In Pictures: Baconfest Chicago 2011
By Chuck Sudo in Food on Apr 11, 2011 7:00PM
La Madia\'s spinach and bacon ravioli with bown butter sauce and parmesan.
Custom House Tavern\'s \"Bacon Manhattan:\" Templeton Rye braosed pork belly, sweet vermouth and onion marmalade with tart cherry mustard.
Roasted bacon bratwurst sausage on caramelized onions from Brian Polcyn of Forest Grill.
One of the Golden Rasher winners from James Toland of the soon-to-open Black Sheep: Banana panna cotta, cherrywood smoked bacon brittle and peanut butter froth with a lady finger spoon.
From Nana - ife\'s Little Pleasures candy bar: house smoked bacon cake, koval whiskey, Burton\'s maplewood farm syrup and caramel.
Miramar Bistro\'s caramelized pork belly with wilted escarole and maple pinepple chutney.
New Haven-style bacon pizza from Piece.
Bacon banh mi from the Bristol.
House cured Duroc pork belly and quail eggs from Stanley\'s Kitchen & Tap.
The various toppings at Café des Architectes\' bacon sundae bar.
Old Town Social\'s Tijuana Dog: Triple S Farms smoked bacon wrapped around a Monterey Jack-stuffed housemade hot dog, pickled jalapenos, salsa fresca, lime aioli.
one sixtyblue\'s pastrami cured pork belly Reuben with housemade sauerkraut and ramp 1000 Island dressing.
Smoked bacon, bluew cheese and rasted apple mac and cheese from the Southern.
Chicken and bacon creole on parmigiano-reggiano cheese grits from Heaven on Seven.
Bacon-inspired bruschetta with garlic goat cheese from redFLAME Pizzeria.
From Inovasi: Becker Lane quick-cured pork belly with Anson Mills grits, blue Mediterraneo cheese and verjus pickled cabbage.
From the coon-to-open the Bedford: Crispy bacon meatballs, English pea puree, bacon fat béarnaise and radish salad.
A friend offered us a ticket to Saturday's sold out Baconfest Chicago 2011. At the time we were content with letting Anthony handle the coverage, but he's been neck-deep in all things related to Next and the Aviary, so we decided to shoulder the load here. The UIC Forum made for a much better fit for this year's version over the Stan Mansion in Logan Square, indicative of the promotion and growth of the festival in a few short years. The expanded space also meant that attendees didn't leave reeking of bacon for days like last year. The chefs, for the most part, brought their "A" games to the event, with dishes ranging from Phillip Foss's chicken meatballs wrapped in Neuske's bacon in red wine sauce (which he dubbed "Coq in Balls") to a amazing pastrami cured pork belly Reuben from onesixtyblue and Old Town Social's Tijuana Dog: Jared Van Camp's take on the Sonoran. Paddy Long's took it to the extreme with a whole Berkshire hog wrapped in a bacon weave that was long gone by the time we got around to try it.
Of course, we also took some photos, including one of the Golden Rasher winners from James Toland of the Black Sheep, which he said was set to open in May.
