When Bacon Fest made its debut in 2013 Amy Zahora knew it was going to be a hit.
Zahora, president of the Miami Valley Restaurant Association (MVRA) tells the story that she came up with the idea after her nephews requested bacon for all three meals.
Credit: Alexis Larsen
Credit: Alexis Larsen
“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, ' 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 on Aug. 19 for Bacon Fest where the motto goes, ”everything is better with bacon.”
Credit: Alexis Larsen
Credit: Alexis Larsen
The event, which celebrates pork’s best side, has seen tens of thousands of bacon lovers turn out to enjoy bacon laced food since its inception. Restaurants that will be on hand “bacconating” dishes include 1776 Grill, Amber Rose Restaurant and Catering, Batter Up Funnel Cakes, Chappys Social House, Coco’s Bistro, El Meson, Gourmet Grub Shack, JA’s & Sweet-umms, Lilia’s Outside Cafe, Little Boijon Asian Cuisine, Lil Tiki Weenies LLC, Mickey’s Salsa Mexican Food, Nou Street Food, Rolling Indulgence, Smokin’ Inferno BBQ & Catering, Sophia & Mak’s Caribbean Cuisine, Smokin’ Inferno BBQ & Catering, The Smoqe House, Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Trucks and Victory Lane Pizza of Monroe.
Credit: Alexis Larsen
Credit: Alexis Larsen
Bacon Fest 2021 ended in a tie for the crowd favorite between Amber Rose and 1776 Grill, but one of last year’s winners found themselves on top for the 2022 People’s Choice Award this weekend.
Most Baconlicious, the People’s Choice award, went to 1776 Grill last year for their bacon stuffed garlic toast grilled cheese.
I’ve been judging this for more than a decade helping decide the best dish, best dessert, most creative dish and the overall Critic’s Choice. In years past Amber Rose wowed me with Thai BBQ bacon wrapped pork wings, white cheddar apple wood 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 pound cake from Dewberry 1850, a salmon BLT taco with smoked bacon aioli from The Dock in Enon, bacon churros from El Meson, the aforementioned bacon stuffed garlic toast grilled cheese from 1776 Grill and a strawberry bacon dream cake from Sweet-Umms Chocolatier.
Credit: Alexis Larsen
Credit: Alexis Larsen
Other dishes that hit the spot last year include bacon and parm sweet potato fries from Rolling Indulgence. which wowed the judges with crispy sweet potatoes. candied bacon and grated Parmesan cheese and was given the title of best dish. It was hard to stop eating. JA’s & Sweet-umms for their “Best Damn Bacon Banana Pudding,” which turned out to be as billed — the best with a mixture of sweet, savory and salty. It was in competition with a cherry pepsi ice cream float with candied bacon from Rolling Indulgence, which was also absolutely delicious, but that banana pudding is such a wonderful treat there was no competing with it.
Coco’s Bistro took home prize for most creative dish thanks to Chef Bryan Ondre and teams savory pork belly and bacon empanada with a kicky poblano sauce. The Critic’s Choice award went to the bacon caprese mini sandwiches with a fresh, fantastic ribbon of pesto, thick slice of fresh mozzarella, a slice of salted tomato, balsamic and plenty of bacon served on a springy ciabatta roll. I absolutely loved this sandwich and paired with the bacon and parm sweet potato fries and the cherry pepsi ice cream float with candied bacon was a complete and winning bacon infused meal.
In years past Bacon Fest has drawn quite the crowd with more than 15,000 making their way to the Fraze to sample the savory delights. As in years past live music will provide the soundtrack throughout the event with three bands scheduled to play as you sample your way throughout the food creations inspired by this breakfast staple.
Credit: Alexis Larsen
Credit: Alexis Larsen
“Dayton has proved over the years that it loves bacon and I have no doubt this year will be no exception,” said Amy Zahora, President of the Miami Valley Restaurant Association (MVRA).
I will be once again be judging this fantastic competition to see which talented restaurant crew can take sliced salted pork belly and raise it to new culinary heights.
With 20 restaurants and food trucks bringing their A-game, I have no doubt the competition will be fierce, fatty, creative and incredibly tasty.
DAYTON EATS runs Sundays in the Life & Arts section of the Dayton Daily News and features the latest on menu updates, special dinners and events, new chefs, interesting new dishes, and food adventures. Contact Contributing Writer Alexis Larsen at alexis.e.larsen@hotmail.com.
How to go
What: Bacon Fest
Where: Fraze Pavilion, 95 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
When: 3-10 p.m., Aug. 19
Cost: Free, but the bacon will cost you
Entertainment: 24 Seven Party Band, 3 p.m.; Ryan Mundy Band, 5:30 p.m.; LYD featuring Yoland Drake, 8 p.m.
More information: https://dineoutdayton.com/event/bacon-fest
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