Grand Cochon Comes to Chicago!

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This Sunday, October 1, 14 Chefs from around the country will be in Chicago for Grand Cochon to showcase their culinary skill and compete to become the "King or Queen of Porc"! Each Chef will create no less than three bite sized portions from their own heritage pig. They will be using the whole animal- so be ready to enjoy some amazing and off the wall food.

In addition to the 42+ bites in this communal feast, guests can sample Rosenberg's Deli's Chef Joshua Pollack's beef tartare with Sabatino's truffles, Pastoral Artisan cheeses and bread, La Brea's pop up bakery, organic pâté Les Trois Petits Cochons, a luxury butter and foie gras bar and much more!

There will also be much to drink with wine, spirits, and cocktails from the Glenfiddich Experimental Dome, Breckenridge smoked Old Fashions, The Manhattan Project by Poached Jobs, collaborative Angostura and Perfect Puree's Tiki Bar, Courvoisier cocktails, and wines from Scholium Project, Kosta Browne, Pax, Silver Oak and more. 

The event takes place at Morgan Manufacturing on October 1. Tickets are available here. General Admission ($150) lets in at 5:55pm or you can splurge with the VIP pass ($225) which lets you in at 5pm. Hope to see you all at the pig out!

Cochon555 in Chicago: 5 Chefs, 5 Heritage Pigs, 5 Winemakers

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The good news: Cochon555 is back on Sunday, April 23. The better news: they're back at Morgan Manufacturing- one of my favorite event spaces. If you haven't been to either, then this is your perfect opportunity to see 5 Chicago chefs- Ricardo Jarquin of Travelle Kitchen, John Manion of El Che Bar, Nathan Sears of theWit, Tom Carlin of Publican Quality Meats, and Pete Coenen of Cherry Circle Room. Each has selected a Heritage pig to work with from local farms and they use the whole pig to create 5 different dishes- giving you 25 dishes to try!

All of this food is great, but what to wash it down with? Glad you asked, because not only are there normally a few bartenders battling in a Punch throwdown, but there'll also be 5 different winemakers serving The Scholium Project, Pax Mahle Wines, Kosta Browne, and Silver Oak. 

You can go General Admission from 5-8pm or VIP (highly recommended) from 4-8pm. There'll also be butchers onhand serving up prime cuts for purchase from more heritage pigs. So go get some pig, drink some wine, take pig home!

Upcoming Event: Cochon 555

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An amazing on tour event is coming to Chicago this weekend: Cochon 555, known as a one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs.  

For the competition, local chefs Nathan Sears (The Radler), Nicole Pederson (Found Kitchen), Chris Marchino (Spiaggia), John Manion (La Sirena Clandestina), Thomas Rice & Kurt Guzowski (Tete Charcuterie) will prepare a maximum of six whole hog dishes with hopes to win votes from a crowd of hungry gourmands and judges.  There will also be an assortment of endless wine, beer and spirits.  

Grab your tickets and get ready to head out this Sunday, April 26 to Morgan Manufacturing (401 N Morgan St).  There is also a Chef's Course Dinner at Nico Osteria on Friday and a Large Format Feast (Sold Out) at TETE Charcuterie.  See you there!