Walter Manzke’s Jamon Beurre from Cochon 555 2015 Photo by Elise Thompson
The Cochon555 culinary competition will be taking place this year on March 12th from 4pm until 7pm at the Viceroy. This fantastic event offers endless cocktails and food made by some of the best chefs and bartenders in Los Angeles. The five competitors this year are Chef Bruce Kalman of Union, whose porschetta make us swoon, Chef Kyle Johnson of Bourbon Steak Los Angeles and formerly of Guy Savoy and Charlie Palmer’s, Chef Jonathan Granada of Otium at the Broad Museum, Chef Dakota Weiss of Estrella, who you may remember from Top Chef, and Chef David Féau of Wally’s Beverly Hills, a French chef who has worked in a number of LA’s top restaurants from Red Medicine to The Royce.
Cochon555 is a national competition that travels the country annually on a mission to promote heritage breed pigs. Five chefs are each given one whole, 200-pound heritage breed pig and one week to prepare. Each chef must present 6 dishes. A panel of judges, along with popular votes, selects the winner. Los Angeles’s “Prince or Princess of Pork.” will compete against the other winners from around the country at The Grand Cochon, held at the Viceroy in Snowmass, Aspen on June 18th.
Not only do you get to sample and vote on the chef’s porcine creations, but you also get to try the wines from the Somm Smackdown and boozy punches from the Punch Kings competition. In addition, “guests can sample…farmhouse cheeses; a pop-up bakery from La Brea…a ramen noodle soup bar paired with the racy white Wines of Germany…foie gras, and more.” You might also want to budget for the Pop-Up Butcher Demo and Auction.
Cocktails include Smoked Old Fashioneds,a Tiki Bar, a Courvoisier Cognac ‘neat’ tasting with hand-crafted caramels, a Heritage Rum Cart and Angostura’s Swizzle Bar. Along with the wines and cocktails, there will also be artisanal cider and beer offerings. After dark, the large patio really starts jumping. It’s probably a good day to take Lyft.
A portion of the proceeds benefit Piggy Bank, a farm that provides heritage breed pigs to family farms. Tickets for general admission start at $125; VIP tickets (early admission + exclusive sommelier and cocktail competition tastings) are $200; and BESPOKE weekend package tickets are $400 (the all-in package includes a one-of-a-kind, 5-course dining experience on Sunday, February 18, early admission and much more). Buy your tickets now!
