When an April fire claimed farmer George Rasmussen's truck, trailer, generator and a sizeable amount of meats produced on his Swan Creek Farms property, Chicago chefs jumped into action. Rasmussen's products, after all, are a fixture on many a fine dining menu in town. In fact, brewmaster Greg Hall of Goose Island even provides his spent brewers grain to Rasmussen as feed for his animals (hence chef John Manion's beer-fed pork dish on Goose Island's menu).
An online auction was launched on May 20 to benefit Rasmussen, which offered a chance to have one of 16 hotshot local chefs come to your home and cook dinner for six paired with Goose Island brews. Participating chefs include Paul Virant of Vie, Dirk Flanigan of The Gage, Troy Graves of Eve, Suzy Crofton of Crofton on Wells, Cary Taylor of Chaise Lounge, Ryan Poli of Perennial, Randy Zweiban of Province, Koren Grieveson of avec, Giuseppe Tentori of BOKA, Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno, Rick Gresh of David Burke's Primehouse, Carol Wallack of Sola, Gil Langlois of Chalkboard, Mark Mendez of Carnivale, Bill Kim of UrbanBelly and Stephanie Izard of the upcoming Drunken Goat. The individual bidding in the Twitter-based online auction will end tonight, so get clicking (the highest bid we saw so far was $1,500 for Paul Virant).
The auction will wrap in grand style tonight at a final celebration at Goose Island Brewpub on Clybourn Avenue. From 6-9PM, enjoy complimentary beer and nibbles, giveaways from local restaurants and a chance to win a wine tasting from Juicy Wine Co. The entry fee is $25 per person.
