I thought this guy was the WTF chef of the week, until I found out about this guy at a Cochon 555 event last weekend:
"According to multiple witnesses, (Eric) Bechard, now the chef/co-owner of the lauded new Thistle restaurant in McMinnville, Ore., started a fistfight with Cochon 555 founder Brady Lowe outside Magic Garden, an Old Town strip joint. Earlier in the evening he also headbutted Elk Cove Vineyard’s Craig Hedstrom before being dragged out of the Cochon 555 afterparty at Davis Street Tavern by none other than notorious chef Tom Hurley.
"Apparently, Bechard, an attendee at the food event, was angry that Lowe had allowed a pig from Iowa (the winning pig, in fact) to be used as part of the Portland Cochon 555 competition."
My question is: What is wrong with pigs from Iowa?! And how could it make this chef sooooo angry that he headbutted a guy? The entire story is recounted here in the Willamette Week.
Cochon 555 came to Chicago last year, but this Chicagoist account gives a much tamer perspective than the one that just went down in Oregon.
These two guys, Bechard and Lowe, must have really gotten into it at that party. They both went to jail, and got pretty scratched up. Peep the mugshots here and here.
Damn. I was in Portland for IACP a couple week's ago and had a glorious pig feast courtesy of Bechard and the Thistle team. Legitimately one of the best meals I've had this year. He seemed pleasant enough and I'm sad to hear he's a bit of a drama queen or at best a belligerent bacon drunk.
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