February 18, 2008 - 1:00am
By Jennifer Kahn
Chili Cook-Off and Iron Chef Competition video
Large crowds, eager to try the unique flavors of chili from local restaurants and chefs, bombarded downtown Ithaca for the 10th Annual Chili Cook-Off & WinterFest this past Saturday. New this year was an Iron Chef-style cooking contest, “Chili Idol” karaoke, an air guitar competition and a people’s choice chili award.
Many vendors ran out of chili early due to the high volume of people at the event.
“I wish I’d known we’d have 1,200 people,” said Leslie Muhlhahn, chef and owner of Just Desserts and Queen of Tarts. “We had the longest line for a while. That’s why we were out of stuff.”