Time to jump out of the pig pun and back into reality. Following a successful turnout at last year’s PigOut, the organizers have returned once again with PigOut 2.0 – bigger, better, and with pignificant vengeance. This celebration of everyone’s favorite pink-snout animal delivers the goods with 15 of Orange County’s top chefs all preparing a feast for the ages, and ten of Orange County’s top mixologists all shaking up wicked concoctions. The general admission of $75 allowed all attendees four full hours of all-you-can-eat pork goodies, and all-you-can-drink craft cocktails, plus beer courtest of Noble Ale Works. Although this pigout took place outdoors on a hot Summer day, an adjacent tall building provided shade over the entire area within an hour of the feast.
All of the participating vendors did not follow any particular order or placement – they all just set up where available. This generated some crowding, especially near the front, around some of the more popular restaurant tables. However, every participating restaurant brought more than enough pork to satiate everyone’s piggy desires, so nobody had to worry about any particular food item running out. In between snacks, attendees could check out a silent auction table in the center of the area, full of prizes donated by the vendors. Prizes all allowed the winner to return to the restaurant for something special, such as a dinner or wine tasting.
Here we see HopScotch Tavern‘s Pork Belly Rillettes:
Fried Pig Ears, Pig’s Blood Cavatelli w/ Spicy Pork Ragout, and Crispy Pork Belly w/ Banana Ketchup & Soy Glaze from Broadway by Amar Santana:
The Detroiter from 320 Main: Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy, Cynar, Fresh Lemon Juice, Honey Syrup, and Stone IPA.
Pork Cheek Sliders from Juliette Kitchen & Bar, with Dried Tomatillo, Pickled Peppers, and Smoked Paprika-Yuzu Aioli. Juliette had a consistently long line for the entire event, thanks to their incredibly tender pork cheek meat.
Pig Pig Duck Sammies from Arc Restaurant – another restaurant with a consistent line, albeit not as long as Juliette’s.
One of the hard (as in alcoholic) snow cones:
From The Cannery. Note that they used pig’s blood for the mousse .
Mini Mortadella Corn Dogs from Pizzeria Mozza:
The Haven Collective wielded the main attraction: the Triple Porkarazzi, which they served as tacos, lechon-style. They also served Pâté de Cochon Trop Manger and BLT Wraps.
From The Cellar Cheese Shop. At the bottom, you have a French cookie topped with aged smoked gouda and bacon caramel. Ask no questions, and seek this out whenever you find yourself in Costa Mesa.
Cheers to Melissa’s Produce for bringing the only non-alcoholic drink to the pigout.
From The Attic, the only non-Orange County restaurant to participate.
From A Restaurant. Yes, this restaurant wins for the best existing pun ever. Can you imagine? “Let’s do to A Restaurant!”
With such a turnout, what more can we expect? Pay attention to August next year, as we may all see a PigOut 3.0 around that time, should all go according to plan. If you love the pork so much, you will want to check out the San Diego Bacon Fest, taking place this Saturday afternoon. PigOut may appear expensive to some, but bear in mind that admission needs to cover the cost to book all these high-profile chefs and bartenders. If you want to play with the best, you have to put in like the rest.
