‘You don’t have to eat for a few days’
“You don’t have to eat for a few days after!” says Baconation food concession co-owner Dan Motta, who came up with the P.I.G., which he swears is for sharing. Sold for $30, it comes with a T-shirt that says “you conquered it.”
“We’re just giving people what they want,” he says. Lord help those people. It’s no surprise that bacon is big again this year in the Food Building and at Midway concessions throughout the fair grounds. So is Nutella. The chocolate-hazelnut spread is drizzled over sweet potato fries in one dish, and in another, smeared on the inside of a pizza dough cone (about $7.50). Its nutty deliciousness is overpowered, however, by vanilla soft serve, chili flakes and — you guessed it — bacon.
Go for the Hazelnut Gelato Panini ($8) from Gourmet Grill. Cool, dense cream is studded with crisp, puffed chocolate balls a la Rice Krispies. It all floats dreamily inside a warm brioche bun.
For maximal hype and heartburn, there’s the “Cronut” inspired maple bacon burger.
Le Dolci, a Dundas St. W. bakery, teams up with CNE concession Epic Burgers and Waffles, whose claim to fame is 2011’s Krispy Kreme burger, to make this season’s sugar-butter-beef hybrid.
A cheese swiped beef patty is slapped between two cinnamon sugar croissant-doughnut halves and topped generously with homemade “maple bacon jam.”
On the lighter side, Wild Child’s Kitchen is serving up Nacho-Rama ($8 for a large order), a vegan dish of corn tortillas, savoury guacamole, fresh salsa, cashew cream and faux meat, crafted from crushed walnuts and sundried tomatoes.
It’s light, tasty and probably won’t make you vomit after a spin on the Gravitron.
“We’re making everything in house with fresh produce,” says chef Pamela Martinez. “It’s junky food with a healthy twist.”
They’ll also be serving up a portobello wrap, fresh brown rice noodles with pesto and hemp hearts and smoothies, including the Wild Cacao, raw cacao nibs, banana and chocolate almond milk.
For something special, schlep over to the Dufferin Gates. There, close to the children’s rides, you’ll find a small concession shaped like a ski chalet.
Aspecial machine shaves ice cream off a frozen block at 180 RPM — paper-thin sheets fall elegantly into a silky pile and taste airy, icy, cool and creamy all at once.
The first time Chilly Ribbons CEO Scott Colwell tasted this frozen treat on the streets of Taiwan he was hooked, he says. “It was the best dessert I ever had.” He just had to bring it to the Ex. Colwell says the Ex’s kiosk will boast several of the brand’s 40 flavours including mango, coconut, lemon — or “yellow snow” — cotton candy, strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.
The fruit ribbons, which will be featured this fall at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival at Walt Disney World, Colwell says, are made with real fruit puree, sugar and milk, he says. No added chemicals.
Abowl can be topped, just like self-serve yogurt, with a smattering of healthy or not-so-healthy options. The best part? Without toppings, a large bowl of ribbons ($4.85) barely tips the scales at about 80 to 100 calories.