If there's something we learned at Jeremiah Bullfrogs P.I.G. 5 is that chefs love to cook pork. They also love those who like to eat pork, which was the case with the 250-plus swine aficionados who congregated at Brisky Gallery in Wynwood Sunday for an afternoon of pig eating, beer drinking, and rubbing shoulders with some of the city's top toques.
Even chefs enjoying their day off came by to show support, like Aaron Brooks from Edge Steak & Bar, who brought the whole family out for a porky Sunday funday.
See also: Jeremiah Bullfrog's P.I.G. 5 This Sunday: Limitless Pork From Miami's Best Chefs
You don't usually expect to walk into a gallery and find this set-up (kudos for the whiskey), unless of course Dexter is in the house. Or a pig butcher.
Which there was and went to town with said pig. You can't really tell, but he's doing work on the eye right here.
Brisky Gallery proffered the perfect outdoor setting for a pig feast.
Cafe Boulud made the trip down from West Palm Beach to give Miami a taste of their bacon jam with polenta cheese atop a homemade ritz cracker with pickles and watermelon rye. If that sounds amazing it's because it was.
Cafe Boulud again, this time with a tantalizing blood sausage sitting on heirloom grits and black-eyed peas.
J. Wakefield was on site with six kegs giving locals a taste of what's soon to come next door at his brewery. By the days end, Wakefield successfully ran out of beer. The maple bacon coffee porter, made specifically for the pork festivities, was a hit.
Todd Erickson from Haven served up pork liver mousse with pickled pumpkin and shallots on country toast with blackberry jam.
Someone had to make pork rinds. That someone was Eating House chef and owner Giorgio Rapicavoli who braised the pork in vanilla and cinnamon before frying and coating the damn thing with pumpkin pie-spiced sugar. It was served with vanilla salted caramel and pumpkin custard for dipping.
Brad Kilgore took things up a notch with a pork rangoon that was perfectly golden and filled with smoked mushrooms, creamed cheese, and spicy mustard.
Ms. Cheezious was grilling pork ribs to order and serving them with local corn, bacon, and blue cheese salad.
Jamie DeRosa from Tongue & Cheek served peashoot basil spaghetti laden with braised pork shank, smoked anchovy aioli, and pickled veggies. It washed down nicely with his other offering: a bacon old fashioned.
True to form, Macchialina kept it classically Italian with pasta. Michael Pirolo's shredded pork cavatelli with tomato sauce was smoky and spicy all at once, making for one of the best bites of the evening.
My personal favorite, however, was the Dutch's rotisserie stuffed baby pig with bacon, foie gras, celery roots, and butternut squash served with mixed greens, turnips, and orange compressed apples. It was greatness on a plate.
Not pictured, William Crandall from Azul served an equally creative and unexpected take on cortadito. His "cortadito de puerco" was more of a light pork broth spiced with licorice, apples, corn, and Aleppo chili (a Middle Eastern spice).
For dessert, The Dutch's pastry wizard Josh Gripper had his crew banging out pork fat doughnuts with caramel and raspberry.
They were also making funnel cakes to order. Just like fair food, only a gazillion times better.
Jeremiah Bullfrog held it down in the newly unveiled GastroPod fort, providing support to fellow chefs with whatever they needed for P.I.G. 5.
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