Baconfest 2012 Reached New Heights Of Porcine Glory

By Anthony Todd in Food on Apr 16, 2012 3:00PM

Bourbon bacon caramel corn from West Town Tavern.

A martini, drunk through a pork marrow bone from Benny\'s Chop House.

Bacon-wrapped sausage, deep fried inside croissant dough from Bleeding Heart.

Bruchette of bacon, spinach, balsamic and ricotta from La Madia.

Smoked bacon bakava from Chicago Q.

Baconomiyaki - Japanese stuffed \"pizza\" with bacon, napa cabbage, pickled ginger, scallion, shrimp, nori and bonito flakes from Chizakaya.

The fifty/50 and Ryka Voka\'s bacon bloody mary.

Panko-coated bacon with a baby arugula salad from Union Sushi and BBQ.

Bacon custard-filled bacon beignet with coffee and chicory syrup from Lillie\'s Q.

Bacon pancake pops in a bourbon glaze from Zed 451.

Baconfest Chicago is an unstoppable juggernaut of pork, a behemoth of of smoked meat. This year, the bacon couldn't all fit into one session! This year's event required two time slots into which were packed a whole ton (literally) of Neuske's bacon, which greeted the 1,500 ticket holders that crammed into the UIC Forum on Saturday. We brought back glimpses of some of the more memorable dishes.

Descriptions of the pictured dishes are in the photo captions. Baconfest, as always, put us into a fat-induced coma and we only sort of remember the day. However, we did learn one valuable lesson: Never wear wool to an event where 75 chefs will be cooking bacon at the same time. That sweater will be our reminder of Baconfest forever.

We'll update this post with the winners when we get them.

UPDATE: Eater Chicago has some of the winners. "Golden Rashers" went to Three Aces (for most creative use of bacon) and 676 Restaurant & Bar (for Best Front of House).