Union Market
Cochon 555, the country’s most talked about culinary competition returns to celebrate family farms, heritage breed pigs and today’s emerging chef community. Attendees of this one-of-a-kind culinary competition embark on a journey to the new hyper-local culinary landscape, one whole pig at a time. The tour is aligned with the modern-day good food movement — notable chefs, barrier-breaking women, artist-like butchers, spirited bartenders, top winemakers, brewers, distillers and brazen pastry talent working together to prepare an epic feast celebrating responsible family farming. Going on its seventh year, Cochon 555 is regarded as the nation’s most flavorful culinary event, from entry to exit, each bite is specially designed to win over the public.
The kickoff event features five chefs cooking five pigs in a friendly competition for a cause. This year’s competing chefs will be released shortly. The five chefs, champions to whole hog utilization, will prepare a maximum of six dishes with hopes to win votes from a crowd of hungry gourmands and celebrated judges. The winner goes on to compete for the title of “King or Queen of Porc” at the tour finale, Grand Cochon at Snowmass/Aspen in June and rewarded with a 4-day wine experience in Rioja, Spain’s most prominent wine region.
The fairy-tale heritage pork event includes more than 36 chef-prepared dishes in an all-inclusive stand up reception with notable tastings from Wines of Germany, St. Francis Wines, Wines of Rioja, Wines of Washington and many others… Cochon’s “pop-up” culinary experiences include perfect slices of artisan cured Prosciutto di Parma. Upon arrival, guests will enjoy Buffalo Trace’s “Welcome Punch Reception” paired with delicious bites from La Brea Bakery. Attendees will sample foods at signature experiences like the Artisan Cheese Shop, Rappahannock Oyster Shelf, and the infamous TarTare Bar featuring Creekstone Farms. Bourbon and whiskey lovers rejoice with the return of the “Perfect Manhattan Experience” featuring Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, and Breckenridge Bourbon finished with Luxardo cherries in this hand-prepared classic topped with a special treat from Creminelli. Guests of VIP can enjoy samples from five of the city’s best barkeeps as they compete in Punch Kings – the tour’s whole bottle “meats” golden gloves competition, featuring Breckenridge Bourbon.
For tickets, click here.