Feastly Cochon 555 Returns With Star Chefs Paul Reilly, Troy Guard

The 2016 edition of Cochon 555, a 18 city traveling culinary competition and tasting event created to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs, will return to Denver on March 6 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Downtown Denver.

In its eighth year, Cochon 555 brings together five chefs, five pigs and five wineries at each event, and the Denver one will feature chefs Troy Guard of TAG, Nelson Perkins of Colt & Gray, Franco Ruiz of Fruition Restaurant, Kyle Mendenhall of The Kitchen, and Paul Reilly of Beast + Bottle.The chefs will prepare a maximum of six dishes from one whole hog and their utilization will help them win votes from hungry pork-lovers and celebrated judges. In addition to the 36 dishes prepared from locally-raised pigs, guests will feast on educational experiences featuring boutique wines and culinary cocktails paired with creative bites.

The judges, as well as the guests will decide the winning chef, who is crowned the Prince of Porc and will compete against other regional winners at the finale Grand Cochon event at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen on June 18.

Upping its commitment to the good food movement, this year's tour will benefit Piggy Bank, a genetic sanctuary for heritage breed pigs that will provide free genetics and business plans to emerging family farms. The tour is dedicated to helping Piggy Bank create the first open-source agriculture platform for heritage species while raising global awareness for socially responsible farming.

Tickets, which cost $200 for VIP admission and $125 for general admission, are available on the Cochon 555 website.