I have to preface this post by saying that I’ve only lived in Kankakee for four years, so the only area history I know is what I’ve heard from my husband, friends and coworkers.

That said, I’ve received (slightly mysterious) information about a local legend (of sorts) making a comeback this month.

Here’s the story as I’ve heard it:

In January of 1980, the life of a young chef was cut tragically short when he was murdered in his Bradley home. The murder remains unsolved.

Another chef, known as Chef Garibaldi, moved to Kankakee to take over the young chef’s duties as head chef at Mother McGee’s. At the time, Mother McGee’s was a popular restaurant on Route 50 and North Street, near where Arby’s stands today.

It was known for its salad bar (which was reportedly the “biggest thing ever at that time”) and featured more than 35 items every evening, including peel-&-eat shrimp during Lent. “This was unheard of before then, especially in little K3,” according to my source. “Real cutting-edge stuff.” Chef Garibaldi also added gourmet items and did things like crudite with a cheese sculpture during Happy Hour on Fridays, and eventually became executive chef with the Monical Corporation.

Whatever happened to Chef Garibaldi? You can find out at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, when he will make an appearance at Rondinella’s Italian Imports in Bradley.

During the visit he plans on making a Ham Florencia pasta salad, a Sicilian potato salad and a “sanguige,” which is his own version of the classic Muffaletta sandwich. (Chef Garibaldi uses a giardinera mix instead of an olive mix, prosciutto, capacole, salami, provalone, roasted pepper/artichoke/sun-dried tomatoe paste, fresh tomato slices, red onion slices and a few anchovies – “true Sicilian style”.) He’ll also  demonstrate a couple of simple but effective garnishes.

So stop by after the Farmers Market. Rondinella’s Italian Imports is at 189 N. Kinzie, which is about one block south of North Street on the west side of the road.

Still curious? Check out this video on YouTube.

I’ve also received a pdf with recipes for the Ham Florencia pasta salad, Sicilian potato salad and sanguige. Click here to download a copy.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Food events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.