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Furious Pete's black-hole stomach could not be stanched
On a steamy Saturday afternoon, five hungry competitors gathered at Midtown's Go! Go! Curry! to show the strength of their stomachs at its second annual curry-eating challenge. While all the contestants would go home full, only one could go home the champion.
The dish was a thick and savory Japanese-style curry, served over rice. The task? To down as many bowls possible in the span of 5 minutes and 55 seconds. The Go! Go! Curr!y girls were on hand to make sure no one's bowl ran dry.
The contest quickly became a battle royale between last year's champion, "Gentleman" Joe Menechetti, and challenger "Furious" Pete Czerwinski. When Gentleman Joe started to wane after the third minute, Furious Pete took the lead. Like a wide-eyed baby seal with its face in a bucket of slurry, this eater could not be stopped.
And what does it take to be a champion? After he downed a record-breaking 22 bowls, Furious Pete gave some competitive eating advice to his would be challengers: "When you start to choke, you just have to eat faster to push the food down."
By James Mulcahy; photos by Natasha Ryan
