Me and my wife Dorrie will be in Chicago the middle of March celebrating our 4th anniversary and thought a gathering of the CWM and any other chicago forumites is in order on Friday March 15th. I am open to anything but a BYO restaurant in downtown Chicago is preferred. Theme?

IW

Sounds like fun but I'll be out of town, sorry.

IW, I will keep tabs on this thread. My other half will be working late and I've been given the green light to make a solo trek. Would love to meet you and share a fun evening.

I should be available.

J3

This could be a possibility for me. I will check with the boss to see if she is intereted in getting a sitter or if I'm allowed out on my own that night.

Domino is in, but that's my biggest deadline (corporate tax returns due 3/15), so it will be tough for me, but should be doable.

Count us as 1 plus 1 tentative.

Lets talk about a venue. I know a few restaurants that have hosted us in the past. Are there any that the Chicago crew have enjoyed recently? The last one we had at Boka on Halsted was a good time. If people want to try this I will call the owner as he is a good friend. There is also a good Italian restaurant named Vinci across the street from Boka that did a good job. I am open to just about anything as long as there are some non meat dishes for my wife to enjoy.

IW

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Italian Wino,

We can probably make this work. Put us down for two.

I'm in AllRed's boat...a big deadline, but because it's a Friday I can probably swing it.

Put me down for two.

I should be available, again. BOKA normally charges a pretty stiff corkage fee, so I hope that you'd to get them to waive it through your relationship with the chef. If so, I'd be happy with either BOKA or Vinci.

FWIW, I e-mailed Vinci and received a reply that wines 10 years or younger would have a $15 corkage fee. No fee for wines older than that.

quote:

Originally posted by billhike:
FWIW, I e-mailed Vinci and received a reply that wines 10 years or younger would have a $15 corkage fee. No fee for wines older than that.

Bill- should we just hit that burrito joint on Western?? Ha ha, j/k.

$15 at Vinci is reasonable.

Otherwise I know in the past some folks met at Kiki's Bistro for an offline, and I hear it was solid.

The burrito place after Flogging Molly on Saturday might be a possibility!

I live around the corner from Davinci...would be interested in attending.

UPDATE

I got Boka restaurant to lower their corkage fee to $15. They are willing to do a pre arranged 3 or 4 course meal or we can just order off the menu. What do you guys prefer? If we submit our wines to them in advance they will come up with items that match with them. My preferences lean toward Boka over Vinci. I have made a reservation for 15 people. If we need to adjust this number we can. If you need to reach me offline my email is justinhome at msn dot com.

IW

Looks good at the present time so put me down for 2.

VM

It looks like we are out. I forgot about an annual charity event that we attend. Sorry to miss this.

Boka sounds good. put me down for 1.

There's no way I am going to miss BOKA...we're in for two IW, thanks for setting it up. Absolutely fine with either the regular or prearranged menu. Some of the best dishes I've ever had have come out of Guiseppe's kitchen...will be fantastic either way.

In for 2, thanks for arranging!

Lets all post the wine you would like to bring. I think it would be fun to submit them to the wine director so he can share them with the kitchen. If we decide to go with the pre arranged menu I will ask them to go with a flat price per person, so everyone knows in advance. We still have 6 weeks before the dinner so that should give us plenty of time to come up with some interesting wines to share. I am seriously thinking of a young Flaccianello or an aged rioja gran reserva (1983 Bodegas Martinez Bujanda Conde de Valdemar Gran Reserva). This could change though.

IW

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Italian Wino,

Planning to be in town to visit a friend for St. Paddy's weekend, so please tentatively put me down for 2. Thanks! Will be great to meet some of the famed Chicago crew.

Here's hoping your schedule plays out favorably, newsguy!

IW, when I saw that you made the reservation for 15, a little voice in my head began shouting "magnum" repeatedly.

Some options:
1995 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne
1989 Chateau Beychevelle
Some older Siduri Pinots (1998/1999), back when Adam was making some lovely wines that didn't push the ripeness envelope.

We can always just keep an eye on things and fill in with a couple of 750s of something else we'd need.

Allred,

A magnum or two plus some 750s would be fun. That Corton Charlemagne sounds awesome. I have not given the restaurant a start time. Is 7:30pm good for everyone?

IW

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Italian Wino,

quote:

Originally posted by Italian Wino:
Allred,

A magnum or two plus some 750s would be fun. That Corton Charlemagne sounds awesome. I have not given the restaurant a start time. Is 7:30pm good for everyone?

IW

I think 7:30p sounds perfect. Love that this will be a Friday.

I'll have to think about wine...will post at a later time.