Plan: 2008 Heartland Gathering in Chicago Aug 8-10

[tino27]

I also really want to come for Tom's bread class but this will mean a midnight bus ride from Cleveland arriving at 5:15am. Is there anything open that early around Union Station that I could pop into for a couple hours until the class starts?

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torakris --

I'm flattered you would sit through a five hour bus ride to come to the workshop.

Know that you can also come in the afternoon as well. I'll be covering the basics again for those that want/need it and we'll have plenty of opportunity to bake our little hearts out! And just in case I didn't mention it, I will be putting together a packet of all the recipes that we make for participants to take with them. That way if you can only make the morning or afternoon, you won't miss out on too much.

Should I put you down for a definite or a probable for the bread workshop?

Thanks,

Tom

[Alex]

Regarding Saturday's lunch and shopping, hand-outs will be provided to everyone, listing places to shop and have lunch.  Additionally, I and other locals will be happy to make driving runs to various shopping venues beyond the market.  Based on previous years, this is something I think we can simply improvise on Saturday morning.

Speaking of Saturday lunch, eGS member nr706 has very generously put together this awesome interactive Google map, which lists a whole bunch of places in Evanston (and nearby) to have lunch.  My hope is to provide similar maps, listing both shopping venues and event locations for the weekend (in addition to the handouts). A short list of nearby vendors can be found here.

Is everyone getting excited?

=R=

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Yes, the excitement has started in Michigan!

Thanks, Ronnie and nr706. Here's a good pdf document that can supplement the Google map. The first 15 pages (there are 48 total) cover Evanston restaurants and coffee houses. There's also some information later on about bakeries, liquor stores, etc.

Edited June 21, 2008 by Alex (log)

[Alex]

Would it be possible to pin the week's schedule to perhaps the top of this post? I'm going crazy searching and trying to put together a list of what and where everything is going to be, and the cost, timing, etc. Can anyone help this Luddite?

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The best I was able to do was add the list of events (with the nice links you provided) to Alex's very first post in this thread. So all anyone needs to do is check post #1 and all the information is there.

I am more than happy to help out in any prep, I'm not sure that I want the responsibility of a dish though... and I absolutely put my foot down on deep frying for 90 people!

I also really want to come for Tom's bread class but this will mean a midnight bus ride from Cleveland arriving at 5:15am. Is there anything open that early around Union Station that I could pop into for a couple hours until the class starts?

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There's Lou Mitchell's, open at 5:30. The little map on their web site doesn't show it, but Canal, where the MegaBus stop is, runs between Union Station and the river. The stop is between Jackson and Adams

[Marmish]

I'm totally excited! I am local and can bring a cooler. I will also make a salad/side and maybe an appetizer. Ronnie, if there is anything I can do, please let me know. I am on summer break as of today, whoo hoo!

[Kerry Beal]

In discussion with Tammy it seems that the most logical time and place for a chocolate workshop is on Friday afternoon. We will need to find someone local who has (air conditioned) space available for us to work in.

So anyone with an idea of where we could hold it - let me know - and then we will see who else wants to join in.

Calipoutine and I get off the train around 11:30 on Friday, so we just need to allow enough time to stop off at the hotel and for me to find my way to the workshop location.

[tammylc]

In discussion with Tammy it seems that the most logical time and place for a chocolate workshop is on Friday afternoon.  We will need to find someone local who has (air conditioned) space available for us to work in.

So anyone with an idea of where we could hold it - let me know - and then we will see who else wants to join in. 

Calipoutine and I get off the train around 11:30 on Friday, so we just need to allow enough time to stop off at the hotel and for me to find my way to the workshop location.

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You should also take into account that Amtrak frequently runs an hour late.

[prasantrin]

In discussion with Tammy it seems that the most logical time and place for a chocolate workshop is on Friday afternoon.  We will need to find someone local who has (air conditioned) space available for us to work in.

So anyone with an idea of where we could hold it - let me know - and then we will see who else wants to join in. 

Calipoutine and I get off the train around 11:30 on Friday, so we just need to allow enough time to stop off at the hotel and for me to find my way to the workshop location.

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You should also take into account that Amtrak frequently runs an hour late.

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And the morning session of the bread workshop doesn't finish until 1, so if people wanted to do both, they wouldn't be available until 1, then would need time to get to wherever the chocolate workshop will be.

It's too bad the bread workshop and the chocolate workshop can't share the same space.

[Jean Blanchard]

Forgive me if I'm missing this. Did we find a space for the bread workshop?

[prasantrin]

Forgive me if I'm missing this.  Did we find a space for the bread workshop?

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AFAIK, no, but now the search is for two spaces rather than just one.

I wonder if the Saturday space would be available for Friday, too? Or would it be too expensive?

[tino27]

Forgive me if I'm missing this.  Did we find a space for the bread workshop?

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AFAIK, no, but now the search is for two spaces rather than just one.

I wonder if the Saturday space would be available for Friday, too? Or would it be too expensive?

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Jean -- Nope, we haven't identified a space for the bread workshop quite yet.

Prasantrin -- I initially approached Ronnie with this thought as well. Unfortunately, the church where we will be having the gathering on Saturday is unavailable for use on Friday.

In general -- I would be happy to share whatever space we nail down with a chocolate workshop. Just know that whatever ovens we have available will be on for most of the day. This might make something as temperature sensitive as working with chocolate a bit difficult.

[tammylc]

Sharing space with hot ovens is not going to be good on the chocolate, sadly.

But a couple of people up-thread indicated that they had kitchens for possible use, but that they only had one oven, which made them less than ideal for the bread workshop. We probably don't need any ovens for the chocolate workshop, so perhaps one of those would be a possibility for that?

I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with creative ideas for kitchen space for both groups. Hmmm.

[tammylc]

Hi

I'd like to help.  I would be happy to help someone or I can cook.  I'm just a home cook but I could do brownies or an apple cobbler.  I also  can do vegtables with pasta as a side dish for a large group, but it will have dried pasta(with onions, mushrooms, spinach, fresh herbs and whatever else looks good at the market).

Also what about wine? I'd be happy to buy a case of prosecco. Not having been in the past I don"t know what your proceedure is.  We will be flying in on Wed. and staying around the Hyatt/Michagan Av. area and will not have a car.

Tobi

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Most of us are just home cooks, Tobi, so no problem there. You sound more confident about dessert than a side dish - should I put you down for that?

Re. wine - i think the plan was to use some of the dinner funds to purchase wine. i expect there will be a wine buying excursion on Saturday...

[CaliPoutine]

I havent really read thru this site, but here is a rentable commerical kitchen space in Evanston.

Click

[ronnie_suburban]

I'm totally excited!  I am local and can bring a cooler.  I will also make a salad/side and maybe an appetizer.  Ronnie,  if there is anything I can do, please let me know.  I am on summer break as of today, whoo hoo!

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Thanks, Marmish. I'm sure I'll come up with something and I'll be in touch shortly.

=R=

[ronnie_suburban]

I havent really read thru this site, but here is a rentable commerical kitchen space in Evanston.

Click

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This is the first location I approached about hosting the Saturday event and while the location was excellent in many regards, the price was prohibitive.

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[CaliPoutine]

I havent really read thru this site, but here is a rentable commerical kitchen space in Evanston.

Click

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This is the first location I approached about hosting the Saturday event and while the location was excellent in many regards, the price was prohibitive.

=R=

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ahhhhh, too bad. It looked great on the website. Is the price the same on a Friday vs. Saturday? Would they be willing to negotiate?

[Sam Iam]

It looks like $130 per four hour shift. Ouch!

[Sam Iam]

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[prasantrin]

This link is for a cooking school, but it offers ideas for kitchen spaces they use for some of their classes. I don't know about the costs, however.

[CaliPoutine]

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ahhhhh, too bad. It looked great on the website. Is the price the same on a Friday vs. Saturday? Would they be willing to negotiate?

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[ronnie_suburban]

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ahhhhh, too bad.  It looked great on the website.  Is the price the same on a Friday vs. Saturday?  Would they be willing to negotiate?

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Poutine, As I recall, you're the lawyer in the crowd. Are you offering to handle negotations??

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Trust me on this one. They quoted us over $2,000 to use the space for Saturday's event and many of the supplies we needed for the meal (like tables, chairs, tableware, etc.) would not have been included in that quote. There was even some possibility, due the nature of what we are doing, that we'd have to provide our own insurance, too. Of course, this was all discussed back in the middle of winter, so it is possible that they'd be more negotiable now.

That said, I got the distinct feeling that, because they are a relatively new business, they'd rather have the space stay vacant than let it go for less than their target price. Even with the lure of great publicity as part of this (including possible media coverage), even though it'll be a weekend day in August (i.e more likely an "off" day for a professionally oriented venue) and even though I told them exactly what the church was going to charge us, they came in about 4x higher than the church did.

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[Kerry Beal]

I don't suppose the French Pastry school would lend us space? They've got chocolate space and baking space side by side - but I'm betting they have classes going on a Friday even in the summer.

[Marmish]

I don't suppose the French Pastry school would lend us space?  They've got chocolate space and baking space side by side - but I'm betting they have classes going on a Friday even in the summer.

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What about Gallery 37? They have cooking classes. I've never been there, though.

[moosnsqrl]

I've noticed this place at MerchandiseMart before. Their classes and hosted events are pricey but they specifically say to call for pricing on kitchen rental/events - making me think that, if they don't have anything scheduled, they might be willing to bargain. It also indicates they have a second location which could be better or worse. Anyway, if a local wants to invest a phone call it might be worth a try.

[ronnie_suburban]

Speaking of Saturday lunch, eGS member nr706 has very generously put together this awesome interactive Google map, which lists a whole bunch of places in Evanston (and nearby) to have lunch.  My hope is to provide similar maps, listing both shopping venues and event locations for the weekend (in addition to the handouts). A short list of nearby vendors can be found here.

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As promised, here is a link to a Google map of all the common venues for weekend. I did not include hotels because it seems like people will be staying all over the place. As things develop further, I'll update the map accordingly.

eGS Heartland Gathering Map - 2008

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