By Emily Cook
Chef Ed Hardy, formerly of McLean‘s Bistro Vivant, branched out on his own last November for a new venture: a bacon-themed food truck.
After expanding to three locations—Reston Wiehle Silver Line Station, Reston Business Center Drive and Tysons Corner’s Greensboro Drive Food Truck Park—Bacon N’ Ed’s now hosts reservable dining with an al fresco chef’s table.
Starting last month, Bacon N’ Ed’s mobile chef’s table—serving exclusive four-course tasting menus to parties of four to eight—opened for reservations. “Every cutting-edge restaurant worth their salt has one; why shouldn’t we?” Hardy says. “It allowed us to blend our fine dining sensibilities with our food truck personas. Plus we found a really sweet foldable picnic table on sale.”
Although all prices are negotiable, a four-course meal for six costs around $105. There is no set menu, as Hardy incorporates what is available from local farmers, the farmers market and the guest’s desires and blends it with his inspiration.“The first course will be either a carbonated melon salad or some other kind of adulterated fruit, such as a fruit salad marinated with honey and vanilla,” he says.
“We allow them [the party] to theme it. We had one guy who wanted to do a taste of New York, so we did Reuben egg rolls as a second course, Coney Island [hot] dogs as a third course and funnel cake for dessert, but all with gourmet touches. This was a clove- and vanilla-scented funnel cake, and the chili cheese dogs were made from housemade chili and a housemade bun—all this in a four-course meal that you can finish in an hour. Then we send them home with bacon peanut brittle.”
For drop-in customers, the Bacon N’ Ed’s menu changes daily with a few core items: fried chicken banh mi, French toast egg rolls, tacos made with catfish, pork belly or black bean fritters and the signature bacon, egg and cheese on a housemade buttermilk biscuit.
“If you don’t see something on our menu, ask us because we [Hardy and sous chef Evan Henris] will make it for you,” Hardy says. “Unlike a lot of trucks, I have $22,000 of equipment on there. We have the ability to do whatever a customer might desire. You just have to ask us.”
As for further expansion, “I’m looking forward to getting a [business] partner so I can spread more bacon-y goodness elsewhere,” says Hardy, who hopes to secure a location in Arlington by the end of this year. / OPEN: Greensboro Drive Food Truck Park in Tysons Corner, Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (Breakfast hours to come); Metro Plaza at Reston-Wiehle Silver Line Station, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:30-10 a.m.; and Reston Business Center Drive, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Bacon N’ Ed’s is also available for hire for private parties and events. To reserve the chef’s table, contact [email protected].
