Soup and Bread schedule – Soup and Bread (original) (raw)

As you’ve likely heard by now, the Garfield Park Conservatory — 105 years old, and one of the largest and most beautiful conservatories in the country, if not the world — was devastated by the June 30 storm that downed trees, cut power, and hammered the city of Chicago with golf-ball-sized chunks of hail.

The conservatory’s website reports:

The Garfield Park Conservatory sustained catastrophic damage in last night’s hailstorm, shattering approximately half of the glass panes in the roofs of the historic Fern Room, Show House, and nine propagation greenhouses. The glass panes in the Desert House also sustained significant damage. The pathways, ponds and plants in the Fern Room, Show House, Desert House and propagation houses are covered with broken glass, and shards of glass hang dangerously from the roofs. Until the roofs are repaired, rain will cause the ponds to overflow, and direct sunlight will destroy and kill the plants that have been so carefully and lovingly conserved for so many years.

Conditions right now are too dangerous for Conservatory staff to go in and care for the plants — which include a huge range of succulents, tropicals, cacti, and ferns as well as a rare double coconut palm that’s possibly the largest of its kind anywhere outside the rainforest. There is glass everywhere: on the floor, in the trees, in the ponds, embedded in bark and leaves and buds. It is, a friend on staff told me, so disastrous on so many levels — structural, horticultural, financial — they’re still trying to sort it all out.

What is known is that thanks to this nasty act of Mother Nature, the facility will likely be closed for months. And it’s going to take a whole lot of money to get it up and running again. So, clearly, the situation calls for some soup. And maybe some bread.

This Wednesday, July 6, from 5:30 – 8, come join us at the Hideout for a Very Special Summer Soup & Bread to benefit an institution that’s one of the few things in Chicago that I, at least, believe is an unqualified public good.

Because the Conservatory isn’t just an architectural treasure — though it is that, designed by Jens Jensen, the MAN of Chicago landscape architecture, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And it’s not just an oddly successful tourist attraction, drawing visitors who might otherwise never venture beyond the Bean to the uncharted west side with the twinkly lures of Dale Chihuly glass — though that’s of course great too.

The Conservatory’s also home to the propagation greenhouses (above) that nurture plants for parks across the city – and allow community gardeners and nonprofits to colonize a bit of their bench space for their own heirloom tomatos. It teaches beekeeping and worm composting and provides a home for the U. of I. Extension’s master gardener program (which I was a part of in 2007).

It teaches the littlest kids how to nurture a sunflower seed in a Dixie cup. It provides professional development opportunities for teachers interested in botany and ecology. It wrangles rowdy thousands of field-tripping CPS students every year. It reaches out to west-side community groups to help develop their own green spaces and gardens. It hosts a farmers’ market. And, like just about every public programming outfit anywhere, it’s already operating on the slimmest of shoestring budgets.

In other words, it is an irreplaceable community resource, one I’ve been lucky enough to volunteer at and learn from over the years.

OK. Sure. Realistically, the money we raise at Soup & Bread might repair four panes of glass. But it’s the least we can do. And it will be fun! We miss you! It’s been lonely around there this spring, and we’ve got a brand new patio and everything.

So please come out Wednesday and join the Hideout, Swim Cafe, and all the other soup cooks I have yet to round up, in showing our support. We’ll be serving COLD SOUP ONLY, with bread donated by our friends at La Farine Bakery, and tunes spun by Numero Group‘s Michael Slaboch.

Oh — and if you can’t make it on Wednesday, you can donate directly to the Conservatory via their website. Every little bit helps. Want more gory details? See this FOX News Chicago report for the full monty: Garfield Park Conservatory Closed Due to Hailstorm Damage: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

ETA: Parts of the Conservatory–the undamaged parts–reopened today (Sunday) so go on out and show them some love. Also, the Fern Room turtles have been sighted and seem to be doing fine. (Shells. They’re handy!) Here they are (above) having a meeting to assess the damage to their pond.

Tags:Garfield Park Conservatory, hail storm, La Farine Bakery, Numero Group, swim cafe
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Soup cooks 4/13

April 7, 2011

It’s that time of year again — the time when we put Soup & Bread to bed and move on to warmer, greener pursuits. This past week was a doozy, with cooks from the Hearty Boys, Gapers Block, Billions, and Biz 3 raising $312 for the domestic-violence prevention agency Between Friends. But, before we pack up the stock pots for the summer, we’ve got one more night of goodness for you, including a soup showdown of epic proportions.

In one corner! Paul Kahan (Blackbird/Avec/Publican/Big Star capo) and Brian Huston (chef de cuisine at the Publican)

In the other! the man with the meat, Rob Levitt, owner and proprietor of the Butcher and Larder

These guys plan to Bring It. But that’s not all!

We also have:

From the Golden Horse Ranch Band and Living Room Realty, Annie Coleman!

From the ranks of former Hideout bartenders, and from One Degree Off, Marie Marasovich!

From Lindblom Math & Science Academy, artist and teacher Susannah Kite Strang!

From Dianna, Ellen, Karen, and all our friends at Swim Cafe!

And, we will also have soup from First Slice, one of TWO recipients of tonight’s soup dollars – they are sharing the donations with the Common Pantry.

And that’s not all! Tonight – per Soup & Bread tradition, sees the return of SOUP & PIE, with delicious pies and other sweets donated by a multitude of friendly bakers. We’re still hammering out the deets, but expect to get your sugar fix.

Providing your celebratory soup sounds: Mike “DJ Treetop Lover” Bulington and Sarah Gardiner

How much better could it get? Not much. But if you can stand the awesomeness, stick around for the Rempis Percussion Quartet at 9:30, sharing the night with DJ Jeff Parker, spinning “ridiculous drum and percussion records.”

Tags:Annie Coleman, Brian Huston, Butcher and Larder, Common Pantry, First Slice, Jeff Parker, Marie Marasovich, Mike Bulington, Paul Kahan, Rempis Percussion Quartet, Rob Levitt, sarah gardiner, Susannah Kite Strang, swim cafe
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Soup cooks 4/6

April 1, 2011

Only TWO WEEKS LEFT to get your soup on. Coming next week:

Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh, aka The Hearty Boys

The soup crew from Gapers Block’s Drive-Thru

Biz 3‘s Kathryn Frazier

Billions Corp.’s Matt Yaseko

and Colleen Norton, prevention and education manager at the domestic violence agency Between Friends. Between Friends, which also runs two food pantries at its locations in Chicago and Rolling Meadows, is the beneficiary of your soup donations this week.

Musical guest: DJ Kenn Goodman!

Spring is (finally?) here and soup season is winding down. Our last Soup & Bread is slated for APRIL 13. Don’t miss out!

Tags:Billions Corp, Biz 3, Colleen Norton, Gapers Block, Hearty Boys, Kathryn Frazier, Kenn Goodman, Matt Yaseko, Pravda Records
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Soup cooks, 3/30

March 26, 2011

Another jam-packed lineup this week, including:

Butcher Andrea Deibler, from City Provisions

Baker Allison Stout, from Hoosier Mama Pie Co.

~~Music maker Frank Orrall, from Poi Dog Pondering,~~ ETA: Frank is sick and had to cancel

Music sellers Mark and Heather Ferguson, from Hard-Boiled Records

Abra Berens, from Bare Knuckle Farm

Kathy Burke, Angela Sanka, and Anastasia LaBorde, from Twisted Dish

and we’ll also have a soup from Inspiration Corp., the beneficiaries this week of your soup largesse. Inspiration has been doing great work in Uptown and on the south side for years now, and have recently expanded to the west side with a new cafe in Garfield Park.

Musical accompaniment this week courtesy the lovely DJ Numinous Radio, aka Carolynn Travis, aka Chaka

See you there!

Tags:Abra Behrens, Allison Stout, Andrea Deibler, Carolynn Travis, DJ Numinous Radio, Frank Orral, Hard Boiled Records, Heather Ferguson, Hoosier Mama Pie, Inspiration Corp, Kathy Burke, Kids Table, Mark Ferguson
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Soup cooks 3/23

March 17, 2011

Oooh, it’s going to be crowded on the soup line this week! In the house:

Chicago Reader food columnist Mike Sula and roller derby queen Elizabeth “Juanna Rumbel” Gomez

City Provisions empire-builder Cleetus Friedman

Food on the Dole writer and chef Hugh Amano

Artist/crafter Sarah Steedman

Former door guy Al’s friend James Sapyta (how’s that for networking?)

Writer and recipe-wrangler extraordinaire Laura Fox — and her mom

And two (and possibly three) soups contributed by volunteers from the Heartland Alliance’s Marjorie Kovler Center. Proceeds from this week’s Soup & Bread benefit the Kovler Center’s efforts to aid survivors of torture from around the world, and help them and their families build new lives in Chicago.

That is a * lot * of soup, folks. And don’t forget the bread, from our friends at La Farine Bakery. Musical entertainment provided by our DJs, Sound Opinions producers Robin Linn and Jason Saldanha.

See you there, then. Come hungry!

Tags:Chicago Reader, City Provisions, Cleetus Friedman, Elizabeth Gomez, Food on the Dole, hugh amano, James Sapyta, Jason Saldanha, Laura Fox, Mike Sula, Robin Linn, Sarah Steedman, Sound Opinions
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Soup cooks 3/16

March 10, 2011

On the soup line this week!

West Town Tavern chef Susan Goss, with a wild mushroom chowder

Writer and gardener Bonnie Tawse, with fennel soup

Gillian McLennan, with … who knows?

Team Lush: Erin Drain, Jane Lopes, and Rachel Driver, representing this fine purveyor of wine and spirits with *three* of their finest soups

and Team RCS: Wendy Vasquez and volunteers from Ravenswood Community Services, bearing white bean and chicken chili

All this plus DJ Matt Fields! All proceeds from this night of Soup & Bread benefit Lakeview Pantry. See you there!

ETA: How did I forget about Peasants’ Plot? Todd and Julia McDonald are also bringing soup this week. That’s a lot of soup, folks, and it’s not going to eat itself. See you Wednesday!

Tags:Bonnie Tawse, Gillian McLennan, Lakeview Pantry, Lush Wine & Spirits, Matt Fields, Wendy Vasquez, West Town Tavern
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Soup cooks 3/9

March 4, 2011

We had a banner week this week — so many fantastic soups; so many hungry people. And so many babies. Where did all those babies come from? (Wait, don’t answer that.)

Recipes are trickling in for David Kodeski’s dreamy congee, Kitty Tataryn’s roasted red pepper, and other soups of the day. Will have those posted soon. I should also give a quick shout out to both La Farine, which piled my Jeep so full of bread it smelled like a bakery at 5 am, and to Anne from Crumb, who brought a half-dozen whole wheat boules and some amazing spicy cheddar bread. We also raised a cool $575 for the good folks at Benton House, in Bridgeport. It was great to see how they rallied their people to come out and show their support. Come back soon, y’all.

NOW, on to next week. It’s a doozy.

Stepping up to the trusty crocks we have:

Jason and Danielle Bitner, founders of The Betterment Society and proud parents of adorable Hollis, pictured above

The lovely and talented Helen Tsastos (Rock Candy by Helen), who promises her yiaya’s avoglemono

Our friends at Smoque BBQ, with chili

Bitchin’ babysitter Jenny Hines, teaming up with HER MOM, Nancy, for something vegetarian.

Time Out Chicago senior food and drink correspondent Heather Shouse, whose book Food Trucks comes out next month

and America’s sweetheart, Top Chef Stephanie Izard, the Girl behind The Girl & the Goat, where I’m still trying to get a reservation

All that, plus more soup from our friends at Hull-House, bread from La Farine, and the musical stylings of DJ Rob Miller. All proceeds benefit the food pantry at Woodlawn’s historic First Presbyterian Church.

See you there!

Tags:Bloodshot Records, Crumb Bread, Danielle Bitner, Girl and the Goat, Heather Shouse, Helen Tsatsos, Jason Bitner, Jenny Hines, Re-Thinking Soup, Rob Miller, Smoque BBQ, Stephanie Izard, The Betterment Society, Top Chef
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Soup cooks March 2

February 24, 2011

Next week! (File under,”Oh my gosh, is it March already? Yikes.)

Our fabulous soup cooks include:

Writer/performer David Kodeski (check this week’s Reader for a great cover story on his latest project, an opera)

Chicago Rarities Orchard Project member and theater artist Megan Larmer

Private chef Won Kim, who’s also marketing event chef for Whole Foods/Lincoln Park, and food blogger Jeanelle Hayner, associate in-store educator at Whole Foods/Lincoln Park (they’re collaborating)

Political organizer Julie Sampson

Patisserie D pastry chef Deana Burrows

Pastry chef Kitty Tataryn

All proceeds from next week’s Soup & Bread benefit Bridgeport’s most excellent Benton House. See you there!

Tags:Benton House, Chicago Rarities Orchard Project, David Kodeski, Deana Burrows, Jeanelle Hayner, Kitty Tataryn, Megan Larmer, Won Kim
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