COCHON 555 - 5 chefs 5 pigs 5 winemakers! Chicago May 24th

http://www.amusecochon.com/
Coming to Chicago May 24th.
Not much on the site so far for the Chicago date.
Anyone have any more info?



FWIW, I'm not connected to this event in any way, just saw a note about it on FB

Mel,
I want to go to this, how bad could it be? Nothing better I would rather do for a day, eat pork and drink wine

I received this in my email and thought I'd pass it on to share. (PS - I'm not affiliated with either Conchon 555 or Taste Network)

COCHON 555 - Chicago
“5 Pigs, 5 Chefs, 5 Winemakers”
May 24, 2009

WHAT: A group of top Chicago chefs will each prepare a heritage breed hog from head to toe for this competition. Cochon 555 is the only national chef competition promoting heritage pigs and breed diversity. Guests and professional judges will determine a winner based on creative, classic preparation and overall best flavor. The winner will be crowned the “Prince of Porc”. In addition, five family-owned wineries will showcase their wines.

WHO: Taste Network presents
Patrick Sheerin, The Signature Room at the 95th
Chris Pandel, The Bristol
Graham Elliot Bowles, Graham Elliot Restaurant
Sam Burman, Bluprint
Stephen Dunne, VOLO / Paramount Room

Wineries: Chase Cellars, Vision Cellars, Van Duzer Vineyards, Patz & Hall and August West

WHEN: Sunday, May 24th, 5:00 p.m.
Chef & Judges VIP Reception 3:30 p.m. photo opportunity

WHERE: The Drake Hotel -140 East Walton Place, Chicago

WHY: To raise awareness for Farms for City Kids, a unique educational program combining classroom study with first-hand farming experience for urban kids.

HOW: The cost is $125 per person and is open to the public. For tickets or more info visit www.amusecochon.com. Advance ticket purchase required (industry discount available).

Cochon 555 began in Atlanta and is national in scope. Other upcoming cities include Washington D.C. and San Francisco. Chefs and judges from each city are selected by Taste Network to participate in the event. www.amusecochon.com

Taste Network is a Georgia-based company delivering experiential services to the artisan wine and cheese industries. The company’s mission is to provide cultured events and education focused around artisan wine, cheese and cuisine to its clients and the public at large. www.tastenetwork.org

FYI: MenuPages is offering 2 free tickets to the event if you win their "fictional pig love letter" contest!

http://blogs.menupages.com/chicago/2009 ... n_555.html

LTH,

Looks to be a terrific event, hard to resist pig, wine and top tier chefs.

Cochon555 website

Enjoy,
Gary

LTH,

Yours truly is going to be a judge at Cochon 555, should be a fine Sunday for swine and wine.

In my email exchange the organizer mentioned industry, friends etc could use heritage for a $20 discount when buying tickets.

Cochon 555

Enjoy,
Gary

I'm going to this via a press pass through foodbuzz, so I'll report back.

Gary, I'll look for you there and see if I can't manage to work my way through your throng of pork groupies to introduce myself.

See you guys there!!!! Look for a man in a baconfest button!

Seth Zurer wrote:See you guys there!!!! Look for a man in a baconfest button!

Only?

Where will you wear it?

Loved A Love Letter to Pearl The Piglet.

"I’m just saying. That you were a pig gave me a little clarity. "

Thought I'd add to the thread that having been on the Cochon 555 mailing list, I just got an email this morning offering 2 for the price of 1 admission. Perhaps the event isn't selling out as quickly as they hoped? It looked really interesting to me, but $125 seemed steep and I'm planning on going for all-you-can-eat crawfish at Toons instead. For $67.50/person using the 2-for-1 deal, I'd definitely consider changing my plans...

For today only, we will give you a 2 for 1 deal! Buy a full price $125 ticket (no VIP) and bring a guest for free. RSVP HERE!
No other discounts apply.
HOW: Buy your ticket and then email us to confirm your guest: carolina@tastenetwork.com.

-Dan

FWIW, the email does indicate "If you love pig, please take a moment on this beautiful day to send this message to one, two or even all of your friends."

Dan or other pork partaker - I'd be interested, drop me a PM.

dansch wrote:For $67.50/person using the 2-for-1 deal, I'd definitely consider changing my plans...

If you are solo and wish to attend I had an email from the organizers this morning that included the tidbit use buylocal in the coupon/discount box and get the ticket for $80. I should point out, though it seems obvious, that as a porcine judge* for the event I am not paying for entry.

*hummmm, that came out wrong.

G Wiv wrote:

dansch wrote:For $67.50/person using the 2-for-1 deal, I'd definitely consider changing my plans...

If you are solo and wish to attend I had an email from the organizers this morning that included the tidbit use buylocal in the coupon/discount box and get the ticket for $80. I should point out, though it seems obvious, that as a porcine judge* for the event I am not paying for entry.

*hummmm, that came out wrong.

Thanks, Wiv. I'll be thinking positive pig thoughts (that's also coming out wrong) from a family event and wish you much luck with the judging. Hopefully some peeps can take advantage of the last-minute discounts (should have offered 'em at $80 the whole time!)

Heard over on FB that GE won the Pig-0ff
I look forward to seeing some reports of the
food and wine pairings

The event was fun. I had the pleasure of meeting G Wiv and Seth Zurer for the first time, as well as a whole bunch of other pork lovers. The food was good, generally. There were a few standout dishes, but each table also had a few clunkers. One of the main problem seemed to be keeping the buffet areas stocked while keeping the food warm--most tables had little to no heating apparatus.

I thought graham elliott's offerings were actually the weakest of the bunch, but that might've been because they were largely cold when I ate them. The mortadella-filled donut holes from The Bristol, bacon cotton candy from Bluprint, and miso-cured pork belly from the Signature Room were the standouts for me.

Can't report much about wine pairings. The wineries were being really stingy with the pours, so I opted for the Three Floyds beers and then went to Templeton Rye.



Sam Burman of Bluprint with his porchetta.



The Bristol's donuts.



Patrick Sheerin of The Signature Room with his Miso Belly. (He got my vote)




bacon cotton candy.




they butchered a heritage pig as a demo and then drew business cards and gave away pieces.




....and I was a lucky winner of a heritage ham, which will be going on my smoker today (thanks, G Wiv, for the advice on how to best cook it).

Hi,

Was this an event where you strolled from station to station with no seating?

Regards,

Hi Cathy,

Yep. you got it. There were a few cocktail tables, but generally everyone just kind of milled around.

LTH,

Very much enjoyed the event, guest of honor seemed to be having a good time, until he lost his head.



Organizer Brady Lowe, show here with Lincoln of Three Floyds, did an admirable job of putting the event together.

Lincoln, Brady Lowe



Team Graham Elliot won the event, but all chef's showed well.

Team G.E.



Patrick Sheerin of the Signature Room showed particularly well.

Patrick Sheerin



High points included Sam Burman of Bluprint's bacon cotton candy.

Bacon Cotton Candy



Steven Dunne of Paramount Room/Volo pig head soup with fresh asparagus

On right, Pig Head Soup with Asparagus



Just realized my notes, which were not that good anyway due to wine, rye and pig, are missing so I will put up a few choice images and label at a later date.

Cochon 555










Stephen Dunne



Judges Table



Libations of choice, rose and rye



Pig butchering demo



Announcing the winner, team Graham Elliot



All in all Cochon 555 was a well managed fun event, in particular from my perspective as an event judge.

Enjoy,
Gary

Damn, sorry I missed out on this one. If not for a family wedding that night I would have been all over this event.

The annual Cochon 555 culinary tour, a celebration of cuisine and heritage-breed pigs, will return to Chicago in late October as a series of virtual, participatory cooking events.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html