Bites & benders

Friday 28
The Park Hyatt Chicago opens La Boule de Noël, a Parisian macaron boutique, exclusively for the holidays. Handmade by NoMI executive pasty chef Andrés Lara, the cookies come in flavors like cranberry pecan, peppermint white chocolate and orange spice cake. The holidays are all about giving, but feel free to invoke the “one for you, one for me” method. Through Dec 31. $2 each. 4:30—6:30pm. 800 N Michigan Ave (312-335-1234).

Monday 1
Thomas Keller, international-award-winning chef and cookbook author extraordinaire, will be signing copies of his new cookbook, Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide at Williams-Sonoma—but you’ll have to present a book bought from this Williams-Sonoma location. If you already own a copy, it might make a splendid, slightly used gift for the cook in your family; keep the new, signed one for yourself. 4pm. 900 N Michigan Ave (312-587-8080).

Wednesday 3
“Money talks. Chocolate sings.” Find out if this is true at the World of Chocolate 2008 in the International Ballroom at the Hilton Chicago. Join 30 of Chicago’s top restaurants, hotels, caterers and chocolatiers for an ultimate chocolate feast—from chocolate martinis to shrimp with bittersweet chocolate mole—to benefit the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. $75. 6–10pm. 720 S Michigan Ave (312-334-0935).