Foodie Fridays: Cochon 555 Fifth Anniversary Tour Visits Chicago!

Arriving in The Windy City on Sunday, April 28 at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, Cochon 555, the pork-centric tour, gathers together five chefs, five pigs and five wineries at each event – ultimately touching down in 10 cities across the country and bringing its message of nose-to-tail cooking, breed diversity and family farming to food enthusiasts nationwide.

Each Cochon 555 event challenges five local chefs to prepare a menu created from the entirety of heritage breed pigs for an audience of pork-loving epicureans and celebrated judges. Chefs competing for Prince of Pork in Chicago are Kevin Hickey (Allium); Cosmo Goss (Publican Quality Meats); Matthias Merges (Yusho); Ryan Poli (Tavernita); and Josh Adams (June Restaurant).

Kevin Hickey (Allium/Four Seasons Hotel)

Guests will be treated to an epic pork feast alongside wines from five small family-owned wineries including Scholium Project, Elk Cove Vineyards, Ridge Vineyards, Buty Winery, K Vintners, plus special tastings from Silver Oak, MacPhail Family Wines, Anchor Brewing, Crispin Ciders, Pig’s Nose Scotch, and Illegal Mezcal. Twenty judges and 400 guests help decide the winning chef, who is crowned the Prince of Pork and will compete against other regional winners at the finale Grand Cochon event at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen on Sunday, June 16. 

Ryan Poli (Tavernita)

Also included in the evening is a preview of the new Heritage BBQ event in which an additional whole hog cooked barbecue-style will be rolled out immediately preceding the awards.

VIP guests receive early access to the event and special offerings including a special tasting with three competing chefs. The VIP hour is filled with experiences that will not be found on the main floor such as access to "Punch Kings" - a new cocktail competition featuring Breckenridge Bourbon and six local bartenders, a VIP-only gift bag, the all-new Tartare Bar, Rappahannock River Oysters, and reserve wines and spirits. Guests can enter for a chance to win a roundtrip ticket from Southwest Airlines, official airline for the “Cochon US Tour”.

Cosmo Goss (Publican Quality Meats)

In addition, to celebrate five years of Heritage Breeds, Cochon added five bourbons to the lineup! All attendees will get samples of Breckenridge Bourbon, Eagle Rare, Templeton Rye, High West, Buffalo Trace and Four Roses in addition to the Perfect Manhattan Bar showcasing Luxardo cherries and Eagle Rare.  Also new in 2013 is the Chupito/Mezcal Bar, a tasting experience featuring Mezcales de Leyenda, Pierde Almas and Fidencio. The infamous Craft Cheese Bar sees a facelift featuring a local cheesemonger, Cypress Grove Chevre, Vermont Butter & Cheese, Spring Brook Farm with an exclusive tasting of blues from Rogue Creamery, and favorites from Kerrygold. 

Josh Adams (June)

The fun continues when Miyabi and Zwilling USA present a butcher demonstration featuring Rob Levitt from Butcher & Larder and a raffle to benefit the student volunteers, ice-cold brews, Champagne toast, award ceremony, Fernet Branca digestifs, pork-spiked desserts, and of course, the after party will immediately following at Allium Restaurant with food and drink specials available for $5.55.

Matthias Merges (Yusho)

To kick-off the 5^th Anniversary Weekend Celebration, Cochon 555 will curate an intimate “Chef’s Course” Guest Chef Dinner on Friday, April 26 at Sepia. James Beard Award nominated Chef Andrew Zimmerman will open his kitchen to six renowned Chicago chefs including Stephanie Izard (Girl and the Goat and Little Goat); Rob Levitt (The Butcher & Larder); Patrick and Michael Sheerin (Trenchermen); Jason Vincent (Nightwood); Craig Bell (Sub-Zero and Wolf); and Cochon 555 founder Brady Lowe, as they prepare this special, one- night-only epicurean feast. In addition to wines, each course will be paired with cocktails and spirits, including those from Anchor Brewing, Crispin Cider, Elk Cove Vineyards, Buty Vineyards, Scholium Project and Ridge Vineyards. Tickets and details for this special dinner experience are very limited and can be found on the website.

Tickets for Cochon 555 are $125 (general admission) and $200 (VIP); to purchase tickets, visit www.cochon555.com

Additionally, Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine will host its third annual Pastoral’s Artisan Producer Festival where guests have the chance to meet talented and award-winning culinary artisans from around the globe, experience their products and celebrate small batch food, beer, spirits and wine on Saturday, April 27, 2013, from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., at Chicago French Market, 131 North Clinton Street, in Chicago. This year’s lineup features more than 80 culinary producers. Scheduled events throughout the day will include a VIP ticket giveaway to attend Cochon 555—the only heritage pig and chef competition in the U.S.—as well as a special Butchering for a Better BBQ demonstration with Butcher & Larder’s Rob Levitt, Lillie’s Q’s Charlie McKenna and Cochon 555’s founder Brady Lowe where guests will have the chance to see how to butcher and BBQ a whole heritage breed pig from Slagel Family Farm in Illinois. For more information on Pastoral’s Artisan Producer Festival, visit pastoralartisan.com, follow Pastoral @pastoralchicago on Twitter and like Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine on Facebook.