He loves Chicago!

Fabio Viviani, who was the fan favorite on the fifth season of "Top Chef," headlines Chicago Gourmet this fall.


If you missed your chance to meet Top Chef super star Fabio Viviani when he was in town a few weeks ago, no worries. He'll be back.

Just found out the charming Italian-born cuisine king returns to headline events during Chicago Gourmet, now in its second year. He's scheduled to do a cooking demo as well as a booksigning for his new Café Firenze Cookbook.

Also scheduled to appear during the event, occurring Sept. 26-27, are a number of Chicago's most elite chefs, including the likes of Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill/Topolobampo), John Hogan (Tavern at the Park/Keefer's), Tony Mantuano (Spiaggia), Carrie Nahabedian (NAHA), Martial Noguier (Cafe des Architectes) and Michael Altenberg (Bistro Campagne).

Want a free, one-day pass to Chicago Gourmet?! Check out the Dine Around Deal for the scoop!

Get a lil Miami Spice in your life . . . for FREE!

The "rio" bar at SushiSamba rio (Photo: SushiSamba)


For this week's FREEBIE FRIDAY, we're doing it up BIG.

SushiSamba rio's offering the Miami Spice Menu throughout August, and you'll have a chance to indulge for free if you're following me on Twitter.

The vibrant Asian- and Latin-influenced eatery is in the heart of River North's action, plus we've never had a bad meal here yet.

We're particularly excited about this fabulous new five-course feast, which includes Almond & White Asparagus Gazpacho, an Organic Goat Cheese Salad and Japanese Mustard-Miso Marinated Beef Tenderloin.

And, oh hell. We're in such a great mood today, we're going to give away not one, but TWO dinners to two winners plus a guest (tax, tip and alcoholic beverages not included).

So, if you're already following at Twitter, you're in the running to win, but if you're not, you're gonna miss out . . .