Wood Fire Italian Trattoria was the clear victor in Saturday’s professional chili cook-off at Dowagiac’s Ice Time Festival, though had this been a political race, the third-place finisher would have certainly asked for a recount of the second-place position.
Wood Fire’s owner James Kramer and cook Rick Leach, who served a chuck wagon-style chili, are keeping the winning recipe under tight wraps and have only said “it had a lot of stuff in it!”
Second-time competitor Jordan Anderson, owner of The Baker’s Rhapsody, who brought home the 2016 title may have come in second this year, but he reportedly served 700 steaming samples, along with his freshly-baked artisan bread.
Newcomer to Dowagiac and also to the competition was Round Oak Revisited, where head chef Thomas O’Hara surprised festival goers with his Turducken Chili comprised of chicken, turkey and duck. A close two votes separated Anderson and O’Hara.
Longtime competitor Julie Wright, owner of Caruso’s Candy Kitchen, said she ran short of chili around 1:30 p.m., after serving more than 300 guests.
The chili crawl, as most locals call it, was hosted during Dowagiac’s 21st annual winter arts festival. Visitors to the central business district were able to sample chili at eight downtown locations, which also included Beeson Street Bar & Grill, Front Street Crossing, Wounded Minnow Saloon and Zeke’s Restaurant.
Event chairman Kris Soenen said there was steady foot traffic downtown during the festival, with visitors filling the streets from all corners of southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana.
“Stores and restaurants were bustling with business, which is what we like to see,” Soenen said. “The weather was exceptional for our ice artisans and gave families a great reason to get back out doors to enjoy one of Michgian’s favorite seasons. Due to overcast skies in the afternoon, this year’s ice sculptures were perfectly clear.”
Veteran ice carver Mike Evans of Edwardsburg placed first in the timed carve-off at Beckwith Park. Richard Biggs of South Bend took second, and third place went to Josh Niven of Buchanan.
Ice Time is one of several seasonal events hosted by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce. Major underwriters of the 2017 festival were: Lyons Industries, Platinum Level sponsor; Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union and Clark Chapel/Starks Family Funeral Home, Gold Level sponsors; and Dowsett Chiropractic Health Center and SEMCO, Silver Level sponsors. Another 30 businesses sponsored the single-block ice carvings that lined Front Street and the timed ice carve-off.