Tacos With Kobayashi

The upcoming taco eating championship this Saturday is drawing a lot of controversy. The second annual Kobayashi Taco Challenge in Huntington Beach (Chronic Tacos) is criticized for being a lop-sided contest. It's hard to dispute that point.
Takeru Kobayashi, as defending champion, faces little threat from the field joining him in competition. His most famed and arguably accomplished rival will be "Furious" Pete Czerwinski. Despite their several clashes in recent years, Pete hasn't come close to besting Koby yet.

The rest of the field is rounded out by Southern California regulars and one eater traveling a medium distance. Damon Wells, Shawn Kirby, Jimmy Lin, Frank Paulin, Aaron Ybarra, Matt Cohen, John Rivera, and I form a collegial group of locals who routinety participate in contests. None of us is expected to touch Koby's numbers.

Even Stephanie Torres, the lone female eater, All Pro Eating's top-ranked woman, and winner of a recent string of contests, isn't expected to threaten "The Tsunami." Among the rest of us it is a race for second, third, and fourth. The press release didn't mention prizes or other eaters because those details probably hadn't been finalized at the time (I've been in contact with promoters).

Some criticize the rest of the table as punching bags for Kobayashi, a skilled man who simply can't find legitimate competition outside of Major League Eating. I'd respond that only one man in the world offers Koby decent competition, and there's no way for them to compete.

I'd also respond that most of MLE's roster serves as punching bags for Joey Chestnut, a man who dominates the sport and rarely loses. Only Pat Bertoletti routinely threatens Chestnut and even then rarely beats him. In the world of All Pro, Eric Dahl typically the contests he's in. And of course, in WLOCE Dale Boone is the big impact player who trounces the opposition.

So, why do the rest of us share the table with such dominant speed eaters? There's the thrill of competition, the adrenaline rush of the stage, the specter that these events are helping develop the sport of competitive eating, and that participating in these events gives them public legitimacy. You need a dominator like Kobayashi to help bring massive attention to an event.

We could always boycott the event. But if I had to pick between eating lunch at home, and eating lunch on a stage with Kobayashi in front of a crowd, the choice isn't hard. I certainly won't gain anything by staying at home. The event is happening anyway. Kobayashi is entertaining a waiting, captive audience and he will get paid. The rest of us may as well get what we can from it.

Veterans and critics within the competitive eating bubble may condemn what Koby does, but the general public will always remember him as the face of the game - the man who doubled the Nathans hot dog total in 2001 and had the bravado to battle a bear.

First Oregon Trail: Part 4

Here lies the final day of the first installment of "Oregon Mania" 2012. Four days, four challenges in the state of Oregon.

The main event, fittingly, was reserved for the last day. I would be visiting Church St Pizza with Aaron Wakamatsu and taking on a brand new pizza challenge. Aaron knew the owner of the shop and they had been discussing ideas for a challenge for some time. What they agreed upon was a true monster: a 28" pie with quadrants representing the four most popular pizza options they sold.

The total product weighed at least 12 lbs. There was a lot of meat on the pizza. One section was vegetarian, but even that one was stacked high with mushrooms and spinach.

The challenge rules were straightforward. I'd have 90 minutes to eat the whole pizza, crumbs and all, or I'd owe the shop $100. That was a bit costlier than most similar challenges. I thought there was definitely a bit of the wager element going on here.

But before I could fight my way across 12 lbs of pizza, Aaron had to contend with an incredibly spicy pizza. It was spicy as it was, but not enough for the "Spicochist." He added a number of hot sauces and pepper extracts, even complementing his beverages with them. Aaron won but it was a painful and pyrrhic victory.



It was a struggle all right. Things were okay in the beginning, as they usually are. I started strong and finished half in about 14 minutes. Then I became increasingly sluggish. The fuller you get, the slower you go, and I finally eked out the completion mark at 73 minutes. Sweet relief. No need to shell out $100.

Oregon Mania I was a complete success. All four challenges done, and a lot of other good food sampled. Aaron and I already began talking about a second Oregon Mania challenge adventure, which materialized late July. I'll be blogging about that soon.

Aaron also produced two videos commemorating the challenges/stunts we participated in over Oregon Mania and they're linked here.

The first trip was incredible. The second trip would be even bigger and bolder than the first!





Special Announcement: New YouTube Channel

The announcement was already made on social media outlets, but I'll include it here too. I have a new YouTube channel entitled "Freak Eating." This channel will feature greater organization than my last one. The focus will be upon series of challenges, typically ones I do with or against other eating channels.

Material from my old channel will be ported over. Eventually, the old channel will be retired. It became incredibly cluttered with many random videos and not much direction.

Hopefully people who enjoyed my old channel and videos come over and subscribe to the new ones. There's no plan on stopping what I'm doing. I look forward to many hundreds of videos to come. Stay tuned as I eat like a freak.

First Oregon Trail: Day 3

The third day of Oregon Mania (a play on the annual WWE wrestling event) saw us take the pace down just a bit. We returned to Salem for a stop at Odd Moe's Pizza. This is the location off Lancaster. Owner Michael Sublett knew Aaron Wakamatsu well, heard of my eating antics, and wanted to design a challenge that I would inaugurate.

I remember it was a cool, overcast day. We arrived at the pizza place early, but there was confusion over meeting times. Michael greeted us in the kitchen, talked to us about his restaurant and cooking experiences, and generally seemed very enthusiastic about competitive eating and eating challenges. He was familiar with many of my YouTube videos too.

Odd Moe's Pizza already offered the Suicide Squeeze Wing Challenge, which was your standard hot wing challenge. Eat some chicken wings doused in Trinidad Moruga and Ghost chili sauces without water to get your name on the wall of fame.

Well, I wouldn't be getting away so easily. My challenge would include the 12 Trinidad Scorpion wings, but alongside it I'd also have a medium pizza loaded with toppings and a pint of ice cream. My task was to eat it as quickly as possible and set a house record for future champions to beat.

Michael called it the Triple Play Challenge, in keeping with the baseball theme present with the "Squeeze" wing challenge.

I needed 11 minutes, which became the standing record. For a new challenger to claim victory, they'll need to eat the whole challenge faster than 11 minutes. It's probably around 4 lbs of food total. The pizza was well-cooked, saucy, and the toppings were interesting. The wings were incredibly hot but the burn didn't sink in for several minutes. The ice cream at the end was very enjoyable.

I earned a spot on the wall of fame for my new record. It wasn't a very large meal, but we wanted to include Odd Moe's on our Oregon Mania journey and things worked out well. Owner Michael Sublett was thrilled we stopped by. So much so, that he gave me two bottles of hot sauce and some Mountain Dew as a parting gift.

First Oregon Trail: Day Two

The morning after eating 7 lbs of chicken was difficult. Thankfully Salem, OR has a 24 Hour Fitness location and I was able to energize my body with a strong cardiovascular workout.

An energy drink helped jolt my body as well. The original plans for Day Two included tackling the 11 lb Greek Deli Challenge at the Mad Greek Deli in Portland, but those plans had to be scrapped. Turns out the challenge needs at least 3 days' notice and the presence of the owner. That wouldn't be possible on this journey. I negotiated with both locations to no avail.

So, it was time to find some replacement challenges. The first stop on the dock was Voodoo Doughtnut Two, in Portland. I went with Aaron Wakamatsu and I ate their 1 lb Texass Dougnut. Though there is an 80 second challenge attached to it, I opted to simply eat it for fun and without liquid. Aaron decided to eat a very spicy Voodoo doll.



It was a little harder than I might have believed, but delicious. Aaron entertained many of the customers there with his spicy antics.

After that, we decided to sample the 5 lb Poutine Challenge at the Original Dinerant in Portland. I'd never eaten poutine before, but as I described it later - it was like chili cheese fries but with gravy instead of chili. They served it on a butcher's block for presentation purposes. I wasn't sure how to approach it, but decided to be neat and use a fork.

The staff told me that there were 2 or 3 previous victors. You get 30 minutes to devour the entire dish, but I needed fewer than nine. By all measures that was a new record. My method was simple, taking manageable bites and using warm water to chase them down. Probably the most comical moment came when the server realized that I hadn't signed a waiver, and stopped me mid-challenge to put my signature to it. That was about 7 minutes in, and though it messed with my rhythm did not ruin the spirit of the endeavor. What a tasty meal, by the way.



Aaron didn't opt for poutine, but instead sampled their spicy peanut butter ice cream (they have over a dozen flavors on the menu at any time). Of course, "The Spicochist" didn't find it hot enough so he embellished it with his own sauces.

Most people might be satisfied with a huge doughnut and a crazy poutine record. We decided that day two of "Oregon Mania" needed something a bit different to cap it off. Aaron, master of spice and interesting restaurants, led me to a place we discussed many times... Salt N Straw Ice Cream, also in downtown Portland.

My captivation with the place stemmed from one of the seasonal flavors: Sweet Heat Apricot Ice Cream, featuring candied scotch bonnet peppers. Wow! How often do you find ice cream with peppers in it? I'd only ever heard of such a thing. Never saw it up close, so I chose to buy a whole pint and make my own challenge out of it.



Aaron went for a normal serving and spiced it up to hell, as you can observe in the video. My portion - though mildly insane - allowed me to enjoy the magic of candied peppers. The sugar completely neutralized the heat and all I felt was a mild spark here and there. On the other hand, the apricot flavor was sweet and delectable. I almost wish they had a gallon bucket available.

The biggest challenge was using a plastic spoon to eat rock solid ice cream. Well... I struggled mightily but found an alternative plan. It was a great choice overall, and a nice way to end the second day of an epic trip.

First Oregon Trail: Day One

Over Memorial Day weekend (May 2012), I made my first "eating challenge" trip to Oregon. I met up with food blogger and spice master Aaron Wakamatsu. We traveled between Corvallis, Salem, and Portland, documenting a 4-day challenge march that culminated in four successful restaurant challenges and lots of food besides.

Day One saw me visit "Burrito Boy" in Eugene and eat their 1.25+ lb lengua burrito for fun, which I followed up with a successful 7 lb Lucky Seven Chicken Dinner at China Blue in Corvallis (with a prize pot that paid for my whole journey). We capped things off with a cookie covered in some of Aaron's hottest sauces that he carries around whenever he eats.



A very promising first day. The chicken dinner was the hardest part, and toward the end it was a struggle to get through. Too much protein. Chewing, water, and just forcing it down. At least I had fuel for the for the gym the next morning.

Salt N Straw

Salt N Straw is a small ice cream shop located in downtown Portland (Oregon). I know they have another location, and operate a truck, but my experience is localized to this one store.

My visit came over Memorial Day weekend, on the same day that I tackled the huge Texass doughnut and handled a 5 lb poutine challenge in record time. This was a dessert of sorts. They have lots of unique flavors, including temporary and seasonal ones. I went with Aaron "The Spicochist" Wakamatsu, food blogger and lover of all things spicy. 

We were there to sample the hottest flavor on the menu. Even ice cream can get hot. Titled "Sweet Heat," it was an apricot flavor with candied chunks of Scotch Bonnet peppers mixed in. Aaron bought a sensible portion while I opted for a whole quart ($8).

There's no knocking the taste or quality of the ice cream here. It stood up to, and defeated, some of my best previous experiences. The apricot flavor was spot on and strong. The heat of the peppers, however, was entirely muted by the candying process.

Sugar and dairy tend to neutralize the effect of capsaicin, so no surprise. I wanted a kick in the mouth. This turned to be more of a novelty. Still, it was one I enjoyed - though I'd recommend getting a more pedestrian flavor to see what this shop is really capable of.

July is National Ice Cream Month. Why not reflect on this one past experience?

Pizza Hut $6 Buffet

This offer's been available for years, but until last week it escaped me. A recent drive to Yucca Valley convinced me to change my mind, especially since it was over 100 degrees outside and my car's A/C fan stopped working. I needed to stay indoors awhile. And come on, it's Pizza Hut!

The basic propostion is simple. $6 covers unlimited access to all the pizza, salad, pasta, dessert (pudding and pizza) you could want. A drink is included so it's a great deal. It's a better bargain than KFC's $10 buffet in Banning though there you have more options overall and way more protein.

As far as pizza quality goes, my gut feeling is the buffet stuff is only slightly less tasty than the usual made to order pies. I detected two types of crust: thin and dusted with oil, and a thicker buttery crust. Both were enjoyable though the thinner crust would allow you to eat a lot more in one sitting.

They have 8 pizzas sitting in the station at one time. They alternate between 6 different types of pizza, it felt like, depending on customer request and actual demand. The only downside to this type of buffet are the slow moments when people aren't eating much and the food on the tray is getting old and cold. In terms of taste, I'd compare the Pizza Hut lunch buffet to Cici's Pizza. I prefer Cici's because they have more pies available at one time, more dessert pizzas, and their offer for all-you-can eat stands all day.

20 slices of pizza for $6 is an unbeatable deal. That seems to equate about two medium pizzas, and that more than sufficed for my food needs for the whole rest of the day. It also provided great fodder for my blog, which has gone lonely lately. It's nice to have something new to write about.

A Necessary Correction

Last Sunday, at the 3rd annual Farrell's Ice Cream Eating Challenge, we witnessed the debut of the Professional Eaters' category.

I misreported the finish of that illustrious 7-man race. Though prizes were only offered to the top 3 finishers (Wells, Reda, Koch), all of the other eaters continued to plow until time was called for Ron Koch.

Shawn Kirby, Matt Cohen, Kevin Ross, and Frank Paulin all ate to the very last moment. Words chosen in the last blog entry incorrectly implied that some of the food warriors gave up early. Competitive eaters have more heart than that. They have more stomach too.

In particular, a couple sentences suggest that Matt Cohen stopped eating early. That wasn't true. Matt finished more ice cream than some of his competitors to boot. Came across a couple high resolution photos (taken by Pablo Martinez) late in the contest showing that the "Sweet Tooth" battled to the end. I'm sorry for my mistake. In the future I will work harder to write more dilligent posts.

Looking forward to the next "sweet, dairy, and cold" contest in Southern California. Will Red Cup bring back a fourth installment of the Gallon Froyo Challenge?

Farrell's 2012 Recap

Farrell's Ice Cream Eating Championship concluded its third annual installment yesterday. The contest was hosted at the Brea location and featured a stage. As an event, it can't yet compete with larger productions but it's certainly getting there.

This was the first year that the contest featured a "Professional Eaters" division. Damon Wells, Kevin Ross, Matt Cohen, Frank Paulin, Ron Koch, Shawn Kirby and I filled the chairs of this brand new division and we represented it well.

Matt "Sweet Tooth" Cohen, last year's Men's Champion

Previous years did not have a "Professional" division. The seperate Men's and Women's championships were decided by whomever could finish a 6-scoop Pig's Trough the fastest. This year, pros qualified for their special section by eating the Pig's Trough. I ate it several times for various promotional events, and my best times were 1:30 and 1:45.

At the championship, each eater would be responsible for tearing through a 5.5+ lb Zoo Sundae. This mammoth dessert comes in a huge bowl and packs in standard scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream along with different types of sherbert and whipped cream.

Things change when you go from eating a 6-scoop sundae to a bowl holding 30 scoops. The contest goes from one favoring short-gamers to people who eat for the long haul. Additionally, ice cream is a difficult contest food. Sweet, dairy, and cold isn't for everyone, but it's one of my best. I knew this would be close.

Damon Wells, your champion. He finished in 6 minutes and 2 seconds

The contest was staged under first-to-finish rules. We were provided with warm water and coffee at our discretion. They gave us short introductions, and before long we were off. Chugging away like madmen starving for dairy.

Damon Wells and I stood next to each other at the center of the contest stage. Matt Cohen really deserved center stage because he was last year's champ, but they decided to give us the spots because we had the fastest qualifer times (1:45 and 1:44 respectively - edge to Damon). The newly independent Wells gave me a run for my money, and I did my part to push the hell out of him.

When the smoke cleared, Damon froze his mouth to a jaw dropping win at 6:02. That's nearly 6 lbs of ice cream in six minutes... the rest of us paused a second, but remembering there were prizes for second and third place, plowed on. I finished my bowl at 7:17, marking my first contest finish ahead of Ron Koch. Ron finished maybe 20-30 seconds later.

No one else finished their bowls at that point, and I can't really blame them. There was nothing else up for grabs. Ouch and ouch. My teeth and mouth were stone cold at the end, and I didn't realize it until we stopped eating. Cohen stopped eating minutes before, and Kevin Ross stopped with about a pound to go. This was my first finish ahead of Kevin in a non-hot dog eating contest. Ice cream's definitely not his food of choice, but it was his birthday and a hell of a way to celebrate. I know he'll slaughter me (not literally) the next time we meet.

Shawn Kirby stood at my left. One enthusiastic soul.



Frank Paulin came hungry and left happy

The view from the stage is incredible

Took second place, finishing in 7 minutes and 17 seconds.

Until next year! Yum!

Chili Fries En Masse

The picture does not do the plate justice. This "appetizer" at Heroes Bar & Grill in Fullerton, CA easily approaches 4 lbs. Most servers try to convince you order the half-size. At $11.95, it's a bargain for sensible diners who decide to share their food.

It's not an official eating challenge. Not yet, at least.

Two Sundays ago, Pablo Martinez and I converged upon Heroes to knock out their 6-pancake challenge in short order. We ended up splitting the leftovers of this platter after our challenges. Video coming shortly.

Farrell's 2012 Professional Eater's Contest

On July 15, Farrell's Ice Cream Parlours will bring back its annual Ice Cream Challenge for the third time. The event will be staged in Downtown Brea, along Birch Street. It will last all day and include community events.

For eaters, the actual event should be described as a contest. There will be a stage and several divisions in contention. The winner of each division will win a trophy and a year's supply of ice cream.

However, things are a little bit different when it comes to the brand new professional eaters' division. I discussed different ideas with Farrell's marketing team for months and, along with Matt Cohen, we finally came up with the current format.

Left: I hold all 3 ribbons signifying my prior completion of all 3 "Bellybuster" sundaes, making me a Triple Crown Champion. Right: Matt Cohen hoists the 2011 Men's Trophy

To qualify as a professional eater you'd need to consume a Pig's Trough (6-scoop sundae) in the fastest time possible. The 8 quickest qualifier times would then take on the 6 lb, 30 scoop Zoo Sundae at the final. Whoever finishes their Zoo first will win $500 and a year's worth of free ice cream.

So far, three people have qualified for the professional eater's division: Damon Wells, Kevin Ross, and myself. Matt Cohen (last year's men's champion) will qualify this Thursday night at a special event in the Mission Viejo location. Anyone else who wants to play has until July 5 to qualify for any division. You can stop by any location in Southern California to do so.

A Freak will also be appearing at the special event Thursday night in Mission Viejo. Cohen and I will be participating in a special radio broadcast with Tim Conway. My role is part of a donation fundraiser, in which donors give cash and guess my finish times on all 3 Bellybuster sundaes (basically all 6-scoop sundaes). The donors who most closely guess my times will win prizes.

The final event will benefit Children Hospital of Orange County and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hopefully more people come out and eat for a cause. The pro division still has four empty slots!

(En)grossing Thoughts

Probably some of the most disgusting pictures I've come across are the "after" shots. The ones we take of finished plates. It's an attempt to prove that the meal was really eaten and not merely thrown over the shoulder. It's kind of feeble. Before I resorted to video it made sense. Now it's kind of gross.

What does a tray full of sauce and grease really prove anyway? Obviously a tray full of wing bones and empty ice cream containers don't prove anything. They're good to tack onto the end of a video, but that's it.

And who the Hell smiles after eating 7+ lbs of chicken? That's gotta be the world's second fakest smile.

Because this is the world's first fakest smile, taken after eating 12 lbs of pizza. In the future I'm going to opt for a more realistic post-game pose. Yes, an eating challenge is about winning. I don't need to look like I climbed a mountain, all triumphant and such.

When it's all over, it really feels like a mountain climbed you. And that's nothing to smile about.