Sun-Times photos
It is a museum you can sink your teeth into.
The Chicago Culinary Museum and Chefs Hall of Fame will induct Chef Paul Kahan into the Chefs Hall of Fame for 2013. The hall will also induct Pastry Chef of the year Alain Roby and Industry Leader of the Year Richard Melman.
In conjunction with the honors, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proclaimed Oct. 10 as Richard Melman Day in Chicago.
And Oct. 17 as Chef Paul Kahan Day in Chicago.
And Oct. 24 as Chef Alain Roby Day in Chicago.
Take a bunch of long lunch.
The trio of culinary pioneers will be inducted in a fund raising event at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at Castle, 632 N. Dearborn. The inductees will be on hand along with an open bar, wandering feast from local restaurants, silent auction and awards presentation. Tickets are $125 and $149 at the door, if available. Brown Paper Tickets, keyword Chefs Hall of Fame).
Chef Kahan is executive chef and owner of avec, Big Star, The Publican and others. He was awarded Outstanding Chef by the James Beard Foundation earlier this year. Chef Roby is an international pastry chef and owner of All Chocolate Kitchen, a savories and pastry shop in Geneva. He is the only pastry chef to bring home three Guinness World Records: “World’s Tallest Cooked Sugar Building,” “World’s Tallest Chocolate Sculpture” with the Food Network and “The World’s Longest Candy Cane.
Chef Roby and his tallest cooked sugar sculpture.
Melman is the founder and chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, which started in 1971 with the Lincoln Park bistro R.J. Grunts.
There is no physical Chefs Hall of Fame, but the fund raiser is slated to establish a hall and museum for artifacts that have already been collected.
The museum has more than 30 chef related artifacts and Charlie Trotter has offered to donate 1,000 cookbooks. Some items will soon be on display at the Illinois Restaurant Association, 33 W. Monroe.
Chef John Kaufmann and late chef John Castro co-founded the hall of fame in 2006 in conjunction with the Chicago Chefs of Cuisine Association, Inc.. Previous inductees include Chef Charlie Trotter (2006), Chef Jimmy Bannos (2007) and Chef Rick Bayless (2008).
For more information, visit the Chicago Culinary Museum.
