No Mo' Bacon Bar

I'm the type of person who sees something unusual and is dying to try it, even often if it's just once. Pick the most off-kilter item on the menu, and that will inevitably be what I choose. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but at least my curiosity is sated (until the next thing comes along). The Vosges Mo's Bacon Bar is a recent example. It's milk chocolate with bits of applewood smoked bacon and Alderwood smoked salt. In recent years, among foodies and chefs, bacon seems to be the 'it' thing (the so-called "bacon craze" which several sources such as this declare has "jumped the shark.") For example, bacon donuts like the ones at Voodoo Donut in Portland. But I am a big fan of bacon, especially D'Artagnan uncured heirloom and wild boar bacon, which I was thrilled to find a couple times in our local grocery store.

So yesterday while at Whole Foods, I finally decided to try a pint-sized Bacon Bar after having seen it several times. I was intrigued. Plus, it was strategically placed in the "impulse buy" section (fair play to you, WFs!), I was jonesing for something sweet, and it was on sale for $1.99. What did I have to lose? Well, definitely I will not be purchasing one of these again. The combination of the milk chocolate with the bacon was too sickeningly sweet and for some reason reminded me of bad Easter candy. A lot of times this sweet/savory combination works, especially with bacon. Think: waffles or pancakes with maple syrup served w/a side of bacon. (Actually this was cited as inspiration for this creation). In this case, it just didn't do it for me. The first several bites, I was wondering where the bacon was, as I just tasted salty milk chocolate, and then the chewy bacon bits began to emerge and come on too strong, not really melding well with the chocolate. Texturally, it was pretty gross. So after this, I am starting to believe that creative bacon use may have indeed jumped the shark.

For something similar that does actually work (but does not include bacon), I have to give a shout out to Seattle-based Theo Chocolates Bread & Chocolate Bar, which pairs dark chocolate with artisan bread crumbs and salt.