On March 24 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Taste on Chestnut (505 Chestnut St., Winnetka, 847-441-0134) will celebrate the culinary talents of Chicago’s best Latin chefs with a charitable evening of music, salsa dancing and food.
The participating chefs are part of The Club de Chefs Latinos, an organization founded in 2012 by chef Cesar Reyes (Bona Catering) with the purpose of building community amongst the city’s Latin chefs.
Sergio Correa, executive chef of Taste on Chestnut, said he and Reyes started talking casually about getting Latin chefs together a few years ago. After that, “We decided to do it just to get together, cook together, have fun,” Correa said.
Since then, they have hosted four similar Latin Night events at restaurants such as Zapatista and Ravinia Green Country Club. This year, Correa approached his boss and the restaurant’s owner, Steve Leviton, about hosting it at Taste on Chestnut, where he has worked since November.
“I thought this would be a nice opportunity for the restaurant and the guests to enjoy something different, to enjoy several restaurants in one place,” Correa said.
The chefs, including Chico Vilchez of Nacional 27, Ricardo Amaya of Zapatista, Carlos Acaña of Howl at the Moon and Rodolfo Morales of Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, will prepare dishes representative of their respective restaurants at individual stations.
The stations’ offerings will include everything from pan-seared scallops and aged New York strip steak to grilled artichoke bruschetta and Humboldt Fog cheese and French bean salad.
The event is also a chance to highlight a group that isn’t often acknowledged in the restaurant industry.
“You know, for a lot of years Latin chefs have not been recognized. We’ve been in the industry for decades and we’ve never been given the opportunity to move forward,” Correa said. “This has been an example, but also an opportunity, for Latin chefs to showcase their talent and show the city of Chicago and suburbs that we are a presence in restaurants.”
A portion of proceeds from the evening will go to providing canned goods, shoes and toys for Casa Hogar and Asilo San Vincente, two charitable organizations in Michoacan, Mexico.
Tickets are $48 and include unlimited tastings of all buffet stations and featured Latin wines. They can be purchased by calling Taste on Chestnut.
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