First Bites Bash

First Bites Bash

First Bites Bash, the official kick-off for Chicago Restaurant Week, is one of the most highly anticipated culinary celebrations of the year. This all-inclusive tasting event showcases the city’s award-winning restaurant scene inside the iconic Field Museum. Guests can enjoy gourmet bites from acclaimed Chicago restaurants; sip wine, beer, and spirits from top brands; and explore select exhibits after hours inside the iconic Field Museum.

Check back in early December to purchase your tickets!

Host Chef

Dominique Leach is a classically trained chef turned nationally recognized pitmaster. First garnering culinary experience in some of the most prestigious kitchens in Chicago, Leach then branched out with her wife Tanisha in 2016 to create her own catering company. Inspired by fond childhood memories of her grandmother, Betty King of Lexington, Mississippi, who filled the house with flavorful aromas of home-cooked meals, Dominique then launched a successful food truck, Lexington Betty Smoke House.

Her expertise and soulful food would earn her a spot on The Food Network’s show Chopped and as a judge/contestant on Food Network Canada Fire Masters, recognition as the “Best Barbecue in Chicago” by Good Morning America, as well as a full brick-and-mortar home for Lexington Betty on the South Side of Chicago. Chef Leach and her wife’s hard work and persistence in a male-dominated industry have helped them to carve out a name for themselves in the culinary world in Chicago and beyond.

The event will benefit Pilot Light, a local organization that empowers students to make informed food decisions by supporting food education in the classroom. By making food relevant, exciting, and meaningful to PreK-12 students during the school day, Pilot Light empowers them to become informed and active members of the food system. It will also benefit the James Beard Foundation Scholarship Program, which will directly support a Chicago-based student pursuing a culinary career path.