236. Guess Where Wednesday: “Sip Local” Central

It’s time for our regular Guess Where Wednesday mystery photo contest and, this week, we have a theme.  The Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting their 9th annual Taste’fest & EXPO on Thursday of next week.  So I decided to snap a photo outside one of the many area restaurants taking part in the big event.  So let’s see if I can stump you on this one.  Can anyone guess where in Barrington I was standing when I took this picture?

If  you can guess where I took the picture and who loves the “Sip Local” message, you’ll have a chance to win two tickets to Taste’fest, and that’s a $70 value!  This year’s 9th annual Barrington Taste’fest is taking place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. next Thursday, September 20th, at the Chicago Marriott Northwest in Hoffman Estates.

If you want to pick your new favorite local restaurant, this is probably the quickest way to do it.  Food & beverage experts and chefs from 30+ area restaurants, cafés, wineries and microbreweries will be serving up samplings of their signature dishes at next week’s Taste’fest. Restaurants include: Agio Italian Bistro, Apple Villa Famous Pancake House & Restaurant, Brunch Café, Cook Street Coffee, Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurant, Couture Cupcake Café,  DiBenedetto Trattoria, Egg Shells, Enzo & Lucia Ristorante & Café, Eshticken Pizza, Francesca Famiglia, Frantonios-Italian Café, Georgio’s Chicago Pizzeria, Hawthorn Woods Golf Club, Jerseys Pizza & Grill, Jewel/Osco, L’Eiffel Bistrot, Long Grove Cafe & Restaurant, Marriott River City Grille & Lounge, McGonigal’s Pub, Millrose Restaurant & Banquets, On Occasion Catering , Pinstripes, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Savory Salads, Sweet Whimsy, The Annex, Whole Foods Market, The Anvil Club, The Lucky Monk & more.

Feeling hungry?  Be sure to bring your appetite next Thursday night!  CLICK HERE for more event details and to purchase tickets online.  Or, for a chance to win tickets, just take another look at today’s mystery photo and give us your best guess!  Look closely at the image.  You might find a blurry clue or two in the background.

Entering the contest will take you seconds and we’ll reveal the winner on Wednesday of next week. But first, let’s take a look at who won last week’s mystery photo contest. We must have a lot of sweets lovers in the crowd because we received many guesses last week and almost all of them were right! Except for Kris, the self-proclaimed optimist who guessed that we took the picture of the pastries “in my fridge the next time I open the door.”  We love your wishful thinking, Kris!  So here’s our winner. We just drew her name and it’s…

Michelle Van Loon! Congratulations and thanks for guessing, Michelle.  You were right. Our mystery photo is a picture of the fresh pastries on display at Ambrosia Euro American Patisserie at the Foundry of Barrington.

Ambrosia is a gourmet bakery that serves delicious all natural, hand crafted desserts, pastries, savory and sweet croissants, breads and hot and cold beverages in a lovely Euro cafe setting.

To read more about the business and get acquainted with their menu, CLICK HERE to follow them on Facebook or visit DiscoverAmbrosia.com.

I’ll be in touch in the coming days, Michelle, with details about how to receive your prize, which is a $20 gift certificate to buy treats at Ambrosia.  The hardest part is going to be choosing which pastries to taste.

They’re impossible to resist, but almost too beautiful to eat.  (I highly recommend the little chocolate mice eclaires – They’re a special birthday treat for our kids and a FAVORITE in our family!)  To see last week’s mystery photo and all of the guesses we received, CLICK HERE.

And now to this week’s contest. Entering is easy.

Here’s how the contest works…

* Submit guesses about where today’s mystery photo was taken in the comments area below for this post
* You have until the end of the day next Tuesday to submit your guess
* Next Wednesday, we’ll draw a name and reveal the winner at 365Barrington.com
* We will contact the winner with instructions about receiving the prize of the week
* Only one guess per person
* Only guesses posted here on this website (not on Facebook or Twitter) will be entered into the drawing
* Your email address must be valid, so we can contact you if you win

There you go! All you have to do is SUBMIT YOUR GUESS IN THE “COMMENTS” BOX BELOW. If you’ve guessed in our previous contests, please feel free to participate again this week! We’d love to see as many guesses as possible. We’re also working on finding more great prizes to give away for future “Guess Where Wednesday” mystery photo contests. If you would like to offer one of our upcoming prizes, please drop me a note at Liz@365Barrington.com.

Good luck with your guessing and here’s one more look at this week’s mystery photo.