I feel like I’ve launched a food video renaissance here in Chicago! Okay, the availability of inexpensive Flip video cameras probably has far more to do with it than anything I did, but still, I take some pioneer pride when I see food video popping out all over like it is.

First, Seth Zurer— who I’ve known via LTHForum and Chowhound for a shockingly long time now, considering that he hasn’t gotten any older in all that time and I have— and the other chaps behind Baconfest have a bunch of short little videos with the chefs involved in the upcoming (and sold out) Baconfest cookoff competition at the Publican. Here are a couple I especially liked:

More videos here; more about Baconfestchi here.

Meanwhile, some folks have also launched a venture called ChicagoEatsTV, which consists mainly of little Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives-style portraits of food spots around town; I wouldn’t exactly say they’ve broken major new ground so far with Fredhots, the Wicker Park bar Cans and a piece on buffalo wings, but the pieces are slickly produced and I’ll be interested to see where they go from here. Here’s the Fredhots one:

ChicagoEatsTV.com: fRedhots & Fries in Glenview, IL from ChicagoEatsTV on Vimeo.

More here. And hey, if you know somebody making food videos in Chicago, let me know and I’ll post them here.