CHICAGO — It can be hard for any single vendor to stand out at Taste of Chicago, where at least 40 restaurants and food trucks will crowd Grant Park each day until Sunday.
But the sight of a forklift hauling a 1,500-pound cheesecake in front of Buckingham Fountain usually does the trick — especially if it's free.
The grandiose "birthday celebration" has become an annual tradition for both Eli's Cheesecake Co. and the food festival, which both launched in 1980. Eli's is the only vendor that can boast perfect attendance through all 37 years, and it's never failed to attract an audience, owner Marc Schulman said.
"The line is pretty incredible once we start to serve," Schulman said. "And it usually takes about 1½ hours to serve, so it just gets bigger and bigger from there."
The cake takes a week to prepare, and it yields about 4,000 "pretty big" slices, Schulman said. More than 700 pounds of cream cheese and 200 pounds of sugar go into the bathtub-sized confection, but the owners never considered charging festival attendees for a piece, he said.
"It's just what we do," Schulman said. Taste of Chicago "was the first time my father [founder Eli Schulman] ever served his cake outside of his restaurant, so it's a very special place and a special time for us."
This year's cake will alternate in layers between Eli's original cheesecake flavor and chocolate chip, Schulman said.
The celebration will kick off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Buckingham Plaza, with singer Julianna Zobrist — wife of Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist — cutting the first slice.
The event also will feature a performance by Cirque de Soleil, whose upcoming show "Luzia" premieres at the United Center on July 21.
Eli's Cheesecake founder Eli Schulman celebrates Chicago's 150th birthday at Taste of Chicago in 1987 [Eli's Cheesecake Co.]
