Wade Cellars Hosts Dinner Series Featuring Black Culinary Talent

Black-owned winery, Wade Cellars, by Dwayne Wade is hosting a series of dinners featuring exceptional Black culinary talent paired with the brand’s finest wine. “When We Gather: Wine & Food Experiences” is a six city series and Oct. 4, 6:30 p.m., it’s coming to Chicago at the Virtue Restaurant & Bar on 1462 E. 53rd St., in Hyde Park.

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“When We Gather” has hosted gatherings in Inglewood, California and Cincinnati, Ohio in its national journey of bringing Black talent and wine to the forefront. The next stop, Chicago, will feature the culinary genius of Chef Erick Williams, owner of Virtue, and Chef George Walker III. Williams has been named praised by the New York Times in 2019 as one of America’s Black chefs who has led the food conversation in the country, and his restaurant landed the Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants” list in the same year. More recently, he has been recognized as the best chef in the Great Lakes region by the James Beard Awards, widely regarded as the Oscars of the culinary world, as reported by the Sun Times Chicago.

“This world of wine wasn’t something that was presented to me growing up as a kid in the inner city, it wasn’t an option,” Wade told Eater. “But now I’m getting the opportunity to not only drink wine and enjoy wine, now I’m learning about wine and seeing how wine brings people together from all over the world. This is what ‘When We Gather’ is all about.”

The dinner series is also coming to Charleston, South Carolina and Oakland, California next month; and to Miami Beach, Florida in December — its final stop. For more information on “When We Gather” go dwadecellars.com/whenwegather2022/.