THE NEXT TASTE IN CRAFT BEVERAGE & CULINARY TOUR

The Next Taste in Craft Beverage & Culinary Tours

Written By: Randy Weckerly

Years in the making, like a fine distilled product… “The Distillery Channel Media” is now on the air with our new show, “The Next Taste in Craft Beverage and Culinary Tours”. We are very excited to start planning the next 3, 6 and 12 months of our travel and visit schedule across America; Hopefully, as the pandemic subsides, around the world.

Over the past five years, we have visited with and are proud to say we have over 9000 Small Craft Breweries, Coffee Shops, Convention/Tourism Boards, Distilleries, Moonshiners, Travel Destinations and Wineries. “The Distillery Channel Platform” has been delicately nurtured from our executive staff and our fully credentialed media team covering sporting and media events worldwide.

We are growing rapidly every week with Facebook Live Presentations, New Podcast shows; “The Next Taste Show on Tour” and “The Next Taste in Craft Beverage and Culinary Tours” using Zoom.

We have researched what works for providing help to our platform members dedicated to producing current stories and content with our media presentations. We have found that our viewers tell us what they enjoy and would want to see more.

Looking toward the future, we look forward to getting past this pandemic and getting ready to open up every industry in America. We are anxiously waiting for the future of the corona-virus vaccine being ready for the public and getting back to our post pandemic normal life. We know that our “The Distillery Channel Journal” and our shows will be one of the top leaders of reopening each industry in American.

We are beginning in September 2020 with our shows “The Next Taste Show on Tour” and “The Next Taste in Craft Beverage and Culinary Tours”. “The Next Taste in Craft Beverage and Culinary Tours” will start in our hometown, community, state and region. We work closely with The Chamber of Commerce in Geneva, Illinois, businesses in Geneva, Illinois and businesses in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Rich in culture, entertainment and world class dining, these towns are easily commuted by either bus, car or train from downtown Chicago to the

destinations in Illinois and Wisconsin.

We will be featuring our hometown region of Wisconsin and Illinois in the “The Distillery Channel Journal”. On our shows, all of our different social media platforms will be featured during the months of September through December 2020

A few highlights in Geneva, Illinois, bring your appetite and you will be surprised at some of the world’s best dining is found in downtown Geneva.

One of our favorite restaurants to check out in downtown Geneva is Osteria Bigolaro, 317 W. State Street, Geneva, Illinois. Owner and Chef Anthony is passionate about greeting every customer and welcoming with his kitchen in the middle of the restaurant. Anthony greets every customer with a big grin, his down to earth smile, personality and his passion for everything at Osteria Bigolaro.

Osteria Bigolaro’s website best describes Anthony’s passion. “Growing up,

Anthony found himself in the kitchen at a young age helping with prep and a taste tester. When timing was right, Anthony became a classically trained Chef at Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago, Illinois. At LCB he studied classic French cuisine and later had the opportunity to travel to Italy to study his favorite cuisine, Italian. When returning home, Anthony worked in local restaurants gaining experience. As years went on, Anthony’s love for authentic Italian cuisine grew and focused on the craft of making handmade pastas. That is what led him to open “Osteria Bigolaro.”

An “osteria” is a casual and inexpensive restaurant found in Italy, and a “bigolaro” is a vintage pasta extruder that originated in Northern Italy. It was the perfect name for Anthony’s vision. “Osteria Bigolaro” will focus on the art of handcrafted pastas and homemade bread along with great

wine.”

Geneva, Illinois is an easy 60-minute Metra ride from downtown Chicago and will let you out on Third Street. When you step off the Metra stop you are a short walk to begin your Geneva experience with cozy shopping, coffee shops, multiple dining locations depending on what you are looking for. State Street, about five blocks away, will find you’re captivated walking past winery retail shops, Frank Sinatra music will fill the air coming from one of the restaurants. Geneva is the leading location in the Midwest for a day on the road or a long weekend with their festive flair.

Visiting the Illinois countryside, you should check out a distillery and winery. “Whiskey Acres Distillery” at http://www.whiskeyacres.com/home is just twenty minutes west of Geneva. “Whiskey Acres Whiskey” tells the story of their farm raised corn and crops distilled while perfecting their award-winning bourbons. Every weekend there are events, a full retail shop to fill your senses with their home spun authentic country feeling.

If you head to their location, ask Trisha for her special bourbon slush recipe’s. They are terrific! Check out their YouTube Video at: https://youtu.be/ii0YAE1vF5A.

If you are looking for a winery experience and not a distillery, you can travel West from Geneva. On Route 38 you will start finding acres of grapes filling each side. I visited “Aquaviva Winery” in August and found grapes are almost ready for Fall Harvest. Wellmanicured, well attended covered grapes are easily found on all acres surrounding “Aquaviva Winery”. “Aquavia Winery’s” website can be found at https://acquavivawinery.com. If you plan on getting hungry while at their winery, their restaurant has traditional Italian cuisine with a massive indoor and outdoor seating area.

“Aquaviva Winery” is known as one of the premier locations for weddings or simply enjoying a day in the country. If you plan on attending their winery on the weekend, you will find the owners enjoy entertaining you with their own renditions of Frank Sinatra music. The owners sing from their heart and share their passion for Italian heritage. They will keep it up all night with a little encouragement from their patrons.

These are only three of the hundreds of breweries, destinations, distilleries, moonshiners, and wineries found within a two-hour drive from downtown Geneva, Illinois. We will be featuring more of these destinations weekly on our podcasts “The Next Taste Show on Tour” and “The Next Taste in Craft Beverage and Culinary Tours” found on the major podcast platforms including, iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Pandora, Buzzsprout and many others.

Hope we will be getting back on the road shortly after the pandemic allows our executive staff and credentialed media team to travel. We will be delivering these stories getting ready for America to open up in the coming months.

Send us a message on our Social Media or on our website www.thedistillerychannel. com about some of your favorite locations we should feature on our podcasts.

We will be serving unique stories, menus, craft beverages, restaurants and coffee servings.