The Cochon555 regional competition returns to Los Angeles on Sunday, June 2nd, 5pm at City Market Social House. One week before the event, five prominent chefs from the region will receive a 200-pound heritage breed pig sustainably sourced from a family farm to prepare 6 dishes for 14 celebrity judges.
The judges will score on utilization, technique, and overall flavor. The dishes will also be voted upon by event guests as ‘best bite of the day’. The winning Los Angeles chef will be crowned Prince or Princess of Pork and advance to the national finale Grand Cochon, a head-to-tail winner-takes-all showdown for the ultimate crown in Chicago on September 15.
This year’s chefs competing in LA are Brian Redzikowski of Kettner Exchange, Jason Mattick & Ivan Marquez of B.S. Taqueria and Broken Spanish, David Johns of Mason, Kat Hu & Justin Yi of Hock + Hoof, and Ben Diaz of Nixo Lounge at Luxe City Center Hotel.
Alongside the cooking competition is an educational whole animal butchery program, with resulting cuts displayed at a pop-up butcher shop as part of a silent auction. Michael Puglisi of Electric City Butcher is this year’s headlining butcher.
Rounding out the pig fest will be a signature Cheese Bar curated by local cheese suppliers, and desserts by pastry chefs working with Perfect Puree of Napa Valley.
Running in tandem with the pig competition will be two beverage competitions. El Tesoro Tequila will present Punch Kings, a whole bottle, large-format spirit competition in a hand-crafted punch challenge, and Sommelier Smackdown in which five notable sommeliers face off to pair the best wine with heritage pig.
More beverages come from beyond the competion – cocktails from Black Cow, Santa Teresa rum and Wheatley vodka; the Manhattan Project featuring premium bourbons from Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace topped with Luxardo cherries; and sampling of Westland Distilling and Whiskey Five featuring Bulleit Bourbon, Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Singleton, and Buchanan.
A selection of Rosés from Chateau D’Esclans will be featured at the Starter Bar. The TarTare Bar will feature pairings with the wines of Antica Napa Valley, and the portfolio of Sassoregale, Wine Dialogues, Riboli Family Wines, Sopexa, Azzuro Wine Company and Nielson Wines.
A VIP tickets gets you started an hour early with two extra preview dishes and access the Oyster Bar.
The evening’s proceeds support Piggy Bank, a start-up farm in Missouri that serves as a kickstarter for new family farms and a safety net for those in the wake of disaster like flood, fire or disease.
For more information and tickets, please visit https://cochon555.com/us-tour/2019-la/