Cardona’s Market – a Capital Region Italian deli and import store – is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a daunting challenge served on crusty bread.
Inside the front window of Cardona's Latham market, I sit face to face with an eight-pound sandwich.
To celebrate the business' latest milestone, 80 years after its first location opened in downtown Albany, the Italian deli is daring anyone to take on the "Boss of All Bosses." Eat it in half-an-hour, and it's free. Otherwise, you're forking over 80 bucks.
Market co-owner August Cardona says he, his brother, and the store's catering director cooked up the idea.
“Let’s create an $80 sandwich, an eight-pound $80 sandwich was kind of the thought process and then that morphed into, well why don’t we do an eating challenge and thats how this all came about,” he said.
The “Boss of All Bosses” stuffs eight chicken cutlets, eight sliced eggplant cutlets, eight tomato slices, eight slices of provolone, banana peppers, salami, prosciutto and shredded lettuce into a full loaf of Italian bread with a garlic aioli spread.
To be clear, I am not a competitive eater. I love Italian sandwiches, but I would describe myself as someone who typically eats less than others do during meals.
Before I sit down with The Boss, I consult professional competitive eater Brandon Macey, also known as The Titanium Jaw.
“Try not to put too much food in your mouth at once, drinking water definitely helps, attack the protein first, save the carbs for last and just have fun,” he said.
Macey took part in a "celebrity" competition as part of the challenge's launch.
“I got a good 95 percent of the sandwich down in the 30 minutes; my strategy was to attack the meat and vegetables first and save the bread for last because carbs expand when it’s in your stomach,” he said.
But, at the end of the 30 minutes, a quarter loaf of bread was left on his plate.
After speaking with the Titanium Jaw, it’s time.
As the supersized sub glares, back I formulate a plan of attack and wonder how I ended up in this situation.
Then, I realized I volunteered.
I dive into the sandwich, taking the Titanium Jaw’s advice to heart.
I peel off the top slice of bread and mount an offensive against the fried eggplant. Conquering the veggies, I charge into the chicken cutlets.
It tastes great, but there’s no time to savor it. I continue eating. Everything’s going great…until the 6-minute mark.
I keep pushing, eating past the point I normally would have, a Capital Region Kobayashi-in-training.
My jaw hurts. It’s far from titanium. I slow down.
Nearing the halfway point, I change my strategy. Water becomes my best friend. And my personal goal changes.
Encouragement from the timekeeper steels my resolve.
As time ticks by, my stomach swells and my resolve breaks. Minutes feel longer and I’m hitting the wall.
At the 30-minute time limit, I don’t even finish half of the sub. There’s six pounds to go.
I learn I ate more than others did and that’s good enough for me.
Maybe you can do better. Those looking to fire the Boss of All Bosses can visit a Cardona’s Market until next Thursday. Bring antacid.
