Art Tasting At Bottle & Bottega

I this was a very fun event. I don’t drink, but the painting is fun. They make it easy to follow along a get something that could be called a painting. Definitely a good group event. The food, drinks, and dessert from Freshii were good too.

I finally have a chance to review this wonderful event. As the other Unilocalers have mentioned, this was one of my absolute favorite Unilocal events. Thanks to Angela, Bottle & Bottega, Freshii, & Nothing Bundt Cakes for making it a memorable night. My friends and I really enjoyed painting the sunset while snacking on fresh, delicious snacks. The spinach hummus, pinwheels & chipotle spice chocolate cookie were all so good I had seconds. Of course wine always help make everything a bit more fun :) Our instructor for the 10X10 painting, Matt, was really nice and helpful. He made it really easy to follow along and create a beautiful sunset painting. We left with a practical, cute Unilocal phone charger and a cute wine glass from Bottle & Bottega. My friends are already talking about coming back and painting the Chicago Skyline!

I love Unilocal and the wonderful Angela!
Thank you for hosting another awesome event. I really enjoy the hands on activities that Angela takes the time to organize. I mean who wouldn’t enjoy painting and wine?! I did get a little frustrated at my clouds in the painting, but I don’t take my artwork too seriously. My guests and I had a ton of fun trying to recreate what the instructor was doing. It was interesting how different all of our paintings turned out in the end. All three of us decided to switch to finger painting at the end to get the fluffiness of the clouds we were hoping to achieve.
I had a couple bites of the hummus from Freshii which was good. I would definitely check out the restaurant next time I am in the area to sees hat else they have to offer. The chocolate cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes we moist and incredible. I will be driving out to Skokie to consume more of that deliciousness (and I usually don’t like chocolate)!
There was a raffle… I didn’t win… But I felt like a winner taking home my painting and the gift bag from Bottle and Bottega with a cute wine glass! Thank you to everyone involved in making this fabulous event happen!

Was brought into the event by Taylor with no expectations. Turned out to be tons of fun!
Fantastic food and wine — plus art! Do you need anything else? Well worth the drive into Evanston.

Thank you Angela and Bottle & Bottega! This was such a cool and different Unilocal event.
The painting class was so fun. Matt and Ester were great instructors. They were very understandable, relatable, and encouraging. Even though my painting wasn’t very good in the end, I had fun painting it.
The food was very tasty. I especially liked the pinwheels from Freshii (I generally do not like pinwheels, so I was impressed by how fresh and tasty these were). I loved the little bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt cakes, they were perfect little deserts. I am also a huge fan of the oatmeal and butterscotch cookies from Sugar and spice.
All in all this was a great way to spend an evening!

It’s always fun attending these Unilocal events and I enjoy seeing familiar Unilocalee attendees!
This was a really nice event because they offered painting on canvas, making a collage or painting on glass.
For those who had done canvas painting it was a nice change to paint on another surface such as glass, but since I’ve never done this before I opted to try painting on canvas.
Although I have no artistic talent in painting I still had a great time but who wouldn’t with the choice of wines offered that night.
It was very nice of Nothing Bundt cakes to offer free coupons with their tasty treats that were offered.
Sugar and spice brought in some scrumptious cookies for the tasting and Freshii’s opened a new franchise in Evanston and they brought in hummus and pinwheel sandwiches to munch on.

As my first Unilocal Elite event since moving back to the Windy City from St. Louis, I was definitely wow-​ed by Angela’s efforts! This cozy and tastefully-​decorated storefront in downtown Evanston is much bigger than it looks from the outside. It was easily able to accommodate our 50+ people party. The wine and snacks provided were plentiful and light. I sampled the pinwheels, spinach hummus, and the oatmeal butterscotch cookie from Freshii which were all very tasty! I did not get to sample one of the mini bundt cakes, but my +1 (an Evanston native) spoke very highly of them!
With regards to the painting class, I was very impressed! I consider myself a wine and painting class enthusiast (having attended 4+ events with different companies) and Bottle & Bottega may very well be my favorite one that I have attended!
Matt & Ester were our instructors and they were wonderful. Matt moved at a good pace while Ester floated throughout the room, doling out tips and tricks as she went. I was really impressed by how her advice to each of us seemed very individual and unique to our painting/​painting style. Those clouds were tough to paint, so her advice and patience were greatly appreciated!
All in all, I thought this was a lovely Elite event! It was so nice that this venue allowed us to have choices with regards to the project we chose. Additionally, the Unilocal swag was awesome! I am very excited about the portable chargers we received and I am looking forward to using it all summer! Thanks to Angela for putting on a great event and for making me feel so welcome in the Chicago/​North Shore Unilocal community!

I really enjoyed this event because of my love for art, wine, Unilocal,good company and food. I’m glad Angela S. set up this event because there is another location on Lincoln avenue that caught my attention (what a coincidence) and the owner stated that there’s even a third location in the South loop — perfect for team building exercises for my company which is headquartered in the loop. I elected to paint (or attempted I should say) Starry Night by Van Gogh on my wine glass. By the way, you had four choices to choose from — painting on a wine glass, pint glass, canvas or a special project involving a collage. Well, my glass came out different from what I envisioned but I still like it — I guess I was having delusions of being as good as Vincent. I would love to do this again but I would probably try to paint on canvas, because trying to do this on glass was a bit tougher for me. Great instruction by the staff, the event was a huge success.

Another great Unilocal event! The painting was a fun and productive activity. Loved that we got to bring them home and enjoy them for a long time to come.
The food was stellar! Especially loved the cookies!!! Loved the original flavors and the textures were perfection!

Kudos to Angela S. for another great event! I saw some familiar Elite faces as well as some new ones. It’s always a happening crowd at these events.
We got to sample tasty veggie pinwheels, spinach and regular hummus from Freshii, which is located walking distance from there. Freshii has a healthy concept that doesn’t taste like your chewing on a piece of raw lettuce. I could have eaten a dozen of those pinwheels. We got a sweet bite of red velvet and strawberry swirl cakes from Nothing Bunt Cakes in Skokie. I’m excited to try another flavor using my coupon for a free mini bundt cake. We also had cinnamon and chocolate chipotle cookies from Sugar and Spice. The thought of chipotle in a cookie seemed odd but it was pretty good. It’s definitely for the chocolate lover and the slight sweet kick in the end was a nice touch. And of course, we were able to wash it all down with our choice of white, red, or rose wine (can’t recall brands).
When I think of art, canvas paintings first comes to mind, but Bottle & Bottega also offered glass painting on either a pint glass or a wine glass. It was tough to decide on a design, but they had plenty of examples to help inspire us. Once we put in the aprons, the creative juices started to flow and it was a lot of fun working along side my friendly fellow Unilocalers that we’re there to have fun too. The staff was very helpful in getting us paints and supplies when needed and cleaning up as we finished up. The instructor was also helpful with her tips and tricks along the way.
While art is not my specialty, this event was an awesome way to bring out my artistic side in trying something out of the ordinary along with sampling tasty bites from local spots. The gift bag with a Bottle & Bottega wine glass and coupon and the Unilocal swag was a bonus.

Super fun evening! Angela really outdid herself this time. I came in thinking I could not paint or do anything artistic worth my life. I left with one of the best paintings I have ever created. Am I a Picasso? No, but it came out damn good for me. Matt and Esther were our instructors, and they made sure we understood each step. I never knew that painting clouds could be so hard! We were all given 10×10 canvases and all of the materials needed.
Freshii provided wraps and hummus. They also had one of the best chocolate cookies I have ever had. The owner said that it had chipotle in it. Who knew? The bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes were also tasty.

Our CM, Angela, always puts together a great elite event. I brought my daughter this time, and we had a great time painting wine glasses. As usual, there was plenty of food and drink, and some good Unilocalers to boot!
It was great to try out Bottle & Bottega activities. It seems like something to try with a group of friends who like to do artsy type stuff. We could pick one of four items to paint/​collage. Daughter and I sat across from Gerry and his son. We had fun chatting and painting… and encouraging each other on our projects.
They brought in food from Freshii down the block. All very good and healthy. They also had little cake bites from Nothing Bundt Cakes in Skokie. Those were dangerously delicious! There was also some great wine to drink.
At the end of the night, we walked out with our painted glass, a goodie bag from Bottle & Bottega, some Unilocal shwag, and memories of a good time. :-)

I’m really not sure if all Unilocal Elite events are like what I experienced last night – I hope so cos it was seriously a blast! Such a blast that I’m ignoring the 40+ reviews I still have on my queue, to write this one!
I was so excited to finally meet our CM, Angela S., as well as other North Shore Elites! I’m a bit sad that I didn’t get to converse with everyone – kind of stuck with my two guests and hid in my hermit shell. When we came in, we were welcomed with name tags and there were Unilocal goodies strewn about everywhere!
Really loved the atmosphere of Bottle & Bottega with all the colors and paintings everywhere. Lynette was super sweet and answered all my questions about the wine glass painting because I was curious about it! Alas, I was afraid to stray from what I knew, sooooo canvas painting for me!
My guests and I THROUGHLY enjoyed those Nothing Bundt Cake bites – so moist, flavorful and delicious. My favorite part of the Freshii table was the spinach hummus for sure!
The artist that assisted us step-​by-​step was Matt and he was so friendly and helpful. Love how everything was set up and I’m so glad I left with the technical names of the brushes that we learned, haha (Large brush, medium brush and small brush).
There was also a raffle for three different prizes. I was definitelyyyyy eyeing that Bottle & Bottega Apron! Coincidentally I won it! My guest also won the Freshii gift card. The odds were slim – I’m so sorry everyone! Wasn’t rigged… promise.
It was truly a great time and I’m grateful for the Unilocal and Bottle & Bottega goodies!

Super fun event! Painting, wine, food, and good company (friends, strangers, staff) made this an amazing night. I can’t wait to go to Bottle and Bottega again!
Freshii provided a delicious wrap and a hummus (the spinach hummus was SO good) that had me going back for more. I will have to try their other menu items. They had a chocolate cookie that was delicious. i can’t remember what kind if was specifically. It sounded healthy (even tho it probably wasn’t haha).
Nothing Bundt Cakes were also featured and their mini samples were tasty as always. I love that store.
The art instructor was so funny and an excellent artist. His instructions were super easy to follow and I enjoyed our painting. I will definitely have to go back to paint something with them. Highly recommended!
Thanks to Unilocal and Angela for organizing! Angela always organizes the best events. I am so impressed by the organization and the amount of work that seems to go in to these events. I had such a good time!!! Being Elite is the best: D