We didn’t think we could fall more in love with bacon. But The Smith chef William Burke has proven us wrong with his fried bacon ($7). Each order of the gluttonous appetizer at the Burton restaurant comes with four pieces of crispy, salty and dangerously addictive strips of deep-fried applewood smoked bacon. Before you pork it all up, stop to appreciate the craftsmanship and hard work that goes into such a mouthwatering dish. Burke starts by smoking cured pork bellies for 18 hours before cutting it into thin strips of bacon. A quick soak in saltwater and a coating of a seasoned saltine cracker mix gives the bacon its crunchy, briny shellac after a quick four-minute dunk in the fryer. It’s served with fermented bourbon mustard and seasonal pickled vegetables such as a corn and beet mix or watermelon rind. “It’s a fun dish,” Burke says. “It combines things that people like — something fried and bacon.”
14608 W. Park St., Burton, 440-273-8039, thesmithohio.com
Best of Cleveland 2017: Fried Bacon
This deep-fried bacon from The Smith is more complex and tantalizing than you think.
