—The Taste of Andersonville Dinner Crawl—featuring selections from 22 restaurants—will take place Wed., Aug. 12, 6-9 p.m. The main location for the Taste of Andersonville is the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark St. Participants can choose between the Salt or Pepper routes, as well as The Whole Enchilada. Tickets are $30 for each route in advance, $35 at the door ( if available ); The Whole Enchilada is $55 in advance, $65 at the door ( if available ). Visit andersonville.org/dinnercrawl.
—After being rented by a third party for the month of July, mk, 868 N. Franklin St., has reopened its doors to the public. With the reopening, the restaurant debuts its late-summer menu. Menu highlights include chilled corn soup with crab meat, pickled shallots and cilantro as well as grilled bison ribeye served with wax beans, peter pan squash, chanterelle mushrooms and spigarello pesto. See mkchicago.com .
—Chef Brian Millman at Atwood Restaurant, 1 W. Washington St., just debuted a new summer menu that includes S'mores Baked Alaska, a creative twist on the classic, and serves it with homemade marshmallow and graham-cracker ice cream. He starts by making a moist chocolate cake, adds a scoop of graham-cracker ice cream inside, surrounds it with marshmallow fluff, and then brulees the fluff and tops with chocolate sauce, graham-cracker crumbs and flake salt.
—The Florentine, 151 W. Adams St., has a new summer tasting menu that features corn. The corn-tasting menu ( $27 ) is available through Aug. 31, and offers three courses. Items include corn fritters with rock shrimp, chili aioli and lemon; raviolo with taleggio, charred corn, basil, corn shoots and black truffle brown butter; and panna cotta with sweet corn, blueberry compote and lavender caramel corn. See OpenTable.com/The-Florentine.
—Sophie Evanoff, owner of the French-inspired artisanal patisserie Vanille, has announced a third, new location opening this September in Lake View at 3243 N. Broadway. Vanille's Lake View location will be open until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Lake View will also be the place Evanoff and her team of pastry chefs roll out a new line of gluten-free layer cakes and other additions to their display cases.
—Now until Labor Day, when it reaches 90 degrees or higher in Chicago, Stetsons Modern Steak + Sushi ( in the Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Wacker Dr. ) will offer two complimentary oysters with a purchase of a glass of wine for each guest per dining experience. Guests can make a reservation for dinner at Stetsons by calling 312-239-4491.
—Craig Degel has joined Lake View restaurant Ceres' Table as its new executive chef. ( Former Executive Chef Giuseppe Scurato will remain aboard as chef emeritus. ) Before moving back to Chicago, Degel was most recently helming the kitchen at Solo Trattoria in Phoenix. In 2013, Degel joined the team at Eataly Chicago—Chef Mario Batali's Italian spot featuring a range of eateries and food markets.
—SideDoor, at Rush and Ontario streets, will host a 3 Floyds Brewery Beer Dinner on Wed., Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. Executive Chef Brian Kwak will present a six-course prix-fixe dinner to complement a selection of the latest craft beer releases from the Indiana-based brewery. Admission is $100 each, exclusive of tax and gratuity; RSVP at 312-787-6768 or jvandertuuk@lawrysonline.com .
—Frontier, 1072 N. Milwaukee Ave., will host its fifth annual oyster shucking contest ( along with a shrimp boil ) on Sunday, Aug. 23, at 3 p.m. ( The boil is 12-3 p.m. ) The contest will feature more than 20 chefs from Chicago restaurants including Sink/Swim, Kinmont, Presidio, Sumi Robata Bar, Rural Society, Joe Fish and others. See TheFrontierChicago.com .
—On Saturday, Aug. 29, Famous Dave's will introduce the Famous Dave's Amateur BBQ Competition at the seventh annual Glen Ellyn Backyard BBQ benefitting Bridge Communities. All proceeds from the event will support Bridge Communities in its efforts to help transition homeless families in DuPage County to self-sufficiency. More than 60 teams will compete for trophies and bragging rights in three categories: Best Pork Ribs, People's Choice Sauce and Best Dish. Visit www.glenellynbackyardbbq.org .
—Available through Aug. 31, Hard Rock Cafe's ( 63 W. Ontario St. ) limited-time Goose Island Tropical Bacon Burger will be paired with Goose Island IPA. The burger is a half-pound Angus beef patty brushed with Goose Island IPA glaze and topped with chili spiced bacon, grilled pineapple, mango salsa, chipotle puree, arugula and cheddar cheese. Visit HardRock.com/Chicago.
—Chicago's Best Summer WingFest—advertised as "a bigger and better version" of Chicago's Best WingFest—will be held Saturday, Sept. 5, 1-7 p.m., at the Bailey Auditorium, 1340 W. Washington St. Chicago's Best Summer WingFest will feature double the wing-slinging restaurants, live music, carnival games, a vendor market, craft beer and a full bar. Tickets for Chicago's Best Summer WingFest ( $40 ) will go on sale Wed., June 24, at 12 p.m; visit www.WingFest.net .
—The Andersonville Development Corporation ( ADC ) is presenting the 3rd Annual Andersonville City Made Fest, the only all-local street festival that highlights Chicago-made beer, music and products in the historic Andersonville neighborhood. It will be Sept. 12 ( 12-9 p.m. ) and 13 ( 12-7 p.m. ) at 5000-5100 N. Clark St. There is a suggested gate donation of $5. See Andersonville.org .
—The James Beard Foundation ( JBF ) has announced the third consecutive year of the Taste America: "Local Flavor from Coast To Coast" national epicurean tour, which will visit 10 U.S. cities this fall. Spanning six weekends between Sept. 18 and Nov. 7, the program will stop in Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle. ( The Chicago stop is Oct. 23-24. ) Tickets are on sale at JBFTasteAmerica.org .
Send items to Andrew@WindyCityMediaGroup.com or follow on Twitter @Azygous60610.
