CheekyChicago

There are a few telltale signs of the peak of summer at Green City Market. Ears of bright, sweet corn have begun to appear at vendors’ stalls. A visitor to the southern end of Lincoln Park cannot avoid the perfume of fresh green and purple basil. The stroller crowds have seemed to double in size. However, this week another sort of change has come over the market. The event of the summer has nearly arrived: market regulars are waiting on pins and needles for this year’s 10th annual Green City Market Chef’s BBQ on July 15, and for good reason.

The menu for the barbecue has just been finalized, and more than 80 of Chicago’s finest chefs will be in attendance, from Rick Bayless to Carrie Nahabedian and Paul Kahan. Big names like Mindy Segal will also be showing off her barbecue chops. Restaurants as varied as The Bristol, Sepia, Smoque and Franks ‘N Dawgs will be slinging gourmet short ribs and sausages.

Tickets for the event are $100 a piece, but the price of admission is worth the access to Chicago’s best food and most impressive chefs. This is not a traditional burger-and-hot-dog barbecue; the planned dishes are impressive, and the menu boasts some daring items like bisques and galettes.

Meat lovers rejoice – the menu is replete with brisket, lamb, pork belly, beef sliders, elk sausages, among many other morsels of barbecue goodness. Vegetarian dishes like market fresh gazpacho, herbed polenta and stuffed squash blossoms are also likely to surprise. Chicago staple Eli’s Cheesecake will offer a goat’s milk basil cheesecake. To beat the heat, Michael Kornick of MK will offer market fruit syrup snowcones, made with produce from the market’s farmstands.

The word of the evening is “local.” Everything from the menu ingredients to the beer, wine and cocktail offerings will be locally sourced. Chef Bayless will whip up Guthorp Farms pork belly tacos with corn, salsa and arugula from Nichols Farm and Orchard. Goose Island, Half Acre, Lehman Orchards, Piece and Two Brothers will be pouring beer and cider. The city’s best mixologists – Lynn House of Blackbird and Josh Pearson of Sepia – will be shaking things up with drinks like a strawberry-rhubarb fizz and a  raspberry-ginger southside, all with locally-sourced spirits and fruits.

The Green City Market Chef’s BBQ is the Taste for grown-ups. This is one of Chicago’s premier food experiences, and it shines a spotlight on the city’s great chefs and the region’s great farms and food.

Another bonus: an early morning (read: 7 am) visit to Wednesday’s market might offer the best opportunity to see these world-class chefs scramble to acquire the final fresh ingredients for their barbecue menus.