At Madison+Main, we like to mix in a little fun at work. On Thursday, October 27th, we held our 2nd annual employee Chili Cook Off and invited some our clients and agency partners to come by and judge our best efforts. Competition was fierce, as the main-iacs worked hard to take home the big prize.
So late Wednesday evening, Dave concocted his “Burns Twice” chili, Josh engineered his “An Italian Name No One Can Decipher” dish, Mike executed his risky “Chicken Chili”, Katie devised her “Too Hot to be Chili”, Kara championed her “Gold Medal” feast, Molly formulated her “Plain Ole’ Chili” and Blair polished her “Golden Chili.” Last year’s champion, Art Director, Jeff Smack pulled out of the competition, because he had bigger and better things to do, like help his wife with the birth of his first child.
Lunchtime Thursday brought a tough team of judges, who graded each concoction on a scale of 1-10 on the flavor, heat, originality and presentation. Before testing, it looked like Josh and Dave had an early advantage with originality and presentation, but anything can happen at a Chili Cook Off. That is until Josh dimmed the lights and introduced his dish with background music which all but guaranteed him 1st place; Dave used skulls and chili peppers to visually demonstrate the strength of his chili.
Once the judging was complete, the results were tallied and announced.
Receiving high marks across the board, Josh’s “An Italian Name No One Can Decipher” won the grand prize trophy and $100 cash. Katie got the silver, and a $50 gift certificate and for the 2nd year in a row, Dave took home 3rd place, and a box of tissues to wipe away his tears of defeat.