Last year there was a pig's head made of pork fat and a badass lady butcher—so what's in store for this year's Cochon 555? Well, the female butchery is back with Erika Nakamura of The Breslin, marking the third year in a row that the porcine-centric event has celebrated a woman breaking down a massive piggy on site. The over-the-top pork party, which goes down on January 25th at Andaz 5th Avenue, celebrates heritage breed pigs and the farms that raise them with a big chef competition—and literally hundreds of pounds of pork.
This year's competing chefs include Mike Santoro (Andaz 5th Avenue), Francis Derby (The Cannibal), Andy Yang and Pichet Ong (Sachi), Anthony Sasso (Casa Mono y Bar Jamon) and Hooni Kim (Danji). Each team will get a heritage breed piggy to break down into six or fewer dishes in hopes of wooing the crowd of judges with their offerings. From NYC, the winning chef goes on to the big championship where one chef will be crowned the King or Queen of Porc.
Attending these kinds of free-for-alls can be overwhelming but if you adhere to the guidelines this is one of the better versions. Tickets are pricey—$125 GA, $200 VIP—but they don't skimp on...anything. Expect to eat your face off for four hours with all the pork dishes, plus a tartare bar, oyster bar, cheese station and enough alcohol to guarantee a bleary-eyed Monday morning.
