Cochon555 Tour Makes Pit Stop in Dallas to Crown Prince/Princess of Pork

photos courtesy of Cochon555

The Cochon555 US Tour hosts a yearly round of hyper-local food events in 14 major cities in North America. The tour's focus is to raise awareness for heritage breed pigs through an innovative "nose-to-tail" pig cooking competition.

Making a stop in Dallas on Sunday, February 11th at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas - Cochon555 will host 20 notable judges from the Texas restaurant industry. Names like Chef Kent Rathbun, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly, Nicolas Yanes of Juniper (Austin), well-known Emcee Billy Harris, as well as their headline all-star butcher, Zach Dunphy from Commissary Dallas will be in attendance at the swine-centric event.

Guests will find samples of food cultures near and far, while learning about a safer, more honest food system.




This year’s competing chefs included Host Chef Christof Syré of LAW at Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Josh Sutcliff & Junior Borges of Mirador, David Uygur of Lucia, Matt McCallister of FT33, and Misti Norris of Petra and the Beast. The chefs prepare boldly flavored dishes in this friendly competition using whole heritage-breed pigs from family farms in a nose-to-tail, whole animal showcase. A crowd of a few hundred pork-loving gourmands and twenty notable judges will score each chef on utilization, global influences, cooking techniques, overall flavor, and the “best bite of the day.”

Since 2009, over 108,000 consumers have experienced heritage pork for the first time, and over $1 million has been donated to charities, plus another $1.2 million paid directly to their farmers. Expect educational and inspirational messages. In addition to the notable judges and expert chefs, 5 stellar sommeliers will take part in the third annual "Somm Smackdown" where they'll compete to find the best wine to pair with the prepared pork dishes. This year’s somms include Emily Tolbert of Del Frisco’s, Houston, Courtney Keeling of Graileys, Cameron Cronin of Sachet, Julia Dixon of ArtProWine, Austin, and Alicia Schmidt of Emmer and Rye, Austin. Additionally, “Punch Kings” features five of the city’s top barkeeps facing off in a whole-bottle punch bowl competition, challenging them to each make their own twist on the original, historic large-format communal libation righteously prepared with Breckenridge Bourbon.

At the end of the day, one chef will be crowned for their whole pig cookery skills, and will also win an incredible 4-day wine and culinary experience in Rioja - the most prominent wine region in Spain.

For more information, visit www.cochon555.com or follow @cochon555 on Twitter and Instagram.

 The event also benefits a greater – and absolutely delicious – cause in the form of Piggy Bank, a farm-in-the-making devoted to sharing free heritage breed genetics with small family farms.

Tickets for general admission start at $130; VIP tickets (early admission + exclusive access to taste entries from the Somm Smackdown and Punch Kings competitions) are $200; and to purchase tickets, visit the website: http://cochon555.com/us-tour/2018-dallas/.

Where:  Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas,
 4150 N MacArthur Blvd, Irving, TX 75038

When:   Sunday, February 11

Time:     4 p.m. for VIP entry, 5 p.m. for General Admission