Baconfest 2012 Tickets Go On Sale Today At Noon
By Anthony Todd in Food on Feb 20, 2012 2:30PM
Food writers like to complain that bacon is so over, but we still drool whenever April rolls around. It's that time again, folks; one of the high points of the year, Baconfest, starts selling tickets today at noon. This year, the event has doubled in size. There are now two different (and separately ticketed) sessions, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Despite the increase, tickets will sell out very very fast.
VIP tickets have already sold out, but all the general admission tickets are up for grabs. A ticket is $75, and gets you into either the afternoon or the evening session on Saturday, April 14. Chef information and exhibitor lists are below—each session features different restaurants and dishes. More than 100 chefs, 20 vendors and 7 liquor sponsors will serve almost 1500 people, spread across the two sessions. No matter which you choose, you get two and a half hours of more pork than you can possibly handle from practically all of Chicago's best restaurants. And it'll even do some good - proceeds go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
It's entirely possible that tickets will ALL sell out by 12:05, so have your browsers bookmarked and your Paypal accounts set up. Here's the link. Be sure you know how many tickets you need and for what session. And a tip from the organizers - don't give up if it looks like everything is sold out. Refresh your browser and see if people have released tickets back into the system.
The first session runs from 12:30 p.m.- 3 p.m., the second from 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.. Fun fact: The event is estimated to use up a ton (literally) of Neuske's bacon this year. Last year, Baconfest was featured on the Food Network - take a look at a clip below if you're not sure it's worth attending.
Session 1
AUTRE MONDE CAFE - Dan Pancake & Beth Partridge
BACARO - Thad Morrow
BARN & COMPANY - Bob Zrenner and Gary Wiviott
BENNY’S CHOP HOUSE - Jonathan Lane
BIG JONES - Paul Fehribach
BISTRO CAMPAGNE - Michael Altenberg
BLEEDING HEART BAKERY & CAFE
BLT AMERICAN BRASSERIE - Aksel Theilkuhl
BRIDGE HOUSE TAVERN - Mark Hemmer
BRISTOL - Chris Pandel
BURGER BAR CHICAGO - John McLean
CAFÉ des ARCHITECTES - Greg Biggers
CHALKBOARD - Gilbert Langlois
CHICAGO q - Lee Ann Whippen
CHIZAKAYA - Harold Jurado
CUSTOM HOUSE TAVERN - Perry Hendrix
deca RESTAURANT + BAR at the Ritz Carlton - Mark Payne
FLO AND SANTOS - Mark Rimkus
HEARTY - Dan Smith
HOPLEAF - Ben Sheagren
INOVASI - John des Rosiers
LA MADIA - Jonathan Fox
LILLIE’S Q - Charlie Mckenna
LOCKWOOD RESTAURANT at the Palmer House - Greg Elliott
LOKaL - Artur Wnorowski and Ruben Torres
MAGNOLIA CAFE - Kas Medhat
MARKETHOUSE - Scott Walton
MEXIQUE - Carlos Gaytan
MODERNO - Philip Rubino
MRS. MURPHY & SONS IRISH BISTRO - Jeanne Carlson
N9NE STEAK HOUSE
OLD TOWN SOCIAL - Jared Vancamp
PADDY LONG’S - Patrick Berger & Chris Latchford
PENINSULA HOTEL - Kai Lermen
PENSIERO RISTORANTE - Wilson Bauer
PIECE - Bill Jacobs, Jonathan Cutler & Antonio Jops
PLEASANT HOUSE BAKERY - Art and Chelsea Jackson
PRIMEHOUSE (David Burke’s) - Rick Gresh
PROVINCE - Randy Zweiban
PUBLIC HOUSE and BULL & THE BEAR - David Blonsky
PURE KITCHEN - Steven Hubbell
RED BUTTER - Monica Sharma
RED CANARY - Daniel Tolentino
ROOTS HANDMADE PIZZA
SIGNATURE ROOM - Chef T.B.A.
SMALL BAR - Justin White
SOUTH WATER KITCHEN - Roger Waysok
SPACCA NAPOLI - Jonathan Goldsmith
THE FLORENTINE - Todd Stein
UNCLE BUB’S BBQ - Mark Link
UNION SUSHI + BARBEQUE BAR - Chao
WEST TOWN TAVERN - Susan Goss
WILDFIRE - Paul Guerrero
ZED451 - Joseph Lallave
Session 2
2 SPARROWS - Gregory Ellis
676 RESTAURANT AND BAR - Daven Wardynski
694 WINE & SPIRITS - Chris Dunstatter
ATWOOD CAFE - Derek Simcik
BAKIN’ & EGGS - Bob and Gina Hartwig
BLACK DOG GELATO - Jessica Oloroso
BLUE 13 - Chris Curren
BRANCH 27 - Cary Michael
BRIDGEPORT PASTY - Jay Sebastian & Carrie Clark
BROWNTROUT - Sean Sanders
BUTCHER & THE BURGER - Allen Sternweiler
CAFE SPIAGGIA - Sarah Grueneberg and Aaron Diener
CANTINA 46 - Troy Graves
CANTINA LAREDO - Larry Sinclair
CRUX - Brandon Baltzley
DAVANTI ENOTECA - Jonathan Beatty
ELLY’S PANCAKE HOUSE
EPIC RESTAURANT - Mark Pollard
FARMHOUSE - Eric Mansavage
FEAST - Debbie Sharpe
FLIGHT 1551 - Robyn Marfurt
FRANCESCA’S FORNO - Josh Anton
GEMINI BISTRO/RUSTIC HOUSE - Jason Paskewitz
GIRL & THE GOAT - Stephanie Izard
GLENVIEW HOUSE - Grant Slauterbeck
IPO - Trevor Hoyte
J LAFAYETTE CATERING CO. - Alexander L. Martin
LEOPOLD - Jeffrey Hedin
MARKET BAR CHICAGO - Evan Packer
MERCADITO - Patricio Sandoval
MERCAT A LA PLANXA - Jose Garces and Cory Morris
NACIONAL 27 - Francisco Vilchez
NANA - Alan Krueger
NONNA SANTI’S BISCOTTI - Jo-Marie Frigo
PARK GRILL at Millenium Park - Alex Shalev
PERENNIAL VIRANT - Paul Virant
QUINCE - Andy Motto
ROCKIT - Amanda Downing
ROSEBUD - Michael Ponzio
SABLE KITCHEN & BAR - Heather Terhune
SAIGON SISTERS RESTAURANT - Mary Nguyen Aregoni
SIXTEEN - Sarah Kosikowski
STATE & LAKE at The Wit Hotel - Evan Percoco
SUNDA - Jess De Guzman
TABLE FIFTY-TWO - Chef Art Smith
TERZO PIANO at the Art Institute of Chicago - Margaret Colleran Sahs
THE BEDFORD - Mark Steuer
THREE ACES - Matt Troost
TINY LOUNGE - Chef T.B.D.
TOWNHOUSE RESTAURANT & WINE BAR - Kelly Jane Wilson
TRENCHERMEN - Pat Sheerin & Michael Sheerin
VIE - Nathan Sears
WITTS - Chris Bromley
WOW BAO - Hot Asian Buns
ZAPATISTA