“My nephews would want to eat bacon for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And one morning when my nephew Nathan spent the night at my house, of course for breakfast he wanted bacon, lunch came around and I said to Nate, ‘What do you want for lunch?’ He responds with bacon .... I then started thinking, ‘What about doing a Bacon Fest?’ I called a couple locally owned restaurants and asked their opinion and they were game, so I set up a meeting with Fraze Pavilion and we scheduled the event that year and the rest was history,” said Zahora.
Like Zahora’s nephews, if you’ve never met a piece of bacon you didn’t like, then you are going to want to make your way to the Fraze Pavilion this Saturday for Bacon Fest, where the motto goes, ”Everything is better with bacon.”
Restaurants that will be on hand “bacconating” dishes include Amber Rose, Carvers Steaks and Chops, Delish, El Meson, JA’s and Sweetums, Marion’s, Rolling Indulgence and 1776 Grill.
In years past, Amber Rose wowed me with Thai BBQ bacon-wrapped pork wings, white cheddar applewood smoked bacon mac and cheese and jalapeno bacon carnitas nachos.
Other standout dishes over the years included corn on the cob with bacon garlic butter from Basil’s on Market, a bacon poundcake from Dewberry 1850, a salmon BLT taco with smoked bacon aioli from The Dock in Enon, bacon churros from El Meson, bacon-stuffed garlic toast grilled cheese from 1776 Grill and a strawberry bacon dream cake from Sweet-Umms Chocolatier. Not surprisingly, the bacon pizza from Marion’s Piazza and bacon sundaes from Ritter’s Frozen Custard were also hugely satisfying.
This year, Amber Rose is bringing bacon and cheddar pierogis, bacon nachos and bacon-wrapped turkey legs.
In years past, bacon has drawn quite the crowd with more than 15,000 making their way to Fraze to sample the savory delights.
Live music will provide the soundtrack for the event with three bands scheduled to play as you sample your way through the food creations inspired by this breakfast staple.
HOW TO GO
What: Bacon Fest 2021
Where: Fraze Pavilion/Lincoln Park Civic Commons, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
When: 3-10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28
Cost: Free, but the bacon will cost you
Entertainment: Shannon Clark and the Sugar, 3 p.m.; LYD featuring Yolanda Drake, 5:30 p.m.; Brother Believe Me, 8 p.m.
More info: dineoutdayton.com
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