As Chicago Restaurant Week kicks off, Pullman chef Dominique Leach hosts "First Bites Bash"

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Restaurant Week is underway, showcasing nearly 400 restaurants across the city, with dozens of restaurants showcasing exclusive dishes and offering specials throughout the 17-day event.

The celebration officially kicked off on Friday, but on Thursday, Chef Dominique Leach and her team at Lexington Betty Smokehouse in Pullman were part of the "First Bites Bash" preview tasting event at the Field Museum.

They prepared 20 pans of Jambalaya for their first appearance at the First Bites Bash.

"I got my aromatics out, I got some bay leaves, I got peppers, onions. We got celery. All the things that make a jambalaya delicious," she said.

It wasn't just Leach's first appearance at the Fist Bites Bash, she was also hosting.

"When Choose Chicago asked me, I was like, 'Absolutely. I can't wait to be amongst the community.' I mean, this is what I worked so hard as a chef for," she said.

Leach was one of more than 50 chefs and restaurants who teamed up to feed 1,200 people at the Field Museum on Thursday to kick off the biggest food event in the city.

"This is a celebration of different neighborhoods, all the wonderful neighborhoods that make us the wonderful city that we are, and the food culture that represents us as a city," Leach said.

Leach said First Bites Bash and Chicago Restaurant Week couldn't come at a better time.

"We know what's coming every year, the bitter winter cold. And so people would typically be hibernating in their homes; just from work to the house," she said.

Chicago Restaurant Week aims to keep some of that energy from the holiday season, boosting restaurants during what's typically their slowest time of year.

"This is exactly the type of momentum we need at the beginning of the year; because it encourages people to get out and celebrate these chefs, and the wonderful prix fixe menus that they've made for this season," Leach said.