Matt Stonie’s grandmother, Gladys, drove her 18-year-old grandson from Massachusetts to Sag Harbor where “Mega Toad,” as he’s known, rolled over the competition at Bay Burger restaurant’s first annual lobster roll eating contest.
And he made it look easy.
Scarfing down 11 Bay Burger lobster rolls in five minutes, Stonie remained un-phased by the feat, albeit proud, just a half hour after his win as he and his grandmother prepared to make their journey home clutching $500 in cash and a beautiful handmade trophy crafted by Joe Trembly, Bay Burger’s owner.
“It makes the long drive worth it, I guess,” said Stonie, a slight young man, surprising when one considers he is pursuing, and succeeding, in a career on the professional food eating circuit.
Stonie, a native of San Jose, California who summers with his grandparents on the East Coast, has already made a small name for himself on the circuit. In July of this year, according to the Tradewinds Café in Arundel, Maine, Stonie set the record for the “Manimal” challenge, consuming two loaded kraut hot dogs, an eight patty cheeseburger, a small order of fries, a can of Moxie and a one pound milkshake in five minutes, finding further success after consuming another kraut dog, a quarter pound burger, three chicken taquitos and three chicken quesadillas before a 20 minute time limit expired.
In total, Stonie consumed a whopping nine and a half pounds of food that day.
This July, Stonie secured a spot in an upcoming lobster roll eating contest at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival after he devoured 13 hot dogs in 10 minutes. He will compete in that contest this weekend.
“This was a good judge for how I can expect to do this weekend,” said Stonie, clutching his lobster claw trophy victoriously. “That one is 10 minutes long, so it was good to see what I could do.”
Stonie said he enjoyed that the Bay Burger lobster roll was light on mayonnaise, a preference he has for the dish. It made it that much easier plowing through each roll to the soundtrack of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” the B-52’s “Rock Lobster,” and Weird Al Yankovic’s parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” aptly titled “Eat It.”
The field of Stonie’s competitors was not one easily topped – a voracious bunch, which included Mike “Big Trem” Tremblay, Joe’s brother who, while all too familiar with the dish, failed to claim victory. Also in the pack was the lone female competitor Ana “Anaconda” Weiben, Bruce “the Gurgitator” Kaiser and Bobby “the Lobsta Monsta” Garcia with his cohort, Josh “Kobayashi” Kane – two contenders who promised to bring victory early on, and, prior to Stonie’s entry, were easily considered front runners in the field.
“It’s an open field,” said Bay Burger co-owner Liza Tremblay, Joe’s wife. “Ana is the only girl and has been training hard, so that may be where my money is.”
However, Liza was less impressed with her brother-in-law Big Trem’s showing in recent days, noting he had failed to swallow one lobster roll in just over a minute the previous day. He conceded the fact with good humor.
The rules set up by Liza and Joe for Bay Burger’s First Annual Lobster Roll Eating Competition were regulation – lobster roll baskets were weighed to ensure each was a perfect 13-ounces with any discarded chunks counted against the contestants’ total. Losing one’s resolve was acceptable, but losing one’s stomach — also known as a “reversal of fortune” in food eating contest terms — would result in a disqualification. That never occurred at Monday’s competition, to Liza’s delight. Otherwise, standard food eating contest rules applied, including the right to dunk one’s bread in water for easier swallowing.
“I have been preparing for this my whole life,” said Kane prior to the competition. “I mean, I have been eating since I was a baby.”
James “El Presidente” Carter, a last minute contestant who heard about the contest only that afternoon while dining at Bay Burger, jumped on board because, “I love the lobster rolls, and I hate myself.”
As the contest began, to the theme from “Rocky,” Kane decided to stand instead of sit, seemingly unaware of his surroundings while he ate, and grooved, while listening to his iPod playing Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Monster track.
But Mega Toad was already off to an early lead, finishing his sixth lobster roll just over two minutes into the competition. Fan favorite Tremblay, who had a team of cheerleaders (actually a group of local children), failed to keep pace. He later admitted he decided “not to hurt myself” once he learned how far Stonie had come in two minutes.
Kane kept his pace but, with a minute to go, it was unlikely even the most aggressive champion would catch the pace of the Mega Toad.
“He makes it look easy folks,” said Joe.
Bay Burger restaurant is located at 1742 Sag Harbor-Bridgehampton Turnpike in Sag Harbor and can be reached by calling 899-3914 or by visiting www.bayburger.com.
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