Sunday, June 22nd
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“I totally bring it, as far as my love of cheese,” said Oliver Butler, the avant-garde theater type from Red Hook who prevailed in last year’s cheese-eating contest—the brainchild of shmancy foodie destination Stinky Bklyn—by eating half a pound of French Cantal in two minutes. “It’s really more technique than anything,” continued the beguiling Mr. Butler. “You start eating the cheese and it turns into a gelatinous glue in your mouth. You want to send it down, but it works against you. Cheese is a very competitive food. It actually makes it harder to eat. Hot dogs don’t work against you. Cheese, you’ll turn into a block of stone if you stop. Water is key.” Patrick Watson, co-owner of Stinky Bklyn, said that this year’s contest will involve “Cantalet. It’s from France. It’s a mild, cheddarlike cloth-bound cheese.” He plans to cap the festivities—which are part of terrifying hipster-parent-infested Smith Street Fun Day Fair—at 30 cheese eaters. Added Mr. Butler: “I think there are probably a ton of people who would love to dethrone me.” Yes, we’re sure they’re lining up!
[Stinky Bklyn Cheese Eating Contest, Smith & Vine, 268 Smith Street, 3 p.m., 718-522-7425]
mbryan@observer.com
