Festival Recap: Tickled Pink for Bright Pink

Indulging in evenings of gourmet food tastings has become a regular occurrence for Brandy these days, but certain events stand out from the rest for the purposes behind them.  Recently, Brandy had the privilege of attending the 11th annual Tickled Pink for Bright Pink evening at the gorgeous Morgan Manufacturing space.  The evening brought together over 25 of Chicago's finest restaurants as well as representatives from companies like Kendra Scott Jewelry, Flirty Girl Fitness, and even a gaggle of Chicago Firemen in order to raise money for Bright Pink, a Chicago based organization that raises awareness for breast and ovarian cancer prevention, education, and research.

Arriving at the event, Brandy was greeted by a delightful decor of pink as far as the eye could see.  There were several ways for ticket holders to contribute throughout the night, including a rubber duck game, some extravagant raffle prize packages, Kendra Scott Mystery boxes, and of course, the firemen, who were taking contributions in exchange for beads and pictures.  A DJ was spinning tunes for the first part of the evening, then the Chicago Players took the stage and got everyone dancing to classic tunes.

Of course, the food was the main event.  Immediatly, Brandy noticed that several restaurants had brought out their finest pasta dishes.  Roy's presented a truffle tortellini that was quite scrumptious, while Bar Siena, Filini, and The Florentine all presented some truly amazing ravioli (Brandy especially loved the Sweet Corn Ravioli from Bar Siena).  Pinstripes and Reverie brought in some decadent macaroni and cheese as well.  On the more meaty side, Gene and Georgetti's brought in some miniature chops with a sweet pickled relish and Corned Beef Factory handed out ready packed lunch boxes with a quarter of a corned beef sandwich (though Brandy exclaimed, "If this is how much meat is in a quarter of a sandwich, it must take an entire herd of cows to make a whole one!") and some thin, crispy potato chips.  Jellyfish got into the spirit of the evening by bringing along one of their signature rolls, the Pink Flower, which was indeed wrapped in a pink soy paper.

Probably the most popular feature of the evening was the dessert tables.  Stan's Donuts brought in oodles of pink glazed old fashioned donuts, which they piled into towers.  Vanille Patisserie presented chocolate covered pink macarons with everyone at their table wearing Pink Lady satin jackets.  Nothing Bundt Cakes brought three varieties of their heavenly confections; Red Velvet, Chocolate Turtle, and Cinnamon Roll.  And Candiality offered up heart shaped marshmallow lollipops and encouraged diners to dip them in a pink colored chocolate fountain.

"I don't usually need much convincing to enjoy a night of food, drink, and frivolity," Brandy commented, "But I have to say that everything does taste better when its in the name of a good cause."  The evening raised more than $100,000 for Bright Pink while entertaining over 2000 attendees.  If Brandy has peaked your interest, you can still donate and sign up to be one of the first to know when next year's event tickets go on sale by visiting their website at www.brightpink.org

The writers of this blog were invited to attend this event in exchange for helping to promote the sale of tickets.