What You Need to Know About Zairilla Bacon

“It’s Bacon Bitch!” Touted as a culinary genius, risk-taker and, by those who know her, an all-around dope person, Zairilla Bacon deserves every bit of success that comes her way and we are extremely honored to collab with her for the DHC March subscription box. We know and admire her, and we hope by sharing this list of What You Need to Know About Zairilla Bacon, you’ll come to love her too!

Chi-Town Born & Bred

Born Zairee Lee in Chicago, Illinois, who we now know as Zairilla Bacon was “raised in the kitchen.” She started her culinary journey early, preparing meals for her large family at a young age.

Through her love of cooking, Bacon founded and operated her own catering business in the Windy City called Z’s and Company.

How She Got Her Name

In an interview with CULTURE magazine, Bacon remembers smoking and watching the movie Godzilla when, “out of nowhere I’m sitting there like, ‘Zairilla, hmmm, I like that.’ And I was eating some bacon at the time so I was like, ‘bacon, bacon - hold up, bacon bitch! I’m gonna call myself Zairilla Bacon.” Thus, a star was born.

A Fateful Move

After much persistence by her best friend, Bacon packed up and left Chicago in 2012 to set up shop in Las Vegas. To get her footing in a new city, she initially took a job as a delivery driver, as medicinal was already legal in the state of Nevada (it was fully legalized in the state July 1, 2017). Little did she know this would change her life in an unexpected yet amazing way.

Finding Her Calling

Baked goods were a regular offering at the business she worked for, but sales didn’t skyrocket until Bacon took the helm. “I told my boss, ‘I know how to cook, I would love to get into that,’” Bacon reminisced to the Chicago Sun-Times in 2018.

But she recalls, “I didn’t want to make just cookies, I was used to making four and five star meals. I was thinking, if you can infuse cakes and pies, there has to be a way to infuse shrimp and lobster tail.” After conducting her own research and learning a base butter recipe from her boss, she gradually learned how to infuse olive oils and coconut oils. Game changer.

Time to Shine

Bacon started by experimenting with new recipes and infusions, serving test meals to friends. Following a very warm reception and overwhelming satisfaction, her tasting guinea pigs began urging her to get the ball rolling with introducing her culinary creations to the general public. And so began Z’s Menu, her business catering homemade munchies to state-registered medical patients.

On April 20, 2015, Bacon officially started taking orders for infused meals. It didn’t take long for her bomb recipes to gain attention, thanks to their mouth-watering goodness, word-of-mouth, and hits on social media. Soon the business was flooded with orders for her signature infused wings (with their homemade secret “ZeeWee’s” sauce), macaroni and cheese, and succulent ribs.

Transition to Stardom

Bacon’s mind-blowing offerings and her popular infused fruit drink, “Z Juice,” soon caught the eyes of the rich and famous. Rapper pals Method Man and Redman were the first to call on her talent, flying her to Boston to cook for them.

Their praises set off a chain reaction of celebrity buzz and referrals, eventually leading to a major breakthrough in her career.

Everybody Wants Some

Bacon’s skills then garnered interest from 2 Chainz, leading to an unforgettable appearance on VICELAND’s Most Expensivest and sealing her spot as a coveted chef to the stars.

The episode - and the food - was a huge hit, propelling Bacon into a wild whirlwind of bookings and success.

What’s Happening Now