It was a weekend filled with pork!

As part of this awesome food weekend, Chicago Gourmet teamed up with Cochon555 to embrase the tiki trend that’s everywhere these days. Together, they hosted ‘PUNCH KINGS’ on Saturday evening, on the Harris Theater rooftop.

It was a perfect late-summer/early-fall evening, and everyone was high spirits, excited for punch cocktails and roasted pork. There were 12 participating restaurants with their respective mixologists’ unique punch creations ready for thirsty guests. Let’s just say, they were very potent and definitely not skimpy on the liquor! My favorite was from none other than THREE DOTS AND A DASH. For me, it was probably the easiest punch to sip on, while the others were quite spicy or heavy on the rum.

To soak up some of that alcohol was some delicious porky goodness. Ten heritage pig farmers teamed up with a notable chef to roast whole pigs, and then create a tasty dish highlighting each particular pig breed. My favorite ended up being the Mangalitsa pig, transformed into super tasty pulled pork on a bun, topped with pickled veggies. The combination was perfect, and the pickled veggies cut through some of the richness from the pork.

The other favorite plate was from Rural Society – the chimichurri on the pork hit the spot. (I could have chimichurri on all savory things).

Overall, it was a fun event, and definitely had a festive, tiki vibe to it. You can’t beat this view of the city behind us either. Just gorgeous.

❤

THEN…

On Sunday, Cochon555 held their annual Heritage BBQ at the Morgan MFG space from 4pm onwards. So, after an awesome afternoon at Chicago Gourmet, we made our way over to the second event for the day. If you’ve never been inside the Morgan MFG space, you should check it out. It’s so well laid out, and the sun streaming through the windows in the afternoon makes it glow. I’m a fan. For Heritage BBQ, 5 competing chefs created unique and delicious dishes featuring all parts of a whole pig. There were other chefs showcasing other barbecue traditions through world cultures.

Some standouts was a pork taco from Freehand Chicago, and the Tandoori Chicken dumpling from Maddy’s Dumpling House.

Needless to say… my tummy was very full and very happy by the time I got into my pajamas on Sunday evening. 🙂

Thanks to Cochon555 and Chicago Gourmet’s team for a weekend full of awesome events, great people, and delicious food set up right in our beautiful city.