Quick stop at Floriole Café and Bakery.
Flanked by my great friend and pastry colleague Malika Ameen– my official morning tour guide we sampled delicious treats both sweet and savoury created by owner Sandra Holl!
Prepping pavlovas, sauces, creams and caramelized garlic in the kitchens of Mindy Segal’s Hot Chocolate, surrounded by a gracious, crazy fun kitchen crew they made room for me to work amongst the doughs, desserts and pounds of freshly roasted and ground cocoa beans. Thank you!
Off to WGN-TV for a quick cooking demo, lovely host Dina enjoyed the scent of Chicken Stroganoff with Mushrooms and Vanilla wafting across the studio as she read the day’s news.
After cleaning up, I got a personal tour of the TV studio b Rick Nosek of the original Bozo's Circus Show that aired on WGN-TV for many decades. I learned there was a 15 month waiting list to attend a live taping of the beloved show seen by millions of children before it went off the air.
Returning borrowed dishes, plates and props from the multi-level kitchens of Park Hyatt Chicago generously loaned by Chef Daniel Hoefler, sous Chef Patrick Lebeau and coordinated by concierge Andrea Leavitt – I repacked, refreshed then on to Read It and Eat. Anticipating a good turnout (sorry, bit of ballet humor!) we got set up with help from Jason, Esther and Joey. With scent of garlic, vanilla and ricotta custard cups and sips of Proseco, we finished with The Anna Pavlova drizzled with pickled rose petal and raspberry sauce, layered with cream. The gorgeous scent of all things vanilla wafted though the stacks of books of beautiful bookshop and sparkling kitchen. Looking forward to returning next year and create a pop up vanilla feast @Read it and Eat!