Baconfest Chicago Cookoff Recap: Well, No One Died The Golden Rashers 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 Vonbaconvitch might want to have some ambulances at the ready. Or at least some Lipitor. We won’t get into another debate about  [Read More]

Baconfest Pro Cookoff: we have a winnah Posted by Mike Sula on Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 12:20 PM Ron Kaplan Chris Pandel’s “breakfast braciole” In terms of attendance, Saturday’s Baconfest Chicago Pro Cookoff at the Publican (the precursor to the main event in April) was a bit of a sausagefest, with dudes (quite a few of them in matching meat  [Read More]

Baconfest: An Ode to Pig Belly in Chicago Posted by Daniel Zemans , October 26, 2009 at 5:15 PM “If any attendees walked out of Baconfest disappointed, 100% of the blame falls on their defective palates.” Inside-out pig in a blanket from David Burke’s Primehouse. [Photographs: Daniel Zemans] You never know when inspiration is going to hit. For Michael Griggs  [Read More]

Bacon reaches new heights of popularity   By Rick Asa Special to the Tribune October 28, 2009 From the sublime to the ridiculous, bacon has the entire spectrum in tow these days. As cured pork belly reaches new heights of popularity, pop culture homages to this most tasty of treats are slamming head-on into parody.Bacon-flavored rolling  [Read More]

Two top chefs bring home the bacon at Pro Bacon Cook-Off by Therese Ruiz Oct 28, 2009 Pan fried. Seared. Braised. Slow roasted. Deep fried. Sliced and served to perfection. Ten Chicago area chefs whipped up a variety of bacon dishes last Saturday, filling the lofty main room of The Publican with the meat’s smoky, distinct smell. It was the inaugural edition of  [Read More]

At Saturday’s Pro Bacon Cook-off, we were lucky to eat ten outstanding bacon-centric dishes. During our video shoots, we tried to get the chefs to act macho and competitive about the Golden Rasher competition. We thought it would make good Baco-TV. But almost to a one, the chefs declined to  [Read More]

We had in the Baconfest gift bags: Chocolate-Covered Bacon from Bleeding Heart Bakery Bacon Bourbon Caramel Corm from Salted Caramel Bacon Salt & Bacon Lip-balm from J and D’s Bacon Maple Man-Bait Lollies from Das Foods Bacon Maple Doughnuts from Glazed Chicago Donuts Bacon Sea Salt Caramels from   Floriole Bakery Bacon Peanut Brittle from Fig Catering Coupons & Tchotckes from Provenance Apologies  if you’re missing from this  [Read More]

We’ll be posting much more info in the days to come, but for now feast your eyes on the delicious dishes and tasty beer pairings that our intrepid chefs put together for today’s wildly awesome cook-off: Chef Giuseppe Tentori of BOKA Black mole-infused pork belly, quince sauce, bacon and semolina  [Read More]

Chef Langlois cops to burning toast and hints at what dish he’ll present that features “the candy of meats!”