Five chefs, five pigs, and five winemakers headlined a night of sensory overload at the Ritz-Carlton on Sunday. Cochon555—a 10-city culinary tour—made its stop in Denver, where chefs Paul C. Reilly (Beast + Bottle), Franco Ruiz (Fruition), Robert Andreozzi (Pizzeria Locale Boulder), Troy Guard (TAG), and Nelson Perkins (Colt & Gray) teamed up with local farmers to produce a nose-to-tail feast using whole, heritage breed pigs. The evening also featured a ramen pop-up from Jeff Osaka, a pie pop-up, cocktails, wine, and a jaw-dropping pop-up butcher shop from Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe.
Chef Troy Guard and his team at Cochon555.
Menus featured creative bites from savory to sweet voted on by attendees and local culinary professionals. At the end of the night, chef Troy Guard was ultimately crowned the Prince of Porc for his team’s menu featuring a chicharron cannoli, pig head pastrami, smoked pork belly, crispy shank and offal tacos, pork shoulder luau with trotter roulade, and a Meishan red velvet with pig liver cremeux. This isn’t the end of the competition for Guard, though—he and his team earned the opportunity to compete at Grand Cochon in Aspen on June 18th.
All photography by Brittany Werges
Western Daughters pop-up butcher shop at Cochon555.
Western Daughters pop-up butcher shop.
Prosciutto from Parma at Cochon555
Torching for smoked old fashion cocktails.
Mason jar cocktails at Cochon555
Grateful Bread at Cochon555
Ramen from Jeff Osaka’s pop-up at Cochon555.
Samplings from Beast + Bottle at Cochon555.
Pig’s blood chocolate gelato from Beast + Bottle at Cochon555.
Meishan red velvet from TAG at Cochon555.
Colt & Gray’s menu at Cochon555
Churros and chocolate at Cochon555.
Troy Guard and team celebrate at Cochon555.