FOURTH ANNUAL COCHON 555 IS RETURNS TO LOS ANGELES ON SUNDAY, MAY 6th

Culinary Competition and Tasting Event Celebrates Heritage Breed Pigs at the House of Blues

COCHON 555 – five chefs, five pigs, five winemakers – is a one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs. The event challenges five local chefs to prepare a menu created from heritage breed pigs, nose-to-tail, for an audience of pork-loving epicureans.

THE FIVE CHEFS: 2012 Los Angeles competing chefs include Chad Colby of Mozza, Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station, Neal Fraser of the Strand House,Jason Neroni of Superba Snack Bar, and Micah Wexler of Mezze.

Guests will be treated to an epic pork feast of five whole heritage pigs prepared by five chefs and wines from five family wineries, including Turley, Matthiasson, Scholium Project, K Vintners and Buty. The evening will also include wines from Elk Cove Vineyards, SALDO, Sokol Blosser and Simi. Watch a butcher demonstration from Lindy & Grundy, Local, Pastured & Organic Meats, and take your chance to win cookware through an interactive tasting contest with Chef Joshua Whigham of The Bazaar by José Andrés. Libations include beers from Anchor Brewing, tastings of Chinaco Tequila and the "Perfect Manhattan" Cochon 555 Bar with Daniel Hyatt of Alembic SF showcasing craft American spirits including Hirsch, Angel's Envy, Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Templeton Rye, Hudson Whiskey's Baby Bourbon and Luxardo cherries. After the close of the judging, host chef Sean Dent of the House of Blues will preview Cochon Heritage BBQ with a whole hog family meal. Attendees don't forget that everyone votes for the "Best Bite of the Day" before we combine the consumer votes (51%) with the technical score from the local judges (49%) and announce one chef as the Prince or Princess of Porc. The winner will go on to compete against other regional winners at the finale Grand Cochon event at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, June 17, 2012.

To start the awards ceremony, we host a 25th anniversary champagne toast to the James Beard Foundation, sponsored by Laurent-Perrier Champagne, now celebrating its 200th year. To close the evening, we offer an exclusive chocolate experience from Xocolatl de David and cold-brew from Safari Cup Coffee.

WHEN Sunday, May 6th 4 pm VIP opening; 5 pm general admission

WHERE House of Blues, Los Angeles – Official Host 8430 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 Buy tickets now!

TICKETS $125 per person for general admission; $200 for VIP, which includes one hour early access to sample dishes from three of the competing chef stations, welcome cocktails from The King's Ginger, artisan cheeses and Rappahannock Oyster Company serving Stingrays, Olde Salts and Rappahannock River, and a chance to win a year's supply of meat and cheese from Cochon 555 and Murray's Cheese.

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ABOUT COCHON 555
Created by Taste Network’s Brady Lowe in 2009 in response to the lack of consumer education around heritage breeds, COCHON is a national event series that takes place in 14 major markets. Every January, COCHON 555 embarks on a 10-city culinary competition and tasting tour where 50 chefs are selected to prepare a ‘snout -to-tail’ menu created from heritage breed pigs. The 10 winners of each regional event are flown to Aspen for the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen for the final competition, Grand Cochon. Cochon All-Star, Cochon Heritage Fire and a new event called Cochon Heritage BBQ competition will be hosted in Memphis on Labor Day every year starting in 2012. For more details about the events, visit www.cochon555.com or follow @cochon555 on twitter.