Sweet in San Diego

The Cravory hosted its inaugural Cookie Eating Championship this past Sunday (February 13) at the Hillcrest Farmers' Market in San Diego.

Parking was absolutely terrible. You can't fault the event promoters for that. The city needs to address the reality that the area needs more parking for its popular weekend farmers' market scene. It took me 45 minutes to find a spot, and even then I had to trek a half-mile on foot.

Festivities were set to start at noon. I was a bit late, but luckily they waited for me. The Cravory provided us with 50 cookies divided into 4 flavors.

14 Red Velvet - red cookies with white chocolate chips. Really dense.
12 Peanut Butter Overload - really dense and chunky.
12 Birthday Cake - light, but covered in frosting and sprinkles
12 Pancakes & Bacon - crunchy, according to Matt Cohen. I didn't eat one.

The competition was fierce. Mario and Cindy participated as local heroes, but Johnnie Excel and Matt Cohen are no strangers to the table. Matt established a string of first-place finishes the last couple years in indy contests. He is a dangerous force in very short sprints.

Excel had a breakout debut year in 2010. His victories in independent contests and challenges has been nothing short of noteworthy. He is a strong eater with no clear weaknesses.

We were given 10 minutes to eat as many cookies as we could. I don't usually participate in speed contests, but it was cookies! This would be sweet. I do well with sugars and how often do you get to chow down on designer cookies for free?

The contest got started before any of us really realized it. We were given two dunking cups full of water, and the judge refilled them as needed during the ten minutes.

These cookies didn't soak very well. The Red Velvet was particularly difficult to get down. At the two minute mark, Excel had a lead of at least 5-6 cookies. Damn this guy was quick! He never really slowed down. I pushed myself hard for the remainder of the contest.

The Top 3: Johnnie Excel with 28 cookies, 24 for me, and 18 for Matt Cohen.


This was a great improvement for me, in terms of speed eating. I got pretty close to Excel. He's no joke. He's got a great CE future ahead of him.

The local eaters, Mario and Cindy, tied for 4th place with 12 cookies each. I gotta pay them my respects for getting involved in this craziness. Sweet, sweet craziness.

Matt Cohen enjoyed the contest, but I believe he had an off-day. They don't call him the "Sweet Tooth" for nothing!

If you find yourself craving some cookies, you need to check out the Cravory. They have some great food and put on a good show. Can't wait 'til their next cookie championship!