9 Delicious Dishes That Take Bacon To The Next Level

When Baconfest Chicago first started in 2009, it featured 10 chefs cooking for just 75 guests. This year, 4,500 ticket holders will be checking out dishes from 170 restaurants. A whopping 8,000 pounds of bacon will be consumed. As festival co-founder Seth Zurer tells us, the city's passion for pork is getting more intense every year.

"We've got an amazing community of chefs devoted to doing mind-bendingly creative things with a product that everybody already loves," he explains. "Honestly, anybody can gussy up a plate with a little bit of bacon.  But, if you do like we do and give Michelin-starred, James-Beard nominated chefs 50 pounds of a pristine and delicious product — like Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon — and ask them to go to town, what they do with it will bowl you over."

Curious to see what delicious dishes will be served at this year's fest? Ahead, you can preview nine of the tastiest dishes being whipped up by some of your favorite local restaurants beginning Friday, April 17.