Taste of Chicago lost $1.3 million last year, leaving it deeper in the red after Mayor Rahm Emanuel raised the expectation that the venerable summer ode to overindulgence would begin to break even or turn a profit.
The losses came despite Emanuel's moves to raise more money at Taste 2012 by charging attendees at the nightly concerts at the Petrillo Music Shell $25 for reserved seats and adding $40 daily gourmet meals prepared by local chefs alongside the traditional ribs-and-ice cream fare that has made the festival synonymous with Chicago summer for decades. The mayor also cut Taste from 10 days to five and moved it away from July 4.
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