonto is one of Food & Wine’s Top Ten Best New Chefs and the 2002 Best Chef: Midwest Region by The James Beard Foundation.  He has garnered international attention and a host of prestigious awards for his work at Trio, Brasserie T and his renowned four-star, Relais-Gourmand restaurant Tru in Chicago, which won The James Beard Foundation 2007 Outstanding Service Award.  He also has a history of television work, including “Oprah,” “Today,” “CBS This Morning” and the Food Network.  Tramonto is opening “Tramonto’s Steak and Seafood” at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield later this year.

 

Also featured will be Joshua Humphrey, executive chef for Sam & Harry’s at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center.  Sam & Harry’s was recently listed as one of Chicago Magazine’s Best New Restaurants. 

 

Chefs’ Fest attracts more than two thousand spectators and nearly 70 local culinary and libation exhibitors.  Featured exhibitors include:

  • AmeriSuites Schaumburg
  • Arlington Park Racecourse
  • Barn of Barrington
  • Belvedere Banquets & Events
  • Bennigan's
  • Birch River Grille
  • Blue Fire Grille / Marriott Schaumburg
  • Bob Chinn's Crabhouse
  • Brass Restaurant & Brewery
  • Cappucino Catering
  • Champps Americana
  • Costco
  • Daily Herald
  • eSkape
  • Finn McCools (Ala Carte Entertainment)
  • Fox & Hound Smokehouse & Tavern/Arlington Heights
  • Fox & Hound Smokehouse & Tavern/Bloomingdale
  • Fox & Hound Smokehouse & Tavern/Schaumburg
  • Fox River Grill - Cabela's
  • Fuego Mexican Grill & Margarita Bar
  • Garden Café / DoubleTree Hotel Schaumburg
  • Golden Bean at Hotel Indigo
  • Grand Station Restaurant & Cocktails
  • IKEA
  • Indian Garden
  • Lafitte's at Embassy Suites
  • LEGOLAND Discovery Centre
  • Levy Restaurants at Arlington Park
  • Lou Malnati's
  • Lynfred Winery
  • Maggiano's Little Italy
  • McKenna's / Holiday Inn Rolling Meadows
  • Melting Pot
  • Mill Rose Restaurant
  • Morettis (Ala Carte Entertainment)
  • Morton's Steakhouse-Schaumburg
  • Pappadeux
  • PepsiAmericas
  • Qdoba Mexican Grill
  • Rainforest Cafe
  • Ram Restaurant & Brewery
  • Real Time Sports
  • River City Grille
  • Rosebud Old World Italian
  • Sam & Harry's
  • Schaumburg Flyers
  • Sega Gameworks
  • Sheraton Suites Chicago – Elk Grove Village
  • Signature Room at the 95th
  • Spring Valley Nature Center & Farm
  • Stonegate Conference & Banquet Centre
  • Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue
  • Top Golf Wood Dale
  • Tre Cena / Hyatt Regency Woodfield
  • UNO Chicago Grill
  • Vittorio De Roma - Italian Bistro
  • Walleye Grill
  • Wildfire

Tickets are $30 the day of the event or $25 for those who purchase tickets early and parking is free.  Tickets can be ordered by calling (847) 490-1010 or are available at the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau offices or though the Chefs’ Fest Website www.chefsfest.com. 

 

This will be the second year that the event will include a Food Drive benefiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository.   Last year, the Chefs’ Fest donated 20 cases of non-perishable food items to help the less fortunate across the Chicago northwest region. 

 

About Chefs’ Fest

Launched by the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau in 1993 with 30 local restaurants participating and some 300 attendees, the Chefs’ Fest has grown to more than 70 exhibitors with an attendance of more than 2,000 and enjoys the distinction of being honored seven times at Illinois’ annual Governor’s Tourism Conference as the state’s Best Restaurant Promotion.  For more information about Chefs’ Fest visit www.chefsfest.com and www.ChicagoNorthwest.com. 

 

About Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau

The Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau serves communities in Chicago’s northwest region and is currently one of the Midwest’s most dynamic destinations for group meetings and events.  The area has unsurpassed choices for lodging, shopping and entertainment.  The region is widely known for Woodfield Mall, Illinois’ largest tourist attraction and the third largest shopping complex in the nation.  More information about the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau is available at www.ChicagoNorthwest.com or by calling (800) 847-4849.

 

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