There are few things in life that make me really happy where I can’t control my excitement. Which, now that I’ve just typed that confession, is sort of sad. But bacon is one of those things that makes me absolutely giddy. When we first heard about the 2010 Boston Bacon and Beer Festival hosted by @eatboston and SoWa Sundays, we immediately bought our tickets. Between my love (err, obsession) with bacon and Chris’ knowledge and love of good beer, we knew it was going to be an event made in Food and Adult Beverage Heaven! Plus the event logo made me crack up so I wanted to support it 
It was being held in the Historic SoWa Power Station (The Trolley Barn) in the South End of Boston, one of my favorite parts of the city. All of the proceeds went to Community Servings, Share our Strength, South End Youth Baseball, and The Juniper Fund. There was much anticipation leading up to Saturday. I couldn’t stop wondering what kinds of bacony goodness nearly 30 of Boston’s most creative chefs would create! To me, it felt like the night before Christmas when you can’t sleep because you’re waiting to see if you can hear Santa! mmmm, bacon.
As I met Sues and Chris at our T station the first thing they said to me was “awww, I can’t believe you didn’t wear your bacon t-shirt!” Grrrr. Why didn’t I think of that?! I dwelled on it for a while (probably too long) and was so tempted to head back home to get it. Guess I’ll have to wear it next year!
The Trolley Barn is a great space. It’s pretty much a covered warehouse with lots of opened windows, which on a nice day, creates a nice little breeze throughout the whole building. Thankfully, Saturday was a nice day… not a cloud in the sky. We’re also thankful for the good weather because we waited in a line that wrapped around the building approximately 12,000 times! Kidding. But the line was long and proved to me that the people of Boston do not mess around when it comes to bacon… or beer.
As we entered the space we were welcomed by the sweet and soulful sounds of East Coast Soul. I highly recommend them if you’re getting married! They got the crowd moving, dancing, and singing. Or maybe that was the beer, but either way, East Coast Soul sounded wonderfully funky and were so much fun! We couldn’t help but shake our groove thang with them!
We started with “The Snack” by The Gallows, which is opening soon in the South End. It was a chex-mix with freshly popped popcorn and bacon… and I think there was some mention that it included bacon fat, too! There’s really nothing wrong with that at all 
The Whole Foods table featured Black Forest Bacon, In-Store Made Southern Pimiento Cheese served with peppered chips. The Pimiento Cheese was divine… I can’t wait to get my hands on some!
Garden at the Cellar had Bacon-Wrapped Dates with goat cheese…
Yeah. By this point my head was about to explode.
Oh wait, no… my head was about to explode when I saw this huge bowl of bacon. Rocca Kitchen & Bar had Bacon “Chips” with Narragansett “Dip”. Ahhh.
Chef Tiffani Faison fishing around for some more bacon. Whistling while she works, like any happy chef should do
Rialto had a very springy display and was serving Fried Oyster, Braised Bacon and Kimchi Sandwich.
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The Wicked Kickin’ savory cheesecakes were creative and tasty. Oh my. There were two different Bacon Cheesecakes with mushrooms, scallions, loads of cheese and lots of other mix-ins. These would be perfect to purchase for an appetizer at a party. Each mouthful bursted with more flavor.
Check out the crowd!
Little bits of bacon from Happy Pig Salumi. They deliver fresh sausage, bacon, and dry-cured meats. Between the new MixBakery and Happy Pig Salumi I could probably sit on my couch and just have my favorite foods delivered to me for the rest of my life, hehe.
The South End Buttery had Bacon and Beer Cupcakes with Black Chocolate Stout Cream Cheese Frosting. I obviously nibbled on that piece of bacon first.
We visited our friends from The Fireplace, who were serving Crispy New Hampshire Bacon over Hot Mash and Cool Succotash. Mmmm… this was like a little meal and it, of course, did not disappoint. The Fireplace definitely had the most elaborate set-up, too! We were impressed but not surprised at all cause they’re our favorites!
Something we found to be very interesting was the Bacon Hot Sauce. It had a nice little kick to it but not overwhelming at all. It would be a wonderful addition to eggs! Might need to purchase some for myself!
Personally, I was more interested in the bacon goodies (are you surprised?), but Chris and Sues sampled a good amount of beers from Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn Dark Matter was real good!), Cape Ann Brewing Company, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Pretty Things Beer to name a few.
We bumped into some of our favorite blogging buddies, too! Peter is a riot, extremely fashionable, and was sun-kissed from his recent trip to Miami so we caught up with him a bit We also saw Pam of Cave Cibum but didn’t snap a picture with her. She’s a lovely blogger who we’ve known for a while and she makes some meaaaan candied bacon!
Peter snapped a photo of us with the man himself, Mr. BostonTweet. Apparently, we’re all amused by something?
Us with the one and only Julie!
This is what a day filled with bacon and beer does to us… makes us loco!
I’m actually thinking this event needs to happen every month (or every day?) because I’m not sure I can wait an entire year for it to happen again. We had an insane amount of fun! And knowing all of the proceeds went to charity made every bite of bacon and sip of beer taste that much better.
We decided to walk back to Copley to catch the train and had to snap some photos of the tulips out in front of Trinity Church. I had bacon and Spring has sprung in Boston which makes me, quite simply… happy
[Chels]
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Great recap! Glad you had fun!
My husband was NOT happy to miss this event! I will definitely be attending next time and hope to meet both of you. Love this blog!!
Looks like a blast! I skipped the fest to hit the links. BTW, I totally bought the “Bacon is a Vegetable” shirt for my boyfriend after seeing it on Top Chef. He gets WAY too many compliments on it
Bacon.. Bacon.. Bacon..
Beer.. Beer.. Beer..
so sad i missed this! glad you girls had fun! =)
HA! i asked @eatboston if he could host this bi-monthly!!! loved that you mentioned that too. So glad I have your recap to see all of the goodies I missed (um yeah i only had 3 pictures of bacon treats!!) so nice seeing you ladies and chris. only proves that we need to hang out more! ps: still have not met Boston Tweet but at least i spotted him on sat
Now I’m even more annoyed at myself for not going. Yum Yum!! Great pictures. I loved the image of the Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese from Garden at the Cellar. My grandmother has the same pig-shaped cutting board
A bacon festival?!? I need to get to one of those.
It was so great to see you guys there! I was so full of bacon at the time, but now I’m wishing I had some…
You ladies definitely got your dose of bacon! The chex mix looks yummy (and doable).
oh my gosh! What an event. Bacon and Beer Cupcakes? Craziness. Glad ya’ll had fun!
omg that sounds amazing, and the photos of the snacks are mouthwateringly good!
I have a recipe for warm bacon dip at home that I will have to get to you.. Yum
Dude, how great does your photography have to be that — despite your swoon-inducing prose and all those luscious baon pictures — it was those vivid tulip pictures I wanted to crawl into? This post was basically a whole Wonka Factory of delights.
Oh holy yum. I’m sad I moved before that. It sounds amazing.
that rialto slider thing looks amazing! hell all of it looks amazing, love it all.
Wow, that looks like a great event! how did you hear about it?
I wish I could have gone!
Great recap! So sad for this bacon-lovin’ mama to have missed this event . . . must must must get there next year.
I saw you ladies there! I had a great time as well, and The Fireplace was my favorite food. I can never choose a favorite beer, though.
You guys rock! I like the cupcakes – oh so much bacon and so little time. Looks like a good time.
I’m so so jealous of all the foodie events you two get to traipse off to!! Especially this one. It sounded delicious!
what a fun event! my husband would go gaga for all that bacon.
And so would I!
i keep hearing so many great things about it! i was sad to miss it! matt was there (you probably saw him!), at the brewbound table giving out free waters and advertising with his buddy for their brewbound tours!
that rialto slider thing looks amazing! hell all of it looks amazing, love it all.
Glad you guys had as good of a time as I did at the Festival! I hope they do it again next year – I don’t have nearly enough bacon in my life.
so bummed i missed this event (tix sold out FAST) but love the recap! next year next year OR let me know if YOU start holding one every month mmm or everyday. ha.