As people heard that BaconFest was coming to South Florida, their eyes lit up — and visions of what such a festival would entail filled the room. What was once devoted mainly to the breakfast table and used as a flavor enhancer was now the star of it’s own show — and bacon lovers all around quickly picked up tickets, as this was an event not to be missed.
When Saturday evening rolled around, hungry bacon aficionados gathered at Seminole Hard Rock Casino for a star-studded bacon event, complete with live music from The Bacon Brothers and The Dan Band — and of course, samples of non-traditional,bacon-inspired dishes from local chefs.
While we had our tried-and-true, more traditional favorites like Bacon-Wrapped Dates from Dada, Bacon Flavored Twists from the Gypsy Horse (they even have a happy hour at Gypsy Horse Devoted entirely to bacon) and a varied take on the traditional burger (we liked the Coffee-Infused Bacon Burger from Gimme a Burger) — it was exotic twists that some of the restaurants took, that got us going — Chocolate Covered Bacon anyone?
Bacon maple buttered popcorn topped with jalapeno bacon salt from Cafe Luna Rosa; Vanilla Cake with bacon pieces baked inside and topped with a maple caramel frosting and crumbled bacon from Jodi’s Cupcakes in Boca — who knew that bacon could meld ingredients together so beautifully that our palate would embark on a joyride.
After inhaling plate after plate of artery-clogging treats, you would have thought we would need a break — but no, it was off to Swine & Wine at SOBEWFF the very next day.
Ah…what we’ll do for the love of bacon.