This week in food events: Baconfest, Green Fair and more

This week in food events: Baconfest, Green Fair and more

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Chicken-fried bacon sandwich with bacon fries, and Concord grape ketchup by chef Michael McDonald at the first Baconfest Chicago event in 2009. (WBEZ/Louisa Chu)

Our plates and cups runneth over with more highly anticipated food and drink events than we can handle this week—so protest our hearts and livers. We’ll try to survive a yoga class at the Green Metropolis Fair, but as we know in Chicago, this week, one event rules them all: Baconfest. The event sold-out in minutes months ago, but this year you can DIY BFC. Please remember: it’s not a bacon sprint, it’s a bacon marathon.

Wednesday, April 11

I’ll be at Soup & Bread (& Pie): The Last Soup at The Hideout, benefitting the New Community Warming Center in Logan Square this week. “The center is a place for folks to get out of the elements for a few hours each day, share a meal with friends, and get connected to resources.” It’s not the last S&B ever, but the last of the season, and it’s become a tradition close out with celebratory pie. See you there!

Thursday, April 12

The Academy for Global Citizenship benefit back at The Hideout is sold out but you can always try calling for tickets. “The Academy for Global Citizenship is a Chicago Public Charter School located on the underserved Southwest side…” Virtue Cider, benefit presenter, debuts their first, highly anticipated, “branch to bottle,” heirloom apple RedStreak cider at the event.

Friday, April 13

The monthly Indian taco sale returns to the Kateri Center of Chicago, postponed by Good Friday last week. “The Kateri Center…is a ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago serving a community of American Indian Catholics through faith formation and Native traditional prayer.”

Saturday, April 14

Bacon-Nation! The fourth annual Baconfest takes over UIC Forum, the entire great city of Chicago, and beyond! The event is sold out, but for the first time there’s a “Roll-Your-Own Baconfest Guide” that lists all partcipating restaurants and Baconfest dishes offered at the restaurants themselves. Lucky ticketholders, remember the food drive and raffle at the event, benefitting the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

The Green Metropolis Fair at the Green Exchange, a “local green fair for conscious and curious individuals and families” is free with a “[f]ood market with local restaurants and chefs” and  “farm animals, Johnny Appleseed performance, gardening activities, and more!” 

Registration for My Streets, My Eats, a Chicago mobile food symposium, at the University of Chicago Law School is now closed too due to “overwhelming enthusiasm” but guests may attend if space allows “on a first-come, first-served basis.” But the post-symposium food truck meet-up is open. Presented by the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship, the event will address the news that food truck owners say the police are cracking down on them.

Julia Child and Simca Beck: A Franco-American Culinary Alliance at Kendall College is open! Professor David Strauss speaks about the authors of the seminal Mastering the Art of French Cooking and “their lively and sometimes stormy relationship…” Presented by the Culinary Historians of Chicago, this event will be recorded for WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified.

Sunday, April 15

Elusive Schwa chef/owner Michael Carlson battles chef/owner Theo Gilbert in Ruck4theKids at the latter’s Ripasso, benefitting the Chicago Wapati RFC (Rugby Football Club). “Wapiti—commonly referred to as Elk…ranged widely throughout Illinois as far back as the Ice Age until the middle of the 19th century.” The not-for-profit club’s “[m]ission is to create an enjoyable environment centered on the developmental aspects of rugby focusing on the finest qualities of the game…”

The 4th annual live celebrity chef competition Food Fight for Scleroderma back at Kendall College pits the Bellys’ Bill Kim, Old Town/Nellcôte’s Jared Van Camp, and BOKA’s Carl Shelton—featuring emcee Stephanie Izard, who knows something about top chef food fights.

The lovely, monthly, food and fashion Dose Market returns to the River East Art Center. Highlights with this edition: complimentary cocktails from the afore-mentioned Nellcôte, Franks ‘n’ Dawgs, and Honey Butter Fried Chicken.

Germania on the Pier at Navy Pier’s Crystal Gardens promises “[i]t’s Oktoberfest in April at Navy Pier!” Austrian Bakery will provide, uh, German/Austrian food. This conclusion to the Neighborhood of the World series is presented in partnership with DANK Haus German American Cultural Center and the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce.