BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDENS CHILE FIESTA SEPT 2008!!!!!!

When the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens invited the Takedown to come destroy them, we were super thrilled. I assembled a crack team of celebrity takedowners from past competitions. Monte Ison, Ida Vega, Cathy Erway, Mike O'Neil and Steve Cash terrified the locals with skull-crunching chili!!!! Because this was a special celebrity round, I'm less inclined to tell you who won, but it was Steve Cash! Man does that guy know how to lose? The answer is "no".

BROOKLYN CHILI TAKEDOWN AUGUST 2008 !!!!!

The biggest takedown to date!!!! Hundreds of people, eating and sweating and eating in the tropical Autumn heat! I told people over and over, chili is from Texas, Texas is hot. A chili competition in the middle of summer is the ONLY way! But no one really needed convincing. As usual, the competition was a total berzerker. Zeph Courtney impressed out expert judges and won $50 and 1st Place Takedown Honors! The People's Choice winner was Becky MacGregor, who received a mindblowing 21 votes, all from total strangers!!!! This year author Scott Gold joined the Takedown with his latest book about meat, The Shameless Carnivore. He also used his extensive celebrity and looks to lure in some amazing judges! Food Bombshell Cathy Erway (noteatingoutny.com), Famous Butcher for Diner and Marlow and Sons Tom Mylan, and Camille Bacerra who I swear to god was on Top Chef, Season 3! And she owns Paloma!

Brooklyn Kitchen donated tons of brilliant prizes!!!!

FONDUE TAKEDOWN FEBRUARY 2008 WOWZA!!!!!!

Oh boy. This one was like... whoah. Realzy dealzies. And with the Oscars on, I am AMAZED at the wicked awesome turnout. People CLEARY love awesome melty cheese more than stupid stuff!!!! So guess what!? Laura Moia blasted into the top spot with a brilliant fondue, lightly seasoned with Worcestershire, beer, and secrets! Oo! Chris and Ashley Newberry came in second with their version of cheese magic!!! Jacob and Sabrina came in third, after almost not making it to the event because of a run-in with the po-po! Phew! This was an event to remember....

CHILI TAKEDOWN DECEMBER 2007 !!!!!!!!

WHAT CHILI MAYHEM!! Dudes, I am truly proud. Not only did we tear up a FANCY NIGHTCLUB called THE PLUMM, but the 15 entrants fought to the death this time!!! They really almost did! The XO of the New York Star Trek Fan Club, a famous dermatologist, and a brilliant film producer were only some of the cast of insanos going head to head for chili glory. THIS IS WHAT THE TAKEDOWN IS ALL ABOUT! But guess what? MATT BUSMAN WON PEOPLE'S CHOICE!!!! AGAIN!!!! HOLY CRAPPP!!! And guess what else???? NEWCOMER STEVE CASH WALKED AWAY WITH THE JUDGE'S AWARD!!! And this year, one of our judges was the Soon-To-Be-Famous Scott Gold who wrote The Shameless Carnivore, coming out soon! About how he ate 31 diferent animals and every part of the cow in a month!! GROSS!!! THANKS SO MUCH POULL, WHO GOT ME THE WOWSA SPACE at THE PLUMM

FONDUE TAKEDOWN 2007!!!!!

WOW. Who knew people would bloodbath for fondue? But they did! Doug Miller can't stop winning, as usual. Newcomer Mark Leonard came in 2nd Place with a pro recipe from his own hellish brain. Keelay miraculously pulled of a 3rd place coup, and a jump-suited Bobby Buka MD and Kara blazed into 4th place, earning themselves a fat $10 bar tab, and Takedown bragging rights!!! Meanwhile, throngs of Fondue Eaters pushed cheese through their faces until the sun went down. Everyone had way too good a time for a Sunday night. And we at the Takedown will definitely do this again soon, in the cooler months- because Fondue is traditionally a depressive's comfort food, and we can tap into that demographic then.

MANHATTAN CHILI TAKEDOWN JUNE 2007!!!!

June 3 at Mo Pitkin's was INSANO IN THE BRAINO.. Congratulations to Shana Wright and David Roderick who did the seemingly IMPOSSIBLE. They entered a veggie recipe and won the much-lauded judges award. Beef and pork were dusted by a couple of hippie veggies.The PEOPLE, with their stunted palets and lesser intellect, disagreed. They awarded the People's Choice award to Chris and Ashley Newberry. Interesting sidenote: when Chris entered solo last year, he came in dead last with a truly inedible chili. This year, he teamed up with his wifeAshley and won decisively. Everybody had a rocking time and ate super fast (the event ended earlier than expected, when the piggy audience wolfed literally everything not nailed to the floor). Another success!!!!

(pictures by Monte Isom and Zoe Timms)

MANHATTAN CHILI TAKEDOWN 2006!!!!

(These pics are all thanks to Inbal Sivan (inbalsivan.net) - a brilliant photographer and friend of the Takedown!)

DUDES. The Takedown moved to Manhattan and was way too much fun for everyone. We were all like oo i just don't see how it could be more funner than this. Check out these shots of beautiful chili participators and eaters and you will be super jealous. And for those of you who went- cherish the memories from the Takedown!!!! DOUG MILLER did the impossible this year: he has RECAPTURED the TAKEDOWN CHALICE, and $200!!! This is his 2nd CHILI TAKEDOWN CHAMPIONSHIP AWARD!!!! The judges were all in agreement: Doug's chili was MUCH BETTER THAN YOURS! CONGRATULATIONS DOUG!!!!! MATTHEW BUSMAN wins the MUCH COVETED PEOPLE'S CHOICE!! WOO!

BROOKLYN CHILI TAKEDOWN 2006!!!!