Cornell community members had the opportunity to sample food and enjoy entertainment during a culinary competition to raise money for charity. The Class of 2006 Council organized food from various local restaurants in the Straight on Friday evening.
“The Battle of the Late-Night Foods II” was a follow-up to a similar event held by the Class of 2006 last year. The promise of free food and a good cause drew a substantial crowd. The line, which snaked through the Straight’s art gallery, reading room and lobby, entailed over an hour wait at its peak near the beginning of the event.
Miriam Gross ’06, vice president of publicity for the class of 2006 council, said that the council was “really excited” about the event’s good turnout.
“[The turnout] is definitely better than last year,” Gross said. “It’s great to see.”
Although the food was free, there was a suggested donation of $3. Proceeds from the event were to be donated to CURE Childhood Cancer, a “non-profit organization dedicated to conquering childhood cancer,” according to the class council. The charity was voted on by members of the class of 2006 to be the beneficiary of the class’s charity events this year. The class has already raised $1,500 for the charity, according to Gross.
Attendees were lead on a tour of the Willard Straight memorial room, where several local restaurants had set up sampling tables in a horseshoe formation along the long room’s walls. At the end of the line, the tasters were asked to cast their vote for the best food of the evening.
“I actually liked D.P. Dough,” said Allie Munoz ’08, voicing support for last year’s winner.
“Sample size did it for me,” said Richard Jin ’09, who also cast his vote for D.P. Dough.
The competition was not by any means one-sided. Kamali Bent ’07 said that she preferred the offerings from Wingz for their spicy food and quick service, while Mazduk Asgary ’08 preferred Chinese restaurant Hong Kong’s lo mein.
In the end, Wingz was crowned the victor by a plurality of the votes, while defending champion D.P. Dough came in second place.
Live entertainment was provided by the Armageddon Monks, a student-run rock band. The Key Elements, a Cornell a cappella group, also held an impromptu performance for those eating in the area outside of Cascadeli.
“I think [the event] was good,” said Khullat Munir ’09. “A little more variety would have been nice.”
“There were five straight [tables] of pizza,” said Sharat Shekar ’09, talking about pizza from Domino’s, Papa John’s and The Nines near the beginning of the line.
“It’s cool that [the students] get to work together like this.” Munir said.
“In the end, we served close to a thousand Cornellians, many of whom stayed until the event ended,” Gross said afterwards. “We raised over $800 for [the charity], an exciting increase over our last year’s $500, which was successfully raised for The March of Dimes.”
In addition to the class of 2006, the Battle was sponsored by WVBR, CUTonight and the Cornell Circle K, a service organization. The participating restaurants were Bear Necessities, Collegetown Bagels, Domino’s Pizza, D.P. Dough, Hong Kong, Jimmy John’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Papa John’s Pizza, Peace Restaurant, Pita Pit, Ralph’s Ribs, Rogan’s, The Nines, Cornell Dairy and Wingz.
Archived article by Chris Barnes
Sun Staff Writer