Candid Fare

11/06/2023

11/01/2023

“How can food transcend borders?”

Candid Fare hosts author Laura Tillman of "The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo Garcia" at Plant Chicago for a night filled with vibrant conversation, new connections, and inspired food!

From growers to fieldworkers to chefs to consumers, our global food systems are more connected than ever before. But even as those connections enrich and inspire, they are also deeply unequal.

At this meal, we will come together to ask:
🥬How do borders reinforce and exacerbate inequalities in our food system?
🥑What would a more equitable system look like?
🍓What can we do to move closer to that new reality?

We look forward to exploring these questions with you, alongside our featured author, Laura Tillman, special guest author, Alejandra Oliva, and our 5-course collaborative menu between Candid Fare chef, Delaney Workman, and Chef Angelica Del Toro.

Sign up ASAP through the Eventbrite link below!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/salon-dinner-book-event-how-can-food-transcend-borders-tickets-734422446307?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

08/05/2023

• Kendall Hill •

Food Consumer

See: Pans
Smell: Spices
Feel: Warmth

“You can be creative with every meal that you make, thinking on the fly, or asking what a dish needs that it didn’t have last time. I think about that all the time when I am making food. It reflects how you want to interact with the world. Food brings out my need to explore, and I give attention to that.”

~

To me, food is all about love, family and community. In my childhood memories, my stepfather made family meals for us each night and we all sat around the dinner table. Now, most of my recent experiences involving food are centered around my friends. I feel that people are finding their own communities, or chosen families, made up of their friends. We are doing things that would traditionally be seen within familial structures, like cooking…

If you want to read more about Kendall’s food story, head over to https://candidfare.com/kendall-hill/!

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05/30/2023

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”
― Brené Brown

Come join Art Camp Chicago and Candid Fare for “Creative Blocks”, a workshopped networking night filled with food, conversation, and the opportunity to reinvigorate your sense of community and connectedness within Chicago’s creative scene.

Just like sharing a meal with friends old and new, “Creative Blocks” seeks to break down the barriers that often keep creatives isolated from each other.

What “blocks” do you experience in your specific field? What have you learned that you would like to pass on to a creative just getting professionally started? Through shared food, guided conversation and playful exercises, Art Camp and Candid Fare will help you to expand your professional network and artistic community here in Chicago!

Sign up before June 8th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creative-block-creative-networking-tickets-640612899427?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

05/24/2023

Are you a fine-artist? Set-designer? Curator? Chef? Or looking to jump into a creative field for the first time?

Join local, women-owned businesses Art Camp Chicago and Candid Fare for “Creative Blocks”, an informative networking night filled with food, conversation, and the opportunity to reinvigorate your sense of community in Chicago’s creative scene.

Leading the life of a creative takes guts. What is your creative story? What “blocks” are you experiencing in your field? What lessons have you learned in your journey? Through guided conversation, shared food, and playful exercises, this one-time-only event will reinvigorate your sense of connectedness like minded creatives.

SIGN UP BEFORE JUNE 8TH HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creative-block-creative-networking-tickets-640612899427

03/30/2023

Who is ready for a tasty menu drop??

For our partner dinner with Plant Chicago , Chef Delaney dreamed up a menu honoring circular economies by focusing on companion plants. Companion planting is the practice of growing different plants together for mutual benefit. This symbiotic relationship served as inspiration not only for the menu, but for the dinner as whole—holding space for community members and leaders to spark meaningful conversations and new connections.

DRINK:
🍋Lavender Lemonade
Companions: Lavender & Lemon

WELCOME:
🥬Endive, Beet Hummus, Pecans
Companions: Endives & Beets

FIRST:
🍄Fried Mushrooms, Cauliflower Sauce
Companions: Mushrooms & Brassicas

🥔Potato Cakes with Chow Chow
Companions: Potatoes & Green Beans

SECOND:
🍚Pea and Mint Risotto
Companions: Pea & Mint

🍓Strawberry and Spinach Panzanella
Companions: Strawberries & Spinach

THIRD:
🫘Tomato Braised Beans, Cornbread, Sauercorn
Companions: Beans & Corn

🧅Charred Onions, Chipotle Sauce, Wild Rice
Companions: Onions & Bell Peppers

LAST:
🥭Ginger Mango Coconut Crumble
Companions: Mango & Ginger

A special thank you goes out to Contemporary Farmer, Inc., Windy City Mushroom , and CultureBox for supplying such tasty ingredients!

03/23/2023

Friends! Last weekend we partnered with Plant Chicago on a community building, salon dinner focused on circular economies and food stories. This was such a special event, welcoming Back of the Yards residents and Plant Chicago supporters to a shared table filled with laugher, honesty, and tasty food! Here is a bit more about the night:

When Candid Fare ponders on “circular economies”, we like to think of living ecosystems, alive and breathing, full of people bringing their own stories and meaning to the work.

🌱What inspires an individual to be involved in this kind of network?
🌱What intentions are they bringing to this work?

Maybe the intention to care deeply, to show up, to be accountable. The intention to build, to grow, to positively contribute to their community, the intention to love the planet fully. Food is only one aspect of a circular economy, but it is integral to the system as a whole.

🍋How do people interact with their food?
🍋How do these interactions affect the structure of a circular economy?

These personal connections to food, to community, and to sustainability, are what we aimed to uncover alongside Plant Chicago and BotY residents.

03/04/2023

• Natalia Trawkowski •

Food Consumer

See: Kaleidoscope
Smell: Pickles
Feel: Love

“The fresh baguette was the foundation of the breakfast spread; the loaf would be sliced into tens of little pieces, buttered, and layered with various ingredients. My favorite was my dziadek’s homemade apricot marmalade, but savory bites included: deli meats, patés, sliced and spreadable cheeses, hard boiled eggs, sałatka jarzynowa…”

~

In this specific memory, I am about six years old. Visiting my grandparents in Warsaw was one of the few times my immediate and extended family could all spend time together. I grew up across the world from them, and as a child I wanted to feel included in this family unit. This memory sparks that feeling for me. Everyone is gathered at the table–chatting, sharing, and eating. The whole family, children included, are a part of the conversation…

If you want to read more about Natalia’s food story, head over to https://candidfare.com/natalia-trawkowski/ !

11/22/2022

“When I think ‘Pockets & Pies’, I think of my yiayia’s (grandmother’s) spanakopita, tiropita, and all the variety of ‘pitas’ found in Greek cuisine.

In Greek, ‘pita’ means pie—comforting dishes each deliciously stuffed with ingredients like spinach, cheese, eggplant, wild greens, or custardy goodness! But my yiayia’s spanakopita is a family favorite. Her dough is handmade (not store bought phyllo!), and it makes the world of difference. Three squares of her pie, accompanied with some village olives, is a satisfyingly simple meal. My yiayia’s spanakopita always fills me with the feeling of home.”

With love,
Cebe 🇬🇷

Our “Pockets & Pies” dinner is just around the corner! What will Chef Delaney draw inspiration from?

🥧 The dinner is on Thursday, December 8th and features four courses, lively discussion, and a special guest. Enter the drawing: https://forms.gle/w1wPag6BNw3jG9En7 🥧

11/18/2022

“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
-Maya Angelou

🥧 What food comforts you? 🥧

Something bubbles on the stove, snow falls silently out the window, laughter floats in from the next room, a warm embrace is welcomed. These feelings of ease and comfort are graciously greeted in the winter months alongside nourishing meals that remind us of “home”.

✨ Come join us for “Pockets & Pies”, on December 8th! Sign up here: https://forms.gle/Tg2FBLrc9Sjt7mzS7 ✨

10/31/2022

“You can’t use up creativity. The more the you use, the more you have.” –Maya Angelou

Last call to sign-up for Candid Fare’s “Night of Noods”. We will be drawing inspiration from all the kooky forms of noodles found around the world to facilitate a night focusing on creative expression!

When was the last time you felt creative? Enter the dinner drawing to get those creative juices flowing! We have a very special local partner joining us (as always!), and we think you all will have fun, fun, fun!

Dinner drawing: https://forms.gle/jZ8yJZPPV5BFQmKt8

01. “Judy Trimming Toenails, Yellow Wall”, Tom Wesselmann
02. “Waiting to Ripen”, Bianca Nemelc
03. “Male Nude”, Egon Schiele