The UIC Forum was unofficially the happiest place on earth April 25-26, when Baconfest 2014 ( baconfestchicago.com ) took place.
Hundreds of patrons paid $100 a ticket to sample offerings from dozens of restaurants, catering companies and similar establishments ( although there were also businesses that sold novelty items as wellbacon body wash, anyone? ).
One of the biggest changes regarding this year's event was that it expanded into three sessions over two nights. ( Previously, it was a two-session, one-day affair. ) Still, the event sold outattesting to the fact that this city takes its bacon seriously.
Savor attended the Saturday lunch session on April 26, and there was an impressive line-up, indeed. Among the standouts were Carlucci's gnocchi bolognese with powdered bacon, Telegraph's double-smoked bacon sausage, Jellyfish's BLT roll, and Bacaro's meaty take on S'mores ( smoky graham cracker, bone-marrow fudge, chocolate bacon, bacon mousse and bacon sea salt ).
Regarding this year's event, co-founder Seth Zurer emailed Savor that "[o]n a personal level, I am super-happy with how the event went. Our chefs, guests, volunteers and partners all had a bacon blast and we're excited that we were able to expand the event while keeping the experience fun for everyone involved. It's all in the service of bacon and the Greater Chicago Food Depository!"
Restaurants sometimes employ punny names to amuse or provide insight into the eatery's cuisinesand sometimes those same places have some sad items to offer. Thankfully, the Indian-centric place Naansense ( 171 N. Wells St.; http://www.eatatnaansense.com ) has many delicious items for patrons to enjoy.
Actually, Naansense ( which now offers dinner service at 5-8 p.m. ) offers a combination of Indian and non-Indian items. For example, the lamb naanwich incorporates cabbage slaw, tomatoes, cucumbers and chickpea noodles, with toppings of korma sauce and apple tamarind chutney. The pork roti roll has pickled onions and cabbage slaw, with garlic yogurt chutney and vindaloo sauce serving as toppings.
A media preview of Naansense's dinner service exhibited some incredibly tasty items. Chicken was presented in varying degrees of spiciness; the vindaloo definitely made me sweatbut fortunately the accompanying yogurt cooled me down. Even the saag aloo ( a side dish incorporating everything from spinach to dandelion greens ) put a soft spot in this carnivore's heart. Also, the dumpling-like gulab jamun ( with pistachio gelato ) was greatand not that sweet at all.
Additional photos at www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/photospreadthumbs.php .
Lastly, if you want any more proof of Naansense's quality, my friend ( who happens to be Indian-American ) was very impressed with the selection. She said she would definitely return.