The Ultimate Pig Roast
If Iron Chef went on steroids and allowed spectators to eat all the food, you might end up with something like Cochon 555. For this growing annual contest, five chefs from a major U.S. food city challenge one another to a cook-off with a single themed ingredient: a 200-pound pig, the whole thing. The winners from each city will compete at a final showdown in Aspen in June, but first the series kicks off here in New York, at Chelsea Piers on February 10. And spectators get to sample each course and join the 20 judges in selecting a winner.
This year, the first all-female line-up will go head to head in New York, including Alex Guanaschelli of Butter and the Derby, Missy Robbins of A Voce, Shanna Pacifico of Back Forty West, Elizabeth Falkner of Krescendo, and Leah Cohen of Pig and Khao.
The pork feast is open to 400 guests (from $125 per ticket), and each course is paired with wines from local, family-owned wineries Elk Cove Vineyards and Greg Linn Wines, among others. In celebration of the festival’s five-year anniversary, Cochon is adding a VIP course of cocktail pairings, featuring Templeton Rye, Breckenridge Bourbon, High West, Buffalo Trace, and Four Roses ($200 per person).
Other activities will include samplings from local cheesemongers Cypress Grove Chevre and Rogue Creamery, a butcher demonstration by Sara Bigelow of the Meat Hook, and a raffle to benefit the Culinary Institute of America.
If it all sounds like a bit much, consider the intimate dinner the Cochon 555 team will be hosting with competitors from previous years on February 8, before the main event, at the Cannibal ($150 per person).
Cochon 555 at Chelsea Piers: West 23rd Street and the Hudson River
The Cannibal: 113 East 29th Street, 212.686.5480
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