ST. LOUIS — 40 different restaurants competed Saturday in the Mac & Cheese Throwdown at Union Station.
Each chef put a unique spin on the traditional dish.
Peter Venezia, the owner of Duke’s BBQ, said “We have burnt ends, white cheddar, spilled jalapenos and a bacon roux and a cheese sauce.”
The Blue Duck chef, Trenton Garvay, described his dish: “We have a charred scallion and pimento cheese mac and cheese with candied jalapenos.”
There were enough choices to make your taste buds melt.
Attendee Kristen Ritchie said she voted for Farm Truck.
“They had a really good flavor combination where everything seemed to really fit together,” Ritchie said.
Roughly 2,000 people turned out to sample all the options.
Drew Halliday, a member of the Mac & Cheese Throwdown advertising team, said “It’s a great opportunity for the community to come together and try different restaurants.”
For others it’s more about just having a gouda time.
Alex and Chloe Kelsch made special mac & cheese hats for the event.
“We love mac and cheese," they said. “We made them ourselves the other night. Kind of a fun thing to do before we come to a mac and cheese fest.”
Tickets were $50 at the door. Attendees voted for their favorite choice by putting a token in that restaurant’s jar. The restaurant with the most tokens took home the top spot.
This year’s winner was Salt + Smoke.