Adam in Atlanta

Habanero: one of the most intensely spicy species of chili peppers of the Capsicum genus. It is said to be forty times hotter than a jalapeno. Imagine five habanero fritters, dipped in habanero sauce. To win, you must consume these in five minutes.

I would not take on this challenge. However, brave Adam Richman would, considering he gets paid for it. I find the challenges on Man vs Food to be absolutely ridiculous and sometimes even fatal looking. This one in particular seems especially absurd. For any of you who strive for recognition and have s stomach of steel, this could be a viable option.

Man vs Food is a show on the travel channel starring Adam Richman and debuting his travels to different locations sampling different extreme food challenges as well as cultural flavors. It's actually very interesting and I would recommend it to everyone. Whether you have an interest in food or geography or maybe even if your interest is to be entertained by sickening American indulgences, this show will appeal to you. To give you an idea of what it's like, I watched an episode tonight and I'll share it with you.

Adam travels to Atlanta where the first restaurant he visits is Gladys and Ron's where he meets with the talented soul food chef Gladys Knight, one of the co-founders. As good as a chef as she is she is just as good a singer. One of the dishes, the one that this specific restaurant is known for, is known as the "midnight train." This consists of overnight marinated chicken wings and an enormous waffle. This combination, while sounding bizarre, is actually quite common and was introduced in Harlem, New York in the 1940's.

The next place that the viewer is brought to is The Vortex Bar and Grill (a place that the host frequented while attending college), where the decor is as strange as the 20 different burgers that it serves. When walking through the giant skull that hangs over the door, the hungry customer finds a grunge-like setting. Some of the burgers here are extremely strange, including the hosts favorite, the Blue Burger. It's made of a half pound patty cooked over an open flame with a chunk of blue cheese the size of an ice cream scoop melted over it. Another burger that they offer is called the Elvis burger- which is topped with peanut butter and fried bananas. By far, the strangest thing about this establishment is what it is famous for: the "Double Bypass Burger." This title is almost an understatement. It isn't the four eggs, ten strips of bacon, four slices of cheese, and the two inch-thick 18 oz burger patties that makes the title fitting. What makes this burger so artery-clogging is that instead of buns they use two grilled cheese sandwiches.

I'm personally shocked that this is considered food and not it's own being. Two grilled cheese sandwiches alone are enough much less a massive burger in the middle of them. I guess it's good that he will have lots of money from these escapades considering the surgery he will need later will be costly.

Finally, the challenge that ties the show together is at the Big Pie in the Sky Pizzeria. The host and his partner, Drew, attempt to eat (and keep digested) an 11 pound, 30 inch pizza topped with almost every meat known to mankind within an hour for the reward of $250 in cash. One slice of the pizza is the length of a baby! The owner, Dirk Tendick, lets the viewer know that of the hundred of people who have tried this challenge no one has been able to finish it. While Adam devours the pizza and is able to almost finish his half, his partner does not share the same appetite. He actually ends up puking it up and they lose.

Well I hope that sounded as great to you as it was to me!