USA. Live cooking demonstrations, samplings and discounts are on the menu at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway International airports as part of the annual ‘Airport Restaurant Week’ event.
The Chicago Department of Aviation’s initiative runs from 26 January to 8 February and coincides with the citywide Chicago Restaurant Week.
Passengers flying through O’Hare and Midway can experience nearly 60 cooking demonstrations and sample food from local chefs and entrepreneurs. These include Vosges Haut-Chocolat Founder Katrina Markoff, James Beard award-winning Chef Takashi Yagihashi, Big Shoulders Coffee Founder Tim Coonan, and BIG & little’s Co-Owners Gary “Big” Strauss and Tony “little” D’Alessandro.
Aspiring local chefs from Chicago’s Washburne Culinary Institute will also participate in live cooking demos. Passengers who stop by will receive a free Airport Restaurant Week chip clip and recipe book.
Airport Restaurant Week will allow travellers to preview some of the new local culinary eateries coming to Midway. Chefs will showcase new concepts and local flavours, as part of the new and improved dining and shopping options planned for the first concessions upgrade in nearly two decades. These include BIG & little’s and the return of Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch.
Snack shops at O’Hare will offer specials such as Garret Popcorn Shops’ new feature flavour, ‘Spicy Vulcan Cheese Corn’. Passengers who say “Happy Airport Restaurant Week” will receive a free donut from Dunkin’ Donuts at O’Hare on select dates, or US$1 off shoe shines at O’Hare’s Shoe Hospital locations.
At O’Hare, cooking demos will take place each weekday between 10.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. The stages are located in Terminal 2 near Gate E1, in Terminal 3 near Gate H3 and in Terminal 5 near Gate M7. At Midway, the cooking demos will occur at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each weekday in the main food court, just past the security checkpoint.
CDA Commissioner Ginger S. Evans said: “We are pleased to partner with some of Chicago’s finest dining establishments and brands to bring a taste of Chicago to O’Hare and Midway travellers through our award-winning Airport Restaurant Week. This annual airport event coincides with the popular Chicago Restaurant Week, bringing the best of our city’s renowned culinary scene right to our passengers, and enhancing the travel experience for millions visiting Chicago’s airports.”
A full schedule of Airport Restaurant Week live cooking events and promotions can be found here.