The Very Best in Bacon
Baconfest Chicago brings out the best in animalistic, salacious cravings, proving year after year that the bacon hoopla has transcended trend to become a permanent obsession in Chicago and beyond. With the grand event taking place April 25 and April 26 this weekend, it seems an apropos time to exercise those stomachs with a roundup of some of the city’s most gluttonously wonderful bacon creations.
Bacon has the image of being thin and crispy, but when it’s as thick as a pork chop and riddled with luscious fat, it’s a whole new thing entirely. The Publican and Au Cheval corner the market on thick-cut bacon, which is so meltingly tender and rich that it’s almost unfair to all other styles of pork. At The Publican, the maple-soaked bacon is a perpetual standout on the weekend brunch menus, perfectly augmenting any dish it touches. Over at Au Cheval, the bacon is ideally heaped atop dual patty burgers, taking the hefty sandwich to new levels.
Pairing bacon and cupcakes is nothing novel, and in fact the technique of bacon cupcakes is something that ballooned into an overwrought trend in and of itself. But when cupcake shops go the extra mile with lavish, thoughtful renditions of bacon-infused cupcakes, it’s worth some attention. That cupcake is the BLT cupcake at more. Still the most provocative cupcake on the boundary-pushing cupcakery’s menu, the savory BLT cupcake features a dense yellow cake topped with ranch buttercream, micro greens, and slivered cherry tomatoes.
Elvis is likely doing backflips in his grave for the Fat Elvis waffles at Little Goat. One of the most indulgent items on a menu laden with buttery indulgence, Stephanie Izard’s interpretation of Elvis’ favorite snack is a belt-buckling stack of waffles strewn with bananas, peanut butter butter (that’s peanut butter blended with butter), and bacon-infused maple syrup.
The only thing more decadent than a thick slab of bacon is a flight of multiple bacons. The aptly named Bakin’ & Eggs does bacon due justice with its porcine breakfast flight. Various interpretations of bacon arrive on a single plate, including maple pepper bacon, jalapeño bacon, honey bacon, cherry-smoked bacon, and mesquite bacon.
Gourmet pop tarts are extravagant enough as is, let alone when they’re saturated with swine. At Links Taproom, the sweet-meets-savory pastries pop up on the weekend brunch menu, much to the chagrin of waistlines everywhere. Tender pie dough rectangles are filled with bacon-apple butter, crimped and flecked with meringue and candied bacon morsels.
Bacconfest Chicago
Baconfest Chicago
The Publican
837 W. Fulton Market, Chicago
(312) 733-9555
Au Cheval
800 W. Randolph Street, Chicago
(312) 929-4580
Website
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1 E. Delaware Place, Chicago
(312) 951-0001
Website
Little Goat
820 W. Randolph Street, Chicago
(312) 888-3455
Website
Bakin’ & Eggs
3120 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago
(773) 525-7005
Website
Links Taproom
1559 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago
(773) 360-7692
Website
