News

Chipotle hosting two 'Cultivate' festivals

June 11, 2012

Chipotle Mexican Grill has announced the two locations for its Cultivate Food, Ideas & Music Festivals for 2012. Denver, the burrito chain's birthplace, will join Chicago this year in hosting a Cultivate festival curated by Chipotle.

Cultivate Chicago will be held on Sept. 15 in Lincoln Park, and Cultivate Denver is slated for Oct. 6 in the Meadow at City Park.

The free, one-day festivals will include cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, live music, food artisans and other activities emphasizing fresh, affordable food made with sustainable ingredients.

"Cultivate is the first festival of its kind to bring together national culinary talent, musicians and thought leaders," said Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing officer at Chipotle. "These events give our customers an opportunity to experience Chipotle in a new way and to learn something about issues in food, develop a deeper appreciation for farmers and food artisans who are changing food culture for the better, and enjoy some great music."

Chefs conducting cooking demonstrations throughout the day at both events are:

Richard Blais (The Spence; HD-1; Flip Burger Boutique/Atlanta)
Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal; Son of a Gun/Los Angeles)
Amanda Freitag (series "Chopped" and "Iron Chef America")

Chefs joining Cultivate Chicago on Sept. 15 are:

Zak Pelaccio (Fatty Crab/New York)
Matthias Merges (Yusho/Chicago)
Sarah Grueneberg (Spiaggia/Chicago)
Danny Grant (RIA/Chicago)
Chris Pandel (The Bristol; Balena/Chicago)
Paul Kahan (avec; Blackbird; The Publican/Chicago)

Chefs joining Cultivate Denver on Oct. 6 are:

Michael Chiarello (Bottega; Chiarello Family Vineyards/Napa Valley)
Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson (Frasca Food and Wine; Frasca Caffé; Pizzeria Locale/Boulder)

Musical acts slated to perform include G. Love & Special Sauce and Allen Stone in Chicago and Best Coast and Okkervil River in Denver. Additional musical acts will be announced in Chicago and Denver later this summer.

Both festivals will include an Artisan Tent offering a wide selection of local artisan-crafted foods for sampling and purchase, a Tasting Tent featuring local and specialty beers and wine, a Kids' Tent with crafts and organic snacks, and various other activities. Chipotle will also serve a selection of dishes based on its traditional menu, but with a unique spin specially created for the Cultivate festivals, and will offer select dishes from ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, the Asian concept it opened in Washington, D.C. last year.

Proceeds from the sale of beer and wine in the festival's Tasting Tent will be donated to FamilyFarmed.org, a non-profit organization that works with family farmers and organizations that support them to build and expand local food systems.

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