Jason Hammel is the executive chef and owner of Lula Cafe in Chicago, the Logan Square community institution for its creative, seasonal, all-day cuisine. Since 1999 Lula has been at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement in the Midwest, but growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, Hammel aspired to be a writer, not a chef. After graduating in 1994 with a degree in English, he traveled to Italy, where an accidental stay across the street from Florence’s central market foresaw his career as a chef dedicated to seasonality.
Chef Jason Hammel has been nominated three times as a finalist for James Beard Best Chef Great Lakes. His cookbook, The Lula Cafe Cookbook, was released in the Fall of 2023 by Phaidon.
Lula has been featured on NPR’s “This American Life,” in The New York Times, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and in Chicago press where Lula has been named an LTH Forum Great Neighborhood Restaurant, a Michelin Bib Gourmande, Jean Banchet Best Neighborhood Restaurant, and a proud member of the “Eater Essential 38.”
What he will teach:
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Selecting the best veggies in season from the market
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How to clean, care, and cherish the best veggies
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How to blanch and shock green vegetables like asparagus
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A quick history lesson about burrata/stracciatella and some Italian Americans on the East Coast!
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How to make a balanced vinaigrette or citronette
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How to make risotto
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How to glaze spring vegetables
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A quick lesson about all the crazy aphorism about risotto, old wives tales, etc.
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How to bake a simple, no mix olive oil cake
Menu:-
Klug Farm Asparagus with Spring Greens, Lemon Citronette and Stracciatella
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Risotto Verde
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Olive Oil Cake with Whipped Mascarpone
