A 105-pound female is about to make the area's hungriest men look silly — and saucy — this weekend.
The top-ranked female eater in the world, Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, will invade the Phantom Gourmet Food Festival on Saturday, Sept. 24, where she’ll challenge a team of male Bostonians in the Phantom Gourmet’s Strega Meatball-Eating Challenge. Thomas recently captured the first-ever Women’s Hot Dog Eating title this past July 4 in Coney Island, NY by devouring 40 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.
The event is sanctioned by Major League Eating (MLE) and will be held at the House of Blues on Landsdowne Street.
"While Sonya may have experience and stomach capacity on her side, she’s walking into a festival of food lovers in a city of champions," said Richard Shea, president of MLE. "I’ve seen some heroic acts accomplished by Bostonians and there’s a chance we’ll see an upset at the Phantom Food Fest on Saturday."
Thomas recently beat the No. 1-ranked eater, Joey Chestnut — who set a new record in pizza eating at last year's Food Festival — in a wing eating contest to win her fifth consecutive National Buffalo Wing Title on Labor Day Weekend in Buffalo, NY.
As an appetizer to the main event, top-ranked Major League Eater in Massachusetts and No. 16-ranked in the world, Pete "Pretty Boy" Davekos, will set a new fruit-eating record.
Strega of Boston will provide over 300 meatballs for the competition while Edible Arrangements will provide the fruit. The event kicks off at 12:30 p.m. at House of Blues. Doors for the Food Festival open at noon, and tickets can be purchased online for $40, or at the gate for $50.
