This new ELEVATE SERIES celebrates Event Architects’ commitment to elevating brands and event experiences. It also is a nod to our butterfly mascot! Basically the ELEVATE SERIES will pay homage to anything that is “fly” or actually can fly. (We’re having some fun with our figurative and literal word play.) Today’s post celebrates a phrase you rarely hear around Event Architects’ offices (because there is nothing we ever deem impossible), the phrase, “When pigs fly.”
This sarcastic response has become a clutch for cynics worldwide. We at Event Architects rather enjoy thinking we could make pigs fly. Okay, maybe we can’t make pigs fly, but we have certainly made the impossible possible on many occasions. To commemorate our “yes” attitude, we want to share some of the many ways pigs are being celebrated in our hometown, Chicago. (And the pig deserves it after all that bad Swine Flu press last year.)
Paul Kahan has been a big fan of pig lately. He recently opened Big Star in the old Pontiac Café spot in Wicker Park as well as Publican in the Market District. Both restaurants feature simple menus with an abundance of interesting pork products. Honky-tonk Big Star features awesome pork shoulder and pork belly tacos for $2.50 a pop while Publican focuses on a gastro-pup experience focused on “oysters, pork and beer.”
Enjoy some Pork-and-this and pork-and-that at Bill Kim and Yvonne Cadiz-Kim’s restaurants Urban Belly and the newer Belly Shack. These two spots have been huge favorites for swine-lovin’ hipster foodies.
But the newest spot has to be The Purple Pig – an exciting collaboration of Chefs Scott Harris of Mia Francesca, Jimmy Bannos Jr. and Jimmy Bannos Sr. of Heaven on Seven (an EA fav and the locale of our holiday party!). This Mag Mile spot wins the best catch phrase award for “Cheese, Swine and Wine.” Can’t wait to try some of that!
And for dessert ladies and gentlemen, I save the best for last. Once or twice, I have been blinded by the sweet and savory deliciousness of Vosges Flying Chocolate Pig. Colleagues have had to spot me from embarrassing situations while shopping for a gift to bring to client meetings. “I understand it’s amazing, but I don’t think it sends the right message,” they say with caution. We went with a truffle box instead.
The Flying Chocolate Pig is a whimsical spin off of the Mo’s Milk Chocolate Bacon Bar that Vosges’ mastermind Katrina Markoff created for her friend, well, Mo. He must be a cool dude.
Photo credit: Vosges for Chocolate Flying Pig image.