For me, a good bowl of ice cream is—and has always been—sitting at home with a pint of double chocolate chip and watching re-runs of “I Love Lucy.” This weekend’s Chicago Luxury Ice Cream Festival turns the dairy-loving world upside down with more than twenty-five decadent vendors for all lactose fanatics to enjoy. Pastry chefs, chocolatiers and animal-friendly creameries will gather together in the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to showcase their best sweets. The venue seems an odd choice, considering it’s usually full of field-trip groups on the midwest Wilderness Walk, but the grill section on the museum’s rooftop terrace sounds like a perfect evening setting.
Last year, Clandestino supper club chef/owner Efrain Cuevas served homemade chocolate and pequin chile ice cream. This year, local favorites like Black Dog Gelato and nationally recognized creameries like Toscanini’s of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who The New York Times claims has “the best ice cream in the world,” will vie for your adoration with The Great Chicago Brain Freeze competition, earning your votes through taste tests. For $25 admission, organizer Jeff Reid says you’ll get demonstrations/workshops and exclusive samples not available to the public. (Dee Fabbricatore)
Chicago Luxury Ice Cream Festival at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 North Cannon Drive, July 30-31, 7pm-10pm, $25.
