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N.J. celebrity chef David Burke pigs out with new bacon-centric Chicago eatery

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Hazlet-born chef David Burke's latest fetish is bacon. He has opened a casual sandwich shop with bacon on every sandwich (the vegetarian one too, if you wish) in Chicago.
(William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

Celebrity chef David Burke is bringing new meaning to the phrase "belly up to the bar."

The latest venture from the often whimsical chef (a native of Hazlet who also operates David Burke Fromagerie in Rumson) is Burke's Bacon Bar, a carry-out sandwich shop that features four, count 'em four, kinds of bacon, including the hickory-smoked Benton's Tennessee and Dreymiller & Kray's Matilda-cured bacon, applewood-smoked and finished with Goose Island Matilda beer.

The Bacon Bar, an offshoot of David Burke Primehouse in the James Hotel in Chicago's River North neighborhood, has nine sandwiches on the menu, plus sides and dessert (a bacon chocolate chip cookie is among the offerings).

Burke's version of the Vietnamese sub called bahn mi features chicken liver-bacon salad with pickled veggies, herbs, lime and — guess what? — more bacon. The Angry Reuben has beef pastrami, spicy bacon kraut and Swiss cheese on marbled rye. For an extra buck, you can even add bacon to the vegetarian sandwich, a smoked eggplant "meatball" sandwich.

One of David Burke's bacon-centric sandwich creations. Burke's Bacon Bar

“When pork became the ‘other white meat,’ bacon became the meat of choice,” Burke, currently appearing on "Top Chef Masters," tells the Chicago Sun-Times. “I believe everyone craves pork once in a while and I wanted to create a menu that satisfied the desire without being overwhelming."

Will the Bacon Bar be the beginning of a fast-casual chain, a la Bobby Flay's Bobby's Burger Palace? We reached out to Burke's rep, but haven't heard back yet.