WILDWOOD — Dave Goldstein, a competitive eater from Voorhees, has eaten his share of hot wings, clams and crawfish, but on May 28, he went up against 14 other competitors and buckets of Curley Fries.
The challenge was to eat as many one-pound buckets Curley’s fries as they could in a five-minute period.
After the first round, Goldstein was neck and neck with three other competitors. But a final fry eat off pushed him to victory.
“It definitely wasn’t the hardest thing I ever had to eat,” said Goldstein. “Fries are tasty, but after a while it felt like swallowing cold mashed potatoes.”
After stuffing their stomachs full of fries, the contestant will receive four event wristbands for Morey’s Piers, but only Goldestein walked away with the grand prize of $500.
“Maybe I’ll buy some lunch,” he joked after receiving the prize.
Justin Vitti, from Villas, said he’s competed in his own share of eating challenges, but never went against a former professional eater.
“I’ve eaten five-pound cheesesteak in 24 minutes for Tony Luke’s Cheesesteak Challenge, a 20-ounce burger in less than five minutes at CheeBurger CheeBurger, over three dozen wings in seven minutes, and over two pounds of tacos in four minutes.”
Vitti said that he purposely sat next to Goldstein to see how he would rank against a former competitor.
“My goal was to shoot for at least two buckets in five minutes,” he said.
Vitti said that as he was trying to finish the second bucket he physically couldn’t chew any more fries.
“I was doing everything I could, mixing it with water, mashing them up, but after a point I just couldn’t eat anymore,” he said.
Other competitors in the eating competition included: Brenda McCarty, Jack Diamond, Gerald Leonardi, Joey Scrofani, Shane Schaeffer, Colleen Newborn, Frank Ward, Donald Warren, Joseph Markey, David Macomber, Jason Tozer, Matthew LeBlanc and Patrick Cunningham.
Lauren Suit can be e-mailed at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext 250.
