BACONFEST 2012: Read all about it!

This is a Baconfest 2012 Recap.

Yes, you read that correctly, Baconfest.
On April 14th, Over 100 Restaurants, Bars, and Vendors teamed up to delight Chicagoans with a feast of bacon-inspired dishes and drinks. A two-part day consisting of a lunch and dinner menu separately, some of the best Chicago restaurants brought their a-game (or B-game if you will) to the UIC Forum.

Ticket ($75) holders could attend either the lunch or dinner session for unlimited dishes and were also allotted 5 drink tickets.

I attended the lunch event, which lasted for 3 hours! I confess that I tried nearly 80% of the dishes, as it was hard to both resist and finish some dishes. While I cannot recount every single dish, there were some winners that stuck out in my mind. I also tried to take pictures of what I did not consumer immediately within 2 seconds.

 Susan's Best Picks for Baconfest 2012 (Lunch):

Best dessert: Alright, this category comes first because I have quite the sweet tooth. Even though there weren't too many dessert choices, there were enough that gave me a struggle when picking the winner.

1st place: May St. Cafe's Double-chocolate flan with cherry-smoked bacon

This dessert was a delightful surprise. The mini chocolate flan relieved the belly full of salty bacon that was starting to bog me down. It was not as gelatinous as some traditional flans-- it was smooth, cool, and creamy.

Runner-up: Chicago q's Smoked Bacon Baklava

This was one of the first dishes I popped in my mouth. It was rich and quite greasy, but the added bacon really made this dish stand out.

Honorable mentions: Nosh This, The Bacon Lady

Best savory dish: There were copious amounts of sandwiches, strips of bacon, and chunks of meat floating around the forum, but I think I came up with a winner...

1st place: Frontier's Bacon-wrapped peppadew pepper

This was a hard one. There were a lot of BBQ joints here and it's hard to mess up BBQ, so I chose Frontier's dish because it was a bit against the grain, and I love me some SPICE!

Burger Bar
Pork Palooza Burger

Runner Up: Burger Bar's Pork Palooza Burger

You can't argue with a burger, less a burger WITH a piece of bacon on top. Perfection.



Flo and Santos
Peppered bacon-wrapped pork wing




 Honorable Mentions: Flo and Santos, Signature Room



Signature Room
 Bacon- wrapped rabbit loin



Best side: Bacon can be infused into just about anything, and there were several places that mastered the side dish really well.

1st place: Cafes De Architectes' Bacon Mac n Cheese Bites

I have not been wowed by mac and cheese lately. It's made its way onto many upscale menus but the cheese taste falls flat and it leaves me just wanting a cup of good ole fashioned Kraft blue box. However, these creamy bites turned me on to mac n cheese again!

*Places to get good mac n cheese: The Southern, The Bedford, Smoke Daddy
Runner Up: West Town Tavern's Bourbon-Bacon Caramel Corn
Yum and quite the hefty sample. Plus, the owner's name is Susan Goss-- you know it's good!

Honorable Mentions: Hearty, The Bristol


Though we had drink tickets, I had no room except for a few ounces of my favorite Michigan Brewery, Greenbush! They brought their best beers and gave plentiful pours. If you ever go to Sawyer, MI or see them on a menu in Chicago (places like Haymarket in the West Loop), get the Black IPA.
Of course, there were bacon bloody marys all around and some gin and vodka drinks, but I came for the bacon and boy did I feel like a pig when I left!

Will I do it again next year? Maybe. However, my 'restaurants to try' list is even bigger now thanks to Baconfest 2012!

More food pics

Bleeding Heart Bakery

Bacon-wrapped & deep-fried sausage



 


Bacon Cheesecake





Moderno
Bacon cannoli, reggiano, wasabe peas



Cooking Chicks
Bacon chocolate truffle

Out with the old

Restaurants are always coming and going in Chicago, and I'm hopeful it's never one of my favorites that goes under. Fingers crossed.

Balena (translation: fat guy), the new restaurant that took over Landmark's old space, opened up about 3 weeks ago. The opening was wildly anticipated as they postponed the open date quite a few months. I had never visited Landmark before but had passed it a million times while riding the brown line to work. I was always under the impression that it was a swanky club-type bar and had never made my way in to discover more.

Balena, however, made a huge impression even before its doors opened. The great folks responsible for The Bristol, Girl and the Goat, and Boka teamed up to open this joint in late fall of 2011. The promise was to utilize the space as a restaurant more than a bar. And with all those heads and hands together, a magical menu was sure to ensue.

The newest trend in menus seems to be an assortment of plate sizes. Not that all restaurants are moving to "tapas" style by any means, but there are more options for people looking to try different bites during their dining experience and also be mindful of how much they're putting in their mouths. The inexplicit benefit of serving multiple sized plates is that the cost can be very reasonable. There is a price point that fits every budget with these types of menus. With Balena especially, everything including the a la carte entrees were right on point and not grossly expensive. In fact, the pizzas, which boasted 14 inches each and meant to be shared didn't even run over $16! There are several pizza chains in Chicago that don't even offer a 14 inch pizza for under $20.

The drinks. I can't write any more without praising the drinks at Balena. Their robust (over 300!) wines hit all palates. Personally, I had never heard of any of the wines because they were all Italian, but they listed all of the flavor notes which made it easier to choose. I was extremely satisfied with my choice not knowing exactly what I was picking.

Their signature drinks are ranked in order of bitterness: 1 being mellow, 10 having quite the bite. You'll find egg whites, absinthe, and cordials among the ingredients in the cocktails (which take a minute or two to brew, much like Hubbard Inn and Violet Hour). Among the favorites of the table included the Strawberry (low bitterness) and the Peat (with Scotch and egg white).

Peat

The food. We started with the shared cheese and meat plate (The Balena, $26). If you have a party of 4, this will feed you all very well! It came with a wonderful assortment of meats, cheese, and bread with pickled vegetables and spreads. One of the better charcuterie plates I've had in the city.
Meats
   Paprika Cured Pork
   Loin
   Gin and Juice Salami
   Coppa di Testa 
Cheeses
   Robiola
   Pecorino Grand Cru
   Oregonzola
Breads
   Walnut Bread
   Fennel Crostini
   Roast Garlic Semolina
   Lemon Pepper Challah
Spreads
   Bagna Cauda
   Whipped Ricotta
   Olive Oil

Digesting the menu, we were overwhelmed with the various choices of pizzas, pastas, and main entrees, but I had already decided on the stuff rabbit loin days before. Whenever there is rabbit served on a menu, I will get it. The portion was huge and I was surprisingly unselfish and gave a few nibbles away. The plate is definitely for someone who enjoys sausage and gamey meat, but it wasn't offensive at all if you're privy to throwing your palate a curve ball. I would highly recommend it!

Rabbit loin

The boys ordered the large king prawn (yes, the ones where you suck the head off, that comes with EYES and everything). The verdict was that they were good, but a bit salty.

The sturgeon, which I had a piece of, was cooked perfectly. The portion wasn't huge, so I wouldn't suggest only ordering that for your entire meal. The side of polenta also gets two thumbs up.

The dessert list ($8-$9) was not to be missed. The donuts caught our eye. To be accurate, it was deemed the Affogato: Vanilla Gelato, Espresso, Cinnamon Sugar Donuts. The glass was filled with gelato and they poured the espresso over it. It tasted even better than it looks, if you can imagine!

Affogato

The decor. The atmosphere is unpretentious and the bar is just the right size. The kitchen is on an elevated level with a glass window to watch everything. There is ample seating and the ceilings are sky high! What I enjoyed most were the rafters at the top. The ceiling came to a point and there were balls of warm lights which reminded me of an old barn set up for a wedding. It gave the space a nice open feeling--one that you might not find in your one bedroom apartment.

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