BaconFest Chicago 2013

For the second year in a row, Greedy Eater 2 and I attended BaconFest Chicago. As always, it was an awesome event.  We still didn't eat at all of the restaurants we wanted to, but it was still a great event. There were some dishes that we both tried and there were some that we tried on our own. Of course, the most important thing is we didn't get the meat sweats. Here's a rundown of what we had:

Bacaro
Triple-S Farm Bacon and Pineapple Upside Down Cake with bacon whipped cream and crispy pork rind

Review: This was a pretty good dessert. The cake was firm and I could definitely taste the bacon flavor in the whipped cream.

Benny's Chop House
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with applewood-smoked bacon streusel

Review: Greedy Eater 2 thought this was an awesome dish. The strawberry and the rhubarb really complemented each other. The bacon streusel was a good highlight of the dish.

Benny's Chop House
Applewood Smoked Bacon Doughnut with green apple jelly and apple butter

Review: We both thought this dish tasted great. What the picture doesn't show are the pieces of apple on the bottom. The combination of the ingredients was great. A good contrast between sweet and salty.

Big Jones
Refried bacon confit with country ham-creamed sauerkraut, pumpernickel toast and sweet and sour beets

Review: Another awesome dish according to Greedy Eater 2. The combination of the taste of the salty ham with the sweet and sour beets along the sauerkraut was really good.

Baume & Brix
Fat Elvis #1: Peanut butter braised bacon, brioche-banana mousse, bacon roasted peanuts
Fat Elvis #2: Peanut macaron filled with banana ganache and bourbon-bacon jam.

Review: I was surprised to see the size of the dish. Regardless this was a different dish, in a good way. I'm a fan of peanut butter and bacon so the combination worked well.

Bang Bang Pie Shop
Pigs in a Blanket: Candied peppered applewood smoked bacon wrapped in local leaf lard pie pastry and stuffed with preserved tart cherries

Review: We both tried this dish. Greedy Eater 2 really liked this dish, especially the combination of the tart cherries and smoked bacon. The pastry could have just been a little thinner.

Browntrout
Brandade fritters with spicy bacon lime hollandaise

Review: Greedy Eater 2 thought this was pretty good. It was sweet and tangy. It was a lot of flavor in just this small dish.

Carnivale
Spicy bacon media noche with bacon cole slaw

Review: We both thought this dish was great. The slaw tasted wonderful and the sandwich with the spicy kick was really good.

David Burke's Primehouse
Cherry-cured Bacon Chocolate Tart: Cherry-cured bacon lardon, dark chocolate ganache, sour cherry jam, smoked vanilla and hickory cream

Review: We both could have eaten a tray of these. It was sweet and yummy. The bacon was not overpowering in the dish which was a good thing. This was super-duper fantastic.

Epic Restaurant
Cherry Braised Pork Belly: Bacon cherry glaze, peanut & cherry wood bacon brittle

Review: We both thought this was another great dish. The glaze tasted great and combining it with the bacon and brittle made it a good combination.

Firecakes
Maple Glazed Pineapple & Bacon Doughnut

Review: Considering how much we like doughnuts, of course this tasted great. I was surprised that the pineapple didn't take away from the doughnut.

HUB 51
Crispy Bacon Tacos served with avocado and pico de gallo

Review: I love tacos overall, so I knew I was going to like this dish even before I tried it. These tacos smelled great and tasted even better. I could have easily eaten more of these tacos.

J Lafayette Catering Company
New Orleans Style Bacon Bread Pudding: Sweet cayenne gastric bacon and drageed pecans, with a shot of bacon horchata with micro mint

Review: Initially we didn't know what to make of this. I'm kind of picky about bread pudding, but this did not disappoint. We both thought this tasted pretty good considering the ingredients that were in this dish.

LOKal
Bacon, leek, cheddar scramble on bacon-fat crostini

Review: We both thought this was a good dish. The cheddar scramble was good. The crostini was a little harder than we would have liked, but overall it was good.

Mexique
Pepita Macaron, bacon fudge mole, Pernod orange meringue

Review: I could have popped these like tic-tacs all day long. This was awesome. I loved the combination of the meringue and mole. I inhaled more than chewed.

Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro
Bacon and Beer S'more: Homemade bacon graham cracker, Murphy's Stout marshmallow, candied bacon, toasted pecan and milk chocolate

Review: Greedy Eater 2 thought this tasted better than the average s'more due to the bacon 

One North
Pork Belly Adobo

Review: We both thought this was an interesting dish. The pea sauce with the bacon kind of threw us. 

Porkchop
Bacon-wrapped pulled pork blue cheese jalapeno with BBQ sauce

Review: One word...Awesome! We had a choice for BBQ sauce and went with Kansas City. There was a slight kick to this dish, but it was not overpowering. This was one of our favorite dishes.

Red Butter
Tandoori Bacon Arancini & Mint Raita

Review: This was another great dish. There's some heat to this dish, but the mint raita cools the heat. It's just the right combination.

Signature Room at the 95
Smoked bacon bread pudding, pork tenderloin stuff with chorizo and wrapped in bacon, bacon braised red cabbage, bacon ancho sauce

Review: Greedy Eater 2 thought the meat was really good. The meat alone was the highlight of this dish.

Slurping Turtle
Bacon pecan brittle with Jivara Praline Mousse and Caramel Ganache

Review: This was another awesome dish. Just an overall excellent combination. We could have eaten a tray of these. This was another favorite dish of ours.

 

Untitled
Love Me Tender: Pork belly panino with smoked banana, truffle caramel, and cashew butter

Review: We both really liked this dish. Not quite sure if it loved us tenderly, but all of the ingredients meshed well together to make a darn good sandwich.

Wave
Chicken fried bacon with bacon maple caramel

Review: We both thought this dish was pretty good. The taste of the chicken was deceiving because ten seconds after eating a piece of the chicken, there was this wave of heat in our mouths. The mashed potato with the caramel sauce tempered the heat.

Wow Bao
Freshly Steamed Bao: Egg, Bacon, & Cheese
Freshly Steam Bao: BBQ Pork

Review: Greedy Eater 2 thought these were good. They were pretty big. Greedy Eater 2 really liked the BBQ Pork out of the two.

ZED451
ZED Bacon n' Egg Ice Cream Cone: Bacon and egg infused homemade ice cream with candied bacon bits, served in a mini waffle cone lined with homemade chocolate

Review: This was another dish that we could have eaten like tic-tacs. The ice cream had a good flavor. This tasted better than the Drumstick ice cream cones at the store. Another favorite dish.

List of restaurants we tried, but didn't take a picture:

Hearty
Bacon Cotton Candy

Review: This was awesome. Unfortunately we did not take a picture. Hopefully Hearty will be back next year.


La Madia
Balsamic-glazed bacon, spinach & whipped ricotta bruschette

Review: I thought this was a good dish. The ricotta did not completely overpower the bacon.


Pure Kitchen
Kimchi braised bacon, house cracker, black garlic & potato puree, yuzu & bacon vinaigrette

Review: Greedy Eater 2 liked this dish a lot. It was melt in your mouth good.So good to the point that Greedy Eater 2 forgot to take a picture. The bacon was tender and the vinaigrette was good.



Overall, the food tasted great as usual and we definitely plan on going to BaconFest Chicago next year.

On a side note, prior to BaconFest's doors opening at 12:30, Eckrich had samples of their Bacon Lover's deli meats. They were awesome. Check it out: http://www.eckrich.com/products/deli/bacon-lovers