Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

I ate the most amazing sandwich the other night at one of my favorite restaurants, Melt. Melt has three locations around the Cleveland area, and everything on the menu is amazing. This month they are bringing back the best sandwiches of 2011 for one week each.

This week is the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Melt, which is the ultimate BLT. The sandwich includes "hickory smoked bacon, applewood smoked bacon, black-pepper crusted slab bacon, and sweet candied bacon," all topped with a bacon cream cheese, bacon-infused mayonnaise (made at the restaurant), cheddar, romaine lettuce, and tomato." 

I think the candied bacon really makes the sandwich, giving the sandwich that wonderful taste of when you accidentally get maple syrup on your bacon at breakfast. I absolutely loved this sandwich, and ended up eating the whole thing instead of boxing half up for later like I usually do. The explosion of flavors was totally worth the stomachache I had later from overeating.


The sandwich is, as usual, served with a side of awesome fries and some not-as-awesome spicy cole slaw, which I always forget to cancel so it doesn't go to waste. Also, the specialty sandwiches tend be paired with a special cocktail, so of course I had to try the Kevin Bacon Vanilla Alexander. The drink is described as "Bulleit bourbon infused with bacon, Godiva white chocolate liqueur, cream and real vanilla, shaken with ice and topped with real whipped cream and crisp bacon bits."

The drink was... interesting, to say the least. It tasted good at first, but the bourbon aftertaste didn't seem to fit with the other flavors. It tasted like Bailey's Irish Cream mixed with whiskey and bacon. I found it tasted better when I abandoned the straws and drank straight from the glass, getting bacon bits in every sip. I'm not sure I would ever order this drink again, but I have to give props to Melt for actually creating a drinkable bacon-flavored cocktail. I have attempted this feat in the past, and it ended VERY poorly.


The meal was altogether a success, topped with the end-of-meal revelation that there is a Melt rewards program! I signed up for the card, which will earn me $20 of free Melt for every $250 I spend. I was SO excited to learn about this program. Not that I needed another excuse to go to Melt.


References:
http://meltbarandgrilled.com/