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The Palm Chicago hosts a dinner Thursday at 7 PM devoted to the tequilas of Jalisco’s 130-year-old Casa Herradura. Each of four courses will be paired with a Herradura blue agave tequila—a lump crab and cantaloupe margarita starter with Herradura Silver, for instance, or an entree of oven-roasted cumin-crusted mahimahi with Herradura Añejo. Company rep Ruben Aceves will discuss Herradura history and describe the process behind each tequila. Guests get goody bags and will be entered into a raffle for a bottle of Selección Suprema, the company’s highest-end blue agave. (At retail it goes for about $300.) Reservations required. $95.
Friday’s the last day to make reservations for ChicaGourmets dinner [PDF] at Va Pensiero Wednesday, 8/13, 6:30 PM, with Count Niccolo Capponi of Villa Calcinaia, a wine- and olive-oil-making estate in Italy’s Chianti region overseen by his brother Count Sebastiano. Capponi, an archivist and professor of medieval and Renaissance history at Iowa State University, will discuss the history of the estate, which has been in his family since 1524, and demonstrate his recipe for orange risotto with taleggio and garlic, which will be served at dinner. The menu also includes a garlic-and-rosemary-marinated pork loin, a goat cheese-stuffed onion, and a chocolate-almond torte; each course will be paired with a Villa Calcinaia wine. Guests also get a bottle of Villa Calcinaia olive oil. $98.
