An Epic EC x NBA All-Stars Event

NBA All-Stars Weekend in Chicago was legendary (and we don’t use that word lightly). Glitterati, celebrities, and the best-of-the-big-time all descended to the 312 for a weekend of b-ball and delicious bites. 

More importantly, it was the culmination of an All-Star event that we took *an entire year* to plan in partnership with national talent — Evoke Design & Creative + Jodi Moraru; HMR and Rishi Patel; Mr. Flower Fantastic; Frost Lighting; Moet Chandon; Stage Factor; Illuminate by Theo Milo; talent from performers Miguel and Travis Scott; Cincoro Tequila by Michael Jordan and Cornerstone Restaurant Group. 

The event was in a warehouse on the South Side and 1,700 guests rolled through from 10pm to 5am. The event was a production on a major scale; the event space was 14 miles long (needless to say we got in our steps for the weekend) and EC worked hand in hand with all the partners on hyper customized details, specific to Michael Jordan and the NBA (a personal favorite? The #Jumpman MJ ice cubes we designed with Nadeau Ice Co). 

Entertaining Company prepared for many months by working alongside Cornerstone Restaurant Group (think SolToro, Michael Jordan’s Steak House, and Urbanbelly) to prepare their delicious and iconic dishes in miniature sizes (catering is all about transformation after all, and feeding the hungry masses!). 

We created popup experiences for each of the restaurant concepts as well, to explore these delicious bites on a new scale. 

Some of the items on our menu? 

From Michael Jordan’s Steak House: 

Killer B”: Neuske’s maple glazed bacon with garlic bread with blue cheese fondue. 

From Urbanbelly: 

Seared edamame dumplings with cilantro garnish, coconut grits with shrimp, and red thai curry sauce. 

And From SolToro: 

Veggie sope with blue corn masa, watermelon radish, and conchita pibil street tacos with aji panca aioili and pickled habanero. 

All of the dishes were paired with Michael Jordan’s Cincoro Tequila signature cocktails (Cincoro Paloma, anyone?) as well as endless glasses of Moet Chandon. 

The best part? Some of the EC staff were decked out in soon-to-be-launched Nike gear. Dope! 

The signature dishes were paired with amazing performances from Miguel and Travis Scott’s DJ, and insane custom design details; think lenticular bars with rotating Nike + historic bball imagery, a rotating 3D sculpture which from one vista was a giant Nike shoe before rotating to reveal a Jump Man MJ dunk; and of course, a huge Nike shoe created by Mr. Flower Fantastic. Beyond that? There was copious Garret’s Popcorn and Vienna Beef stands for the out of towners who needed a char dog. 

The event took 12 months of planning and it was worth every minute to be part of such an electric evening, celebrating the legacy of basketball, Chicago’s history, and honoring Kobe Bryant. 

We’re always proud to be Chicagoans, but last weekend really tipped it over the top 🙂 

Go Bulls and see you next year!