Ravinia 2025 Issue 4

The guest chefs across Breaking Barriers weekend include Chicago- area-based chefs Sarah Grueneberg (Monteverde) on July 25 and Beverly Kim (Anelya) and Grace Goudie (Scratchboard) on July 26, plus chefs Maneet Chauhan (Vermillion) and Jacqueline Eng (Partybus Bakeshop) on both days. that connection to the Ravinia and Chi- cago Symphony family.” “I’ve always loved the idea of a food and music festival, but it’s always felt like a difficult needle to thread,” Yeh admits. But in a way, she’s been training for this gig her whole life. “When I lived in Brooklyn right after college, I would host live concerts in my apartment and make food for everyone. The concerts got rowdy, and I would cook zillions of dumplings.” Years later, she led an offi- cial food and music program in Aspen with pianist (and Urbana native) Con- rad Tao. “He played a solo program, and in between each piece, I did a cooking demo,” she recalls. “It was great!” Upon committing to the task of planning this singular Ravinia weekend, Alsop and Yeh divvied up their cura- torial duties. The conductor selected the music for the weekend while the restaurateur recruited and worked with the participating chefs. “It wasn’t like, ‘Let’s do The Nutcracker and eat marzi- pan and sugar plums,’ ” Yeh explains. “It was more like, ‘Here are these sounds and the stories behind them. How does a chef take them and reflect them in fla- vor and technique, in a way truly unique to them?’ I am on hand to answer any questions, bridging the gap between the languages of music and food.” In selecting the various guest chefs, Yeh says her goal was to build a team whose members have diverse back- grounds and complementary skills. Several chefs have Chicago connections, which were a bonus, she notes: “Beverly Kim’s restaurant Anelya [in the Avon- dale neighborhood] absolutely changed my life when I ate there last year. And Maneet Chauhan, a Food Network friend, used to work in [Vermillion] here.” Meanwhile, one other chef has a history that mirrors Yeh’s, she explains. “I thought, ‘Who could have a great connection with the music?’ An imme- diate answer: Jacqueline Eng, another former Juilliard percussionist-turned baker!” Still, finding chefs with a background in classical music was by no means a prerequisite. “The great thing about music is: Everyone can have their own reaction or opinion about it,” Alsop says. “Just like people attending a concert, the chefs can be inspired by the music in any way, and it’s right. It’s not about what you should or shouldn’t feel; it’s all about your own personal experience.” For her part, Alsop notes of her programming, “Food is a cultural journey, and I really wanted to have a broad overview. So many of us here in America are the product of immigrants; I wanted to reflect that in the music, to inspire the chefs to experiment. “I tried to pick music that reflected the blending of different cultures into the American experience. In Shehe- razade , of course, we have that Middle Eastern aspect. With Gershwin’s Cuban Overture , it’s the Cuban flavor seen through an American’s eye. [Composer] Reena Esmail is Indian-American. And then, I wanted to do something local to the area, so I added this movement from a percussion concerto by Tim Corpus, called The Great Lake Concerto , because he’s from the Chicago area.” For an example of what diner-lis- teners might experience, Yeh offers this insight: “Grace Goudie’s dish [on July 26] is one I’m particularly excited about. Her map of going from Copland’s music to a zucchini ’nduja is so beautifully complex and original, yet it makes total sense.” As Shakespeare pondered centuries ago, music, food, and love are forever entwined. Of course, the Bard isn’t the only great thinker who mused about the unique highway to the heart paved by both music and cuisine. “Good food is like music you can taste,” said Auguste Gusteau. (Well, okay, he’s an animat- ed ghost chef from Pixar’s Ratatouille . Credit for that particular bit of wisdom goes to writer-director Brad Bird.) And then there’s this maxim from Al- sop: “Top-notch chefs and the Chicago Symphony—it doesn’t get much better than that.” Native Chicagoan Web Behrens has spent most of his journalism career covering arts and culture. His work has appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune , Time Out Chicago , Crain’s Chicago Business , and The Advocate and Chicago magazines. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 21 – AUG. 3, 2025 8 STEPHENHAMILTON(GRUENEBERG);MATHAAS(KIM); DAWNHOFFMANN(CHAUHAN);WILLBLUNT(ENG)