The pork folk gathered yesterday at Capitol Hill’s Liaison Hotel for Cochon 555, the annual pigfest in which five chefs create dishes from five heritage pigs for a chance to compete against nine other chefs at the finals in Aspen. The third “5” refers to the five West Coast wineries on hand pouring reds and whites to wash down all the food. There was also a bourbon bar turning out Manhattans in a jar made with Hudson, Angel’s Envy, and other whiskies.
Some of the best dishes of the evening were “carbonara” raviolo from Bibiana chef Nicholas Stefanelli, pork potstickers from the Source, and boudin-style sausage from Art and Soul. The hardest to forget: the Boars’s Ruin cocktail from 701’s Ed Wit–tobacco-and-cider-braised pork belly and bourbon, served with lard peanuts. Actually, scratch that. The hardest dish to forget was his cone made of crackling, dipped in chocolate and then stuffed with crimson-hued blood-and-chocolate ice cream.
