Last week a dear friend calls us and asks if we want to “come over to his place for a wine tasting experience?”

Sure! We love wine, why not?!    There was three of us, plus our friend, who was playing host. We all get to his house  at a designated time and I don’t see any wine! He said “Don’t take off your coat, we’re taking right off.”

What the heck? We all go down his lobby and there is cute little shuttle bus waiting for us! We’re asking all kinds of questions and he is stiff-lipped. “It’s a surprise,” he says!

We get on Lake Shore Drive and leave Boystown and end up downtown at Clark and Superior in front of ZED 451! I had never been there, but heard it was quite fabulous!

So we go inside and check our coats and the walk us into this glass enclosed wine room.  4 bottles of wine are set out with a beautiful tray of cheeses and crackers.  Patrick, one of the chef’s comes in to greet us.  He explains our four different wines. Then he gives these amazing description and stories about the cheeses. Every cheese was selected for a reason to not only pair with the wine, but the cheese itself was selected for the restaurant based on taste and quality. It was very clear, a LOT OF THOUGHT went into this restaurant.



So after the chef was done, he leaves the room and we   all sample wines and cheeses and chat about things, just  as if you were at home in someone’s living room!  It was just delightful! It was laid back, it was relaxing and just an amazing time. We were there about 90 minutes.

A private wine and cheese pairing in the wine room can be reserved at any time.  ZED 451 can set up a  four or five flight wine and cheese pairing for guests, or guests are welcome to select their own bottles of wine from the extensive international wine list.  With either arrangement, the only cost to guests is for the bottles of wine they drink. All of the cheese, fruit and nut pairings are complementary as part of the “wine room experience”.  That means guests can choose to open a $32 bottle of wine or a $300 bottle of wine and get the same personal custom experience! PLUS, the restaurant  will  gladly shuttle you down to the restaurant and back home on the Zed 451 complimentary shuttle.  Even if you want to have dinner with them!  Just  plan and call ahead and save $40 in cab fares!

4 bottles of wine at  ZED 451: $169.00
Complimentary cheese pairings: FREE
Complimentary shuttle service: FREE
Zed 451 Wine and Cheese Tasting Experience with Friends: PRICELESS!


Zed451   739 N. Clark St. Chicago  312.266.6691