Nosh This: Bay Area Bacon Candy

What does a former United Nations architect do when the market crashes and he can no longer find work? He starts dealing crack. Bacon crack.

Kai Kronfeld, founder and owner of Nosh This, constructed his confectionery company as the direct result of a happy accident. He was gifted a gigantic block of pistachio butter toffee from a chef friend, and every day or so would snap off a piece from the square in his fridge as a snack. One fateful morning, he decided he wanted a piece to accompany his bacon and egg breakfast—and the rest is history.

His signature candy melds together a crispy butter toffee base with crunchy almonds and salty bacon. “I experimented with every type of nut I could find,” Kronfeld says. Pistachios were too overpowering, Brazil nuts too oil, and hazelnuts too delicate. After delicious trial and error, he decided that almonds were his nut to crack, and dipped the entire mixture in chocolate to make it airtight.

Out of work and with nothing to lose, Kai was urged by his friends to stop feeding them and start feeding the public instead. So he did.

As his website states: “The name ‘Nosh This’ is a tongue-in-cheek reference to my half-Jewish heritage, mixed with a little bit of attitude. ‘Nosh’ is the Yiddish word meaning “to snack,” and with that name I pay homage to my father, who stands at the kitchen counter having a nosh a few times a day.”

Now, Kai’s collection ranges from four types of caramels (salt and pepper, bacon salted,  balsamic vinegar and Meyer lemon), to Bourbon Bacon Rocky Road studded with fluffy marshmallows.

“I eat this stuff every day.  I don’t even have that much of a sweet tooth.”

With a dedication to using local, sustainable ingredients, Nosh This employs Zoe’s bacon from Petaluma, E. Guittard 72% chocolate from Burlingame, and Gilt Edge Creamery’s butter and cream from right here in San Francisco.

You can get your fix directly from his website, or at retailers around the Bay Area.