Chicago to host gourmet food fest

Chicago will host a three-day gourmet food fest next fall to elevate the city's culinary profile and give us boost in the bid for the 2016 Olympic games, Mayor Daley said Tuesday.

The effort, called Chicago Gourmet, will run Sept. 26-28 at Millennium Park and feature al things foodie, including sampling of gourmet foods and wines and celebrity chef demonstrations. Daley anticipates this will be an annual event.

Ticket cost: $150 for a one-day general pass and $250 for a two-day pass. Admission to special events affiliated with the program will be extra.

The program is modeled after one in California. Daley had wanted to tackle the Chicago event for the past few years, he said following a news conference with the Illinois Restaurant Association and dozens of leading restaurateurs, including Frontera Grill's Rick Bayless and Naha's Carrie Nahabedian.

"We have wonderful chefs and restaurants and hospitality too. I thought we should basically put together a show," he said. "I think this is a perfect time."

Daley said he had no projections for attendance numbers, but did not think that four-buck-a-gallon gas prices and increasing foods prices would hamper the initiative. " We've got the restaurant show and there's not a dent (in the industry's business)," he said of the National Restaurant Association trade show that ran through Tuesday at McCormick Place. "People are going to do business."

A few years ago, Daley launched a similar effort to focus on Chicago's fashion industry.