Sub-Zero and Wolf Cooking Demonstration
A free gourmet meal at the Merchandise Mart? How does that happen? Well, we told the nice folks at Sub-Zero and Wolf that we were interested in new kitchen appliances (we really are), and they invited us to spend our Date Day attending a private cooking demonstration in their showroom.
The Merchandise Mart usually closes at 5pm, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves when we arrived at 5:30 for our 6pm experience. We found the Sub-Zero and Wolf showroom and checked in with the nice lady at the desk. She directed us the demonstration kitchen, where we found plenty of wine, beer and appetizers.
We had about 30 minutes before things started, so we grabbed a glass of wine and wandered around the showroom. If you like cooking, this place is like Disney World, Grandma’s house and Le Cordon Bleu all rolled into one. Everywhere we looked there was another shiny new toy to marvel over. If we had unlimited budget and space, we would have one of everything!
We took our seats at 6pm, along with about 10 other couples, and the festivities began. Our hosts were Colleen and Jane, two talented and witty chefs who seamlessly cooked the food, demonstrated the products and answered our questions. The entire meal took about 2.5 hours, but it felt like much less as it was as entertaining as it was educational.
We started with seared lamb chops with chive, dill and lemon crème. These were cooked to perfection on the cooktop griddle and made us wonder why we don’t use ours more often. Next up was a lobster salad with red potatoes, corn and mixed greens. The lobster tails were cooked in a new-fangled convection steam oven that supposedly can replace your microwave. We’re not convinced of that, but it was neat to see, and the lobster was awesome.
Our last course before desert was a roasted beef tenderloin with roasted tomatoes and cheddar cheese grits. The chefs put the beef in the ovens around 6:30 and by 7:45 we were enjoying a fantastic plate of food. We barely had room for desert, but we managed to tackle the chocolate ganache puff pastry with salted caramel sauce anyway.
Throughout the meal, the wait staff kept the dishes cleared and our wine glasses filled. One of us may have been a little tipsy for the ride home, but she wasn’t driving so it was fine.
If you’re looking for an interesting, unusual and fun Date Day we highly recommend the Sub-Zero and Wolf dinning experience. It’s low pressure and we didn’t see a single sales person the entire evening. They let the equipment and food speak for itself. It doesn’t hurt if you’re actually looking for new appliances as well.
One final tidbit. We learned that the founder of sub-zero created the company, in 1945, because no one could make a freezer good enough to properly store the insulin his diabetic son needed. Today, the company is still going strong and is the only privately held, high-end appliance maker in North America.
June 2018
Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove Showroom
Merchandise Mart, Chicago
Free
3 Hours
$18 Parking through ParkWhiz
Yumm