Risotto is music to the ears of Ravinia’s Welz Kauffman
It’s not easy booking nearly 150 musical acts every year — keeping more than half a million music lovers happy. But Welz Kauffman has been doing that for nearly two decades at Ravinia, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. For those who don’t know about Ravinia, it’s the Highland Park concert venue that welcomes guests to a covered pavilion or acres of lawn space to enjoy a picnic under the stars while also savoring world- class live music.
As president and CEO, Kauffman has made it a point to showcase artists from classical music to hip- hop, from oldies to jazz, from movies to musicals, and everything in between. Ravinia also has indoor recital halls, and has grown to include restaurants, food vendors and beverage carts. I told Kauffman that I’ve never bought tickets for the pavilion, preferring to sit out on the lawn. A favorite memory: our family and some good friends, packing our picnic baskets, finding a spot out at the end of the lawn area so our children wouldn’t disturb other music lovers. Suddenly, in the middle of the concert, I realized everyone around us was staring past me and smiling. There was my little girl, dancing to the music! For me, that’s Ravinia.
When we asked him to come into our Sun Times kitchen, Kaufmann thought about making a childhood favorite ice cream sundae. But when he explained why he instead chose to prepare his special risotto, we realized what food means to him: It soothes, it comforts and it just makes him happy. A former boss of his at the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles took Kaufmann to a favorite Italian restaurant and introduced him to this yellow pepper and green bean risotto. It made his day!
It’s a recipe he’s been making ever since, and even serves it to many of the artists who perform at Ravinia.