A blog entry on the Calgary Herald’s website says that the San Jose Stealth of the National Lacrosse League will have Joey Chestnut compete in a macaroni & cheese eating contest. The Stealth’s schedule page has details about that event which will take place on February 21:

Major League Eating Contest. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut to compete against fans to see who eats the most Mac & Cheese.

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, the top competitive eater in the world, and local hero to compete against fans to see who eats the most Mac & Cheese.

The first 3000 fans will receive a Joey Chestnut bobblehead. No registration information is listed.

The Stealth’s opponent on February 21 will be the Colorado Mammoth, which hosted the KBPI Wing Bowl yesterday. If anyone has results from that contest, please list them in the comments.

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Kobayashi announces in his latest blog entry that he had difficulty with his jaw during his attempt to break the IFOCE fruitcake record in New York City on December 26. A section of the blog translated by Google follows:

In deciding to eat is not prepared to break the jaw

And there was a conflict while eating.

I do believe that can be! And so it is

The embarrassing truth is conflict.

Food was like clay.

To assert that the food is bad for the jaw before.

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The food locations list on the official Man v. Food page has been updated with restaurant information and broadcast dates for the episodes which will air through March 18 (See the list on the Travel Channel’s website for the non-challenge restaurants) :

• New Orleans, NO Jan. 28
  Challenge: 15 Dozen Club at the Acme Oyster House
• Portland, OR Feb. 4
  Challenge: Great Balls of Fire (habanero chili cheese fritters) Challenge at Salvador Molly’s
• Seattle, WA Feb. 11
  Challenge: The Southwestern Exposure 12 egg omelet at Beth’s Cafe
• Los Angeles, CA Feb. 18
  Challenge: The Special Number 2 at Orochon Ramen
• San Jose, CA Feb. 25
  Challenge: The 911 (Hot Wing) Challenge at Smoke Eaters
• St. Louis, MO March 4
  Challenge: The Malt Milkshake at Crown Candy Kitchen
• Denver, CO March 11
  Challenge: The 7 pound Breakfast Burrito at Jack-N-Grill
• Raleigh-Durham, NC March 18
  Challenge: Hot Dogger (15 hot dogs) Eating Challenge at The Roast Grill.

All of the above episodes have been filmed, except for the North Carolina episode The Minnesota episode, which is expected to be filmed in early February, was not listed.

RockyMountainNews has a report (contains spoilers) on Adam Richman’s attempt at the 7 pound burrito. 9 News has a preview of the filming with a lot of comments.

BlogCritics.org calls Man v. Food “the best thing on television”

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Badlands Booker’s myspace says that the episode of Wife Swap in which Regina Booker and female boxer Jennifer Alcorn swapped families will be rerun on Tuesday January 27 at 5 pm eastern on Lifetime.

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La Sanbe has a blog entry commenting on an article from elmanana.com.mx about the Jalapeño Festival that will take place in Laredo, Texas on February 20 & 21 which mentions the eating contest where Pat Bertoletti holds the record of 266 peppers in 15 minutes:

One issue of concern, though, is that participants for the jalapeño eating contest are not being solicited via the Food Network website as was done last year. Organizers want the contest represented more by locals. Great. So now we’re lowering the standards of our recreational activities too. Way to go Laredo.

The Spanish paragraph about the contest and its translation by Google follows:

Para la competencia de Jalapeño de esta edición, ya no se anunciará en internet, como se hizo el año pasado en la página de la Food Network, pues se quiere que los participantes sean locales, ya que es un festival de Laredo.

Jalapeño competition for this edition is no longer advertised on the internet, as it did last year at the site of the Food Network, as it is to the participants are local, as it is a festival of Laredo.

If the Laredo jalapeño contest is not affiliated with IFOCE in 2009, there could be a 4+ month gap between contests since the last IFOCE contest was the Battle at the Big Apple World Pizza Eating Championship in Fort Pierce, Florida on November 8.

The Stockton Asparagus Festival’s website announces that the contest on April 25 will have IFOCE eaters, so that will break the drought at 5.5 months if no other contests take place before it.

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The San Jose Mercury reports that Bear Silber purchased Pizza Party (formerly Pizza and Pipes) restaurant. Silber finished the restaurant’s Belly Buster Pizza challenge in December 2006 with a time of 38 minutes. (Joey Chestnut completed the pizza four days later with a time of 15 minutes.

In other San Jose news, one of the Man vs. Food sites was SmokeEaters (former University Chicken) and Adam Richman tried the Hellfire Challenge there.

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The third episode of Quest for the Golden Hot Dog is now available on youtube where it has the following caption:

Ron “The Legend” Wilton (Ron Lynch), 6-time Golden Hot Dog Champion, and Rick “The Voice” Rogers (Dave Anthony) announce the start of the Golden Hot Dog Invitational in Strawberry Fields, CA. Hot dogs are mashed into mouths, time is up, and a winner is declared. Or is it?!

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NewRaleigh.com has information about the three Raleigh-Durham restaurants where Man vs. Food will film on January 27: Mama Dips (Chapel Hill), The Pit (Raleigh) and The Roast Grill (Raleigh). Adam Richman will attempt to eat 15 hot dogs, 15 buns, a half pint of mustard, one pint of chili sauce, and three drinks at The Roast Grill, which does not appear to have an official eating challenge.

In other Raleigh televised competitive eating news, a twitter update says that the Krispy Kreme Challenge on February 7 will be covered by ESPN.

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• This week’s Philly.com Wing Bowl column profiles John “Stormin Norman” Tiska and Rick “The Manager” Russo
• Delco Times wants to hear from Wing Bowl fans & contestants
• Video of Joey Chestnut vs. Pack 340 leader
• Video of Boston crepe eating contest
• Billy the Fridge to have a donut eating contest at his Fantasy Freak Show CD release party February 26
• Buffet ejection contest in Louisana (make sure to read the last line)

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A livejournal blog entry reports that a woman (not named) currently holds the top mark of 17 hot dogs in 90 minutes on the Wall of Fame at Spike’s Junkyard Dogs in Somerville (Boston). A eyewitness to the record attempt comments the new record holder was the previous record holder whose mark of 14 was broken when her husband ate 16. If that is the case, the LeFevres might have company in the ranks of competitive eating couples.

Another commenter says he encountered the record holder at Spike’s while another diner was attempting to exceed her total and she said “I hope you know that if you break the record I’ll just come in and rebreak it tomorrow.”

It is possible that the record reclamation was a response to the recent record attempt video posted on igreggor.com, but 15 hot dogs were consumed in that attempt and the previous record was 16 (each Spike’s location maintains its own record.)

An eatfeats post from November 2007 has a picture of a previous female record holder at Spike’s (who might be the current “top dog” as well)

update A 2+2 forum thread documents a 2007 trip to Spike’s. While the diners attempted to eat 6 or more hot dogs to get on the “Kennel Club”, the holder of the record (which was then 13 hot dogs) entered the restaurant and was photographed (picture on right).

Someone who has met the record holder describes her as “pretty cool, but amazingly tiny, like a white female version of Kobayashi.”

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The new polls ask who you think are the top male and female competitive eaters of the previous year.

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• Asparagus contest at the Stockton, CA Asparagus festival returns April 25
• Video of Pat Bertoletti completing a 29 inch pizza in 34 minutes without assistance. The pizza is probably from Barlo’s Pizza in Indianapolis
• Man vs. Food Merchandise page with 3 t-shirts and a food journal (The graphic on the right is one of the t-shirt designs)
• The LA Times reports that the Los Angeles challenge on Man vs. Food will be the spicy ramen called Special #2 at Orochon Ramen and the other foods will be the French Dip sandwich at Phillipe the Original and the Manuel Special burrito at El Tepeyac
• The Cherry Cricket will be another Denver Man vs. Food location
• ESPN.com clip of Kobayashi’s fruitcake record clip
• Chicago chili contest January 31
• Pie eating contest on UK Big Brother in honor of Obama’s inauguration

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An extended version of the commercial where Peyton and Eli Manning face off against Serena and Venus Williams is available on youtube. Peyton’s number is 8 and not the 18 he wears for the Indianapolis Colts.

I wonder if the creators of the ad were trying to reference the movie Black Sunday, in which terrorists use the Goodyear blimp to attempt an attack on the Super Bowl.

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Commercial co-starring Adam Richman’s mother, facebook gallery

Facebook photo gallery

Restaurants

• Brick Lane Curry House Challenge Restaurant
  Home Page – Reviews: Citysearch, Yelp
  Serious Eats blog entry about Phall of Fame curry challenge attempt
• Katz’ Deli
  Home Page – Reviews: Citysearch, Yelp
• Sylvia’s
  Home Page – Reviews: Citysearch, Yelp

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The Brooklyn Papers has an article about about the possible effects of the Coney Island rezoning plans on the original Nathan’s location:

The beloved frankfurter franchise — which has stood on the corner Surf and Stillwell avenues since 1916 — is a possible casualty of the controversial plan because it sits on land whose value could soar after a rezoning opens it up to development.

“[Nathan’s is] assumed to be replaced under the proposed actions with a new building, containing hotel, amusement, retail and enhancing uses,” according to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which was posted online by the city on Friday afternoon, but not announced until the Department of City Planning distributed a press release that is embargoed until Tuesday morning.

ConeyIsland.com has a forum thread about the article.

Building a tower on top of the original Nathan’s building was mentioned as another post-rezoning possibility last February.

update The NY Post has an article and curbed.com has a blog entry containing a statement from Nathan’s CEO Eric Gatoff:

Nathan’s Famous supports all efforts to revitalize Coney Island. We remain committed to Coney Island in the long-term and we fully intend to maintain our historic flagship restaurant at 1310 Surf Avenue, which has been the heart of the company since it was established in 1916.

As to the latest report issued by the City, we believe the information relating to Nathan’s Famous is being misinterpreted and that there is no intention to replace or demolish our flagship location. In fact, the Coney Island Development Corporation’s own drawings of its intended redevelopment continue to show Nathan’s Famous in the same location on which it has stood for 93 years, on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues, at the front door to the ‘People’s Playground.

update #2 The Brooklyn Paper has another article which points out that Nathan’s did not rule out replacing the existing Nathan’s restaurant on Surf & Stillwell with a completely new building.

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Westword has information about the two Travel Channel programs recording at Jack n Grill in Denver this week:

Today at lunchtime, a film crew from the Travel Channel’s new show, Extreme Places to Pig-Out, will be at the restaurant filming fans’ attempts to down the big burrito. And on Thursday, January 22, Adam Richman, host of the channel’s Man v. Food, will be back at Jack-n-Grill at noon, taking on the seven-pounder himself.

In other Denver news, Skinnyboy has a blog entry about the final KBPI Wing Bowl qualifier.

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• Beautiful Brian wants to know who will stop the Shea Stadium rain
• Rice and Bean Pot burrito eating contest at Boston area colleges starts January 27
• Nacho eating contest in Paul Blart: Mall Cop
• Questions about performance enhancing substances in competitive eating
• Picture of 29 inch pizza at American Pie Pizza in Florida
• Oyster Bowl X to award 4 Night All Inclusive Trip to Cancun or Punta Cana for two Adults
• Hot dog eating contest in Hong Kong
• A youtube page by “Kobayashi”
• Don Lerman has resumed competitive eating posts on mosesnews.com
• Olivia Wilde of House MD once ate 33 pancakes in 20 minutes to win an eating contest – interview video (from Sebastian Walters)

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Andrew Zimmern’s blog for MSP Magazine reports that Man vs. Food will be filming in Minneapolis / St. Paul from February 5 to 8. Restaurant locations are not listed, but one of the foods will be a juicy Lucy burger.

A UNC scout.com forum thread has the following information about Raleigh / Durham locations:

I have a friend that is a producer on the show and they are coming to Chapel Hill/Durham for a show. Thus far they have chosen the Roast Grill (hot dogs) and The Pit for barbeque and they are thinking about Mama Dip’s but are worried that the portions are not big enough.

They looked at Sutton’s and Time Out but they were too small and didn’t have large enough portions. THe sad thing about the area is that the food that is true to North Carolina doesn’t usually come in a challenge type of serving.

A twitter update from December says that Man vs. Food will record at the Roast Grill sometime in January.

The Krispy Kreme Challenge appeared to be a possibility for the North Carolina challenge, but Man vs. Food will be in Minnesota on the February 7 race date.

update BeautifulBrian.com has a review and a clip from Man vs. Food

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“Super” Paul Barlow has uploaded some clips from his 14th and 15th auditions for Survivor to his youtube page.

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Several clips of Joey Chestnut’s appearance on Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? last month are available on youtube

• Introduction
• 5 hot dogs in 30 seconds
• pulled pork exhibition

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• Kobayashi has a blog entry about Cookie Jarvis and his jacket
• AICE Blue Baker World Cookie Eating Championship in College Station, TX on April 4, $1500 purse
• Bacon Eating contest at second Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival (Des Moines) February 28
• Pizza Eating contest at Carolina (Raleigh) Rollergirls roller derby match on January 24
• Youtube page for Joel “The Cannon” Podelsky’s contests

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Pat Bertoletti commented that he ate the 5 pound Burritozilla at Iguana’s Taqueria in San Jose in 1 minute and 41 seconds, breaking Joey Chestnut’s record. (Joey Chestnut may have since regained the record). Pat’s Burritozilla mark is included on the list of eating challenge results on deepdisheats.com which includes feats such as the 40 inch pizza (with a partner) at the Pizza Machine and the Tex-ass doughnut from Voodoo doughnuts in Portland, OR in 23 seconds which have not received much media attention.

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Cities for the next eight episodes of Man vs. Food after the initial batch of ten have been listed on the program’s slideshow page:

Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
Los Angeles, CA
San Jose, CA
St. Louis, MO
Denver, CO
North Carolina
Minneapolis, MN

The Travel Channel’s schedule page says that the Portland episode will be televised on February 4 and the challenge will be Salvador Molly’s Great Balls of Fire habanero chile cheese fritters. The episode was recorded on December 9.

Information about restaurants in other cities is available on the internet. The Seattle challenge will be the 12 egg omelet at Beth’s Cafe. Red Mill Burgers was another site for that episode. The Saint Louis challenge restaurant was Pappy’s Smokehouse and the meal was the Big Ben (full slab of ribs, 2 sandwiches, a quarter-chicken, and 4 side dishes)

The Denver episode has yet to be filmed and the challenge will be the 7 pound breakfast burrito at Jack n Grill

The commercial for next week’s New York episode, which co-stars Adam Richman’s mother, is available.

update El Tepeyac, which is famous for giant burritos, and Daichan Kaiten-Sushi were sites for the Los Angeles episode

Iguana’s Taqueria is a San Jose location and the challenge meal there will be the Burritozilla. Joey Chestnut started his competitive eating career in a Burritozilla eating contest and still holds the record of 4 minutes and 26 seconds.

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The second installment of Quest for the Golden Hot Dog is available. The episode has the following description on youtube:

As registration for the Golden Hot Dog Invitational continues, we meet the rest of the competitors: Ron Jr., aka “The Legacy” (Armen Weitzman), accompanied by his father, Ron “The Legend” Wilton (Ron Lynch), and the sinister and mysterious Baron (Matt Besser). Watch the competitors fitting in last-minute training as well as undergoing psychological preparation with the legendary Dr. Hot Dog (Eddie Pepitone).

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The list of entrants in the Wing Bowl finals have been updated to report that Frank de Fraud won last night’s Wing Off qualifier by eating 28 wings in 10 minutes. The Courier-Post has an article (without results) and gallery from that contest.

“Gentleman” Jerry Coughlan, who performed a jelly doughnut stunt, and Wing Bowl 8 winner “Tollman” Joe Paul (no Wing Off or stunt listed) are other new qualifiers.

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