Serving the community

Jenny Marder

His fellow employees call him The Great White Hope.

Cody Requejo, rolls sushi at Tuna Town, one of the seven

restaurants that took part in the fourth annual Huntington Beach

Restaurant Olympics, a boisterous event with a hearty turnout.

Requejo, who won first place for the second year in a row in the

bread toss event at the eatery Olympics, jokes that he slept with a

loaf of sourdough bread under his pillow the night before the race

for inspiration.

Duke’s Huntington Beach placed first overall, despite a miscount

that initially awarded the champion trophy to Chimayo’s at the Beach.

Chimayo’s and Tuna Town came in second and third respectively.

The Olympic event was held Saturday at Pier Plaza. It was

sponsored by the Huntington Beach Restaurant Assn., Michelob Ultra,

Clockwork, Inc., Pepsi, Heineken, Widmer Ales, Redhook Ale and the

180 Energy Drink.

It’s a hysterical time for participants and spectators, but it is

also a fund-raiser, with all the proceeds benefiting the Boys and

Girls Club of Huntington Beach.

This year, $5,000 was raised through raffles, donations and

tickets to participate in judging the chowder cookoff.

“The bread toss is probably the most exciting event,” said

spectator Scott Newberry, a Surf City resident. “There’s just all

this bread flying back and forth.”

And once in a while, one of the spectators will get hit, which

only adds to the excitement, Newberry said.

“It was a lot of fun, it was a great day and we were very happy

about the turnout,” said Christina Smith, Marketing and Promotions

Director for Duke’s. “It’s important for the morale of the

restaurants -- getting together and getting to know each other.”

The teams, typically made up of 10 to 12 local restaurant

staffers, each had their own strategy, although some plans were not

within the bounds of the rules.

As the day wore on it wasn’t uncommon for them to collapse into

laughter, sand fights and cheating.

In fact, employees at Chimayo’s admitted to stuffing the ballot

box for the chowder cook-off.

“They were pretty up front about it,” Smith said and recalled that

a Chimayo’s contestant told her, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not

trying hard enough.”

The winning team’s strategy was not underhanded, but it was a bit

odd.

“Total domination from the outset, that’s our strategy. We figure

our outrageousness is gonna just blind the other teams,” said Matt

Wentz, a bartender at Duke’s, pointing to a male manager in a tiny

bright blue Speedo bathing suit with a dolphin tattoo peeking out

from the top.

In one event, contestants wound through an obstacle course

backward, while carrying a tray of water-filled glasses. In another,

a person perched in a chair with a plastic cup balanced on the rim of

a baseball cap while team members ran about 50 yards to the edge of

the waves, filled up a soup ladle with water and raced back to fill

the cup. But servers quickly discovered how to make the water rise

faster, and some abandoned water altogether for large scoops of sand.

In the meantime, passerby were enticed by the smell of fresh

chowder wafting along the foot of the pier. This year’s award for

Surf City’s best chowder, as judged by those who paid $5 to taste the

samples, was secured by Chimayo’s.

The dominate through absurdity strategy of Duke’s employees

worked, and it’s team left with the trophy at the end of the day.

“The team brought a lot of stamina,” said 4-year Duke’s server

Cooper Briscoe, feigning an earnest expression. “There was a moment

during the water tray exchange that I thought it was all over, but we

found the strength to dig down and succeed.”

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at jenny.marder@latimes.com.