Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Chicago native Patrick Bertoletti made national headlines on July 4 when he won the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest by downing a whopping 58 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
The 39-year-old achieved what is considered the “holy grail” of competitive eating among about 70 events held annually by Major League Eating.
Bertoletti’s records over the years include inhaling 10.63 lbs. of corned beef and cabbage in 10 minutes, 44 cherry kolaches in 8 minutes,7.5 lbs. of fried catfish in 10 minutes, 9 lbs. of boneless buffalo wings in 10 minutes, 47 glazed and cream-filled donuts in 5 minutes, 275 pickled jalapenos in 8 minutes, 39 dozen oysters in 8 minutes, 72 cupcakes in 6 minutes, 42 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in 10 minutes, 38 Mars bars in 5 minutes and 18.475 lbs. of blueberries in 8 minutes, according to the MLE website.
His Italian background had a major influence on his passion for food, says Bertoletti, whose nickname is “Deep Dish.”
“Food was always very centric to our life and many celebrations,” he says. “My grandfather was an excellent cook. We still make his salami in evaporated milk sauce over polenta. He also made grappa during the Depression, and my brother and uncle have carried on the tradition.”
Bertoletti is a graduate of the Culinary Arts School at Kendall College in Chicago, and works as a tasting chef at Food For Thought in suburban Lincolnwood.
For several years, he co-owned the eatery “Taco in a Bag” in Chicago, which he co-founded with fellow competitive eating champion Tim “Gravy” Brown. The restaurant closed in 2020 after five years in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, where it had relocated from suburban West Dundee.
So why does Bertoletti do competitive eating?
“I enjoy the competition aspect and challenge, as well as the travel and experiences that it offers,” he explains. “My passion is and has always been food and was the basis of my competitive eating career. The money and travel opportunities are quite limiting working as a chef, so I have used the opportunities to travel for these events to expand my social, cultural and, most importantly, gustatory repertoire.”
Bertoletti’s grandparents emigrated from the province of Potenza, in Italy’s Basilicata region, and from Bergamo, in the province of Lombardy. Bertoletti has been to Italy four times: once on a family trip, when he visited Pisa and Florence, and three times for competitive eating.
The latter include an event to entertain the troops at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily; one in Rome, where he drank raw eggs for the “Italy’s Got Talent” TV show; and another one in Milan, also drinking raw eggs, for a Guinness Records TV show, he says.
Bertoletti’s journey into competitive eating started in high school, when he won a pie-eating contest at his father’s company picnic, he told the Chicago Reader in 2006. His first real eating competition took place in 2004, when he came in second at a Bacci Pizzeria event in Chicago after losing in overtime to a nationally ranked competitor. He entered the Major League Eating Circuit two years later.
Competitive eating, considered a sport because of the training it requires, is all about knowing your foods, Bertoletti told the Reader.
“You gotta practice” he said at the time. “You’ll try different techniques, because there’s a bunch of different ways to eat stuff. Like, am I going to dunk the grilled cheese in the water and then eat it, or am I going to just take a huge bite and take a drink of water after it? You gotta kind of figure it out.”
So after all these years, are there any misconceptions about competitive eating that he’d like to set straight?
“I think I am that misconception personified,” he says, chuckling.
