Neat TREND
Bring home the Bacon while it’s sizzling hot

Whatever negative things we may be hearing about swine, there’s still plenty to love about ever-popular pork. Namely, bacon – the latest sizzling hot trend to captivate Portlanders who can’t get enough salty, fatty, crispy deliciousness.

This meaty trend has been building bit by bacon bit over the past few years, finally breaking into the mainstream last month at Baconfest, presented by PDX.FM’s The Meat Show at East Burn in early October. Since then, shops and restaurants all over town are cooking up neat ways to enjoy and bring home the bacon.

Portland’s Rock Socks debuts a new Bacon tube sock this weekend, available exclusively at Red Light Clothing Exchange and online at Rocksocks.net. Inspired by sporty ’70s tube socks but way cuter, we can’t think of anything more appropriate to wear to Sunday Brunch.

Unless of course it’s a pair of I ? Bacon underpants, which you can buy online (along with T-shirts, aprons and more) from Baconshirts.com, the pig-child of Portland sous chef Amy Curran Zimmerman, her graphic designer husband Warren Zimmerman and Web developer Jordan Lev.

We also uncovered a whole line of playful bacon accessories by Accoutrements at Powell’s Books, including bacon strip bandages, bacon belts and bacon dental floss, which all would make excellent stocking stuffer gifts.

Once you’re fully outfitted for bacon brunch, hit Genie’s Cafe on Division for a Bacon Bloody Mary, a genius brunch cocktail created from bacon-infused vodka. There’s also a Bacon Bloody Mary at Clyde Common, which is served up with bacon and eggs floating directly in your drink (that might just be taking things a bit too far).

Look for new bacon dishes on the menu at many fine Portland restaurants, where curing your own bacon is the latest thing – even if it’s just reinventing the classic. “Chefs never forget about bacon,” said Bluehour chef and co-owner Kenny Giambalvo.” We love its fat content and smokiness, and it lends itself to so many different applications.”

For example, in addition to Bluehour’s braised pork belly (a.k.a. fancy bacon) entrees, we love VooDoo Doughnut’s signature Bacon Maple Bar for breakfast, bacon-covered dates at Toro Bravo as an appetizer, and Le Pigeon’s cornbread cake with bacon and maple ice cream for dessert (left).

If you prefer to eat in, shop Whole Foods or Cost Plus on the way home for Mo’s Bacon Chocolate Bar, an exotic milk chocolate and applewood smoked bacon candy bar. Or order up Who’s Your Daddy bacon potato chips or a big jar of Skillet Street Food’s bacon jam from Foodzie.com.

If you still can’t get enough bacon, why not become Bacon’s Facebook Friend? And please stay tuned for next week’s follow-up article on the latest Portland trend in heart attacks and sales of hopeless anti-cellulite treatments.

Red Light Clothing Exchange
3590 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.; 503-963-8888
www.redlightclothingexchange.com

Bluehour
250 N.W. 13th Ave.; 503-226-3394
www.bluehouronline.com

Genie’s Cafe
1101 S.E. Division St.; 503-445-9777
www.geniescafepdx.com

Le Pigeon
738 E. Burnside St.; 503-546-8796
www.lepigeon.com

Clyde Common
1014 S.W. Stark St.; 503-228-3333
www.clydecommon.com

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