Bacon Takedown returns to Lincoln Hall for a second go-round of overindulgence. more ›

Travel Channel's "Food Wars" airs a special episode Wednesday pitting the two most popular pizza casserole deep dish pizza names in town — Lou Malnati's and Pizzeria Uno — against each other for ultimate bragging rights. The term "grudge match" is often overused, but fitting in this case, given the intertwining histories of the two chains. Lou Malnati's father, Rudy, has long been noted as the creator of the deep dish style while he worked for Ike Sewell at Pizzeria Uno. more ›

Normally, when a press release hits the inbox titled "Press Release Inferno!", It's laughed at, marked as spam and forgotten. But when the subject of said inferno is a bacon cookoff that promises to "consume the city in flames most awesome!", it begs to be read, if only in the hopes that the author of the press release is Andrew W.K. more ›

In an office loft located in the North Damen industrial corridor, Goose Island Clybourn pub brewer Jared Rouben pulled a shucked oyster from its bed of ice. Working in tandem with L2O sous chef Emiliano Pimentel Morado, an old friend of Rouben's from culinary school, they removed the oyster from its shell, filled the shell with wort (unfermented beer) frozen with liquid nitrogen, then reset the oyster atop the granita and garnished the whole thing with edible flowers and a citrus emulsion. For added effect, Rouben sprayed an oil he made from citra hops using L2O's distiller as Morado handed the finished appetizer to the curious. "Right now, Citra hops are my favorite," he explained. Around them, guests wandering the loft sampled. "We were also thinking about Italian ice and how we could make it using beer." They uploaded some of their experiment on You Tube. more ›

Baconfest Chicago proper won't be for another six months, but if Saturday's VIP pro cookoff is any indication organizers Seth Zurer, Michael Griggs and Andre Pluess might want to have some ambulances at the ready. Or at least some Lipitor. We won't get into another debate about how played out the bacon meme is; haters will hate, lovers will love. But there was a sense of fun among the crowd Saturday. As vocal as the pro- and anti-bacon folks can be, the overall vibe was lifted from Alfred E. Neumann: "What? Me Worry?" Few took themselves seriously at the cookoff and levity reigned. So did excess. more ›

Tickets to Stephanie Izard's Wandering Goat dinners are the most coveted in town, with the first two dinners selling out almost as fast as they went on sale. For the next dinner, Izard and Red Eye are giving three lucky people a chance to cook with Izard. more ›

This weekend is jam-packed with events. Social butterflies plan accordingly. more ›

• Through Sunday: Pilsen's annual Fiesta Del Sol festival kicked off last night on Cermak from Morgan to Throop. Very good eats to be had at Fiesta del Sol.
• One of the highlights of this year's Retro on Roscoe Festival is the 15th Annual Windy City Chili Cook Off. The cookoff is open to anyone over 18. No beans allowed.
• Flemings Prime Steakhouse (25 E. Ohio, 312-329-9463) is offering that burger above as part of its "5 for $6 Until 7" menu. that's eight ounces of hand-shaped ground Prime beef, seasoned with salt and pepper, pan-seared and finished in flemings' broiler.

Fancy cupcakes are a trend that won't die - and we're totally fine with that. But what if you want to do more than just buy cupcakes? If you fancy yourself the equal of Susan's, More or Sensational Bites, throw your hat in the ring and join the Iron Cupcake Challenge. Competitors bring their best cupcakes in for judgment and the winner takes home cupcake glory and prestige. This month's theme is Tropical cupcakes, so bring your best coconut/banana/passionfruit/rum icing and your favorite pastry bag! Does your cupcake reign supreme? more ›

It was around 5 p.m. Sunday when I and the other judges for Cochon 555 gathered around a series of tables set up in the middle of a cavernous ballroom in the Drake Hotel, like a scene straight out of "Top Chef." Any questions about how we were to judge the competition were answered by Cochon founder Brady Lowe. We were asked to judge the chefs on a scale of 1-5 based on three factors: presentation, flavor, and utilization of the whole pig. That last factor was important, since this was a snout-to-tail competition. more ›

Amid all the recent turnover at Sepia a few months back, seeing mixologist Peter Vestinos leave to become the on-staff cocktail guy at Wirtz Beverage Group (formerly known as Judge & Dolph) probably hit us harder than seeing chef Kendal Duque leave. Vestinos's tenure at Sepia was an unqualified success and his cocktails received raves from diners and critics alike. more ›