Big-time, chef-y, multi-course collaboration dinners are a dime a dozen in Chicago, but the one at
(1015 N. Rush St.) this Sunday warrants more than a cursory mention.
We’ll ignore the fact Paul Kahan (Blackbird, Avec, The Publican) and Matthias Merges (Yusho, A10, Billy Sunday) are the chefs behind the event. What’s notable is the guest of honor: John Cale, a founding member of the legendary rock collective The Velvet Underground. It’s a dinner put on by the weekly WBEZ music show Sound Opinions, and proceeds will benefit Chicago Public Media. A few tickets are still available
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for the event, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. (Full disclosure: Greg Kot is a Tribune colleague, and my editor Carmel Carrillo is the wife of co-host Jim DeRogatis.)We know Cale will be in attendance, and the menu will be inspired by the groundbreaking 1967 album “The Velvet Underground & Nico.” (Kahan tells me Nico Osteria is named after the album.) So how will the chefs interpret the album in edible form? Will there be the inevitable Cale salad? A dish called “I’m Waiting For The Ham?” “The Black Angelfood Cake’s Death Song?” A white square plate with a lone banana on it? I can go on.
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