She’s a ‘Talented Eater’

Stephanie Torres, a grad student at New Mexico State University, won third place at the first-ever women’s championship of the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest that was held in Coney Island on July 4. (john minchillo/the associated press )

Torres said her first eating “challenge” was in December 2009 as she drove through Amarillo on the way to Michigan with a friend. They passed the Big Texan Steak Ranch, which offers a 72-ounce sirloin meal free to those who can finish it in an hour. Those who can’t pay $100 for their dinner.

How cool would it be if you did that, her friend said.

Torres finished the steak, which came with a baked potato, salad, dinner roll and shrimp cocktail, in just under 56 minutes.

“And the thing is, I don’t even like steak,” said Torres, who typically dines on big salads or pasta. “I never eat steak.”

In early 2010, while in San Antonio, Texas, Torres completed another legendary food challenge posed by Chunky’s Burgers. She ate a half-pound hamburger, known as the Four Horsemen Burger, topped by jalapeños, serrano chiles, habanero sauce and a helping of so-called ghost chiles, the bhut jolokia from India that is rated as the hottest pepper in the world.

She was just getting warmed up.

A week later, relatives goaded her into tackling the Extreme Grizzly Burrito, a seven-pound monster served on a cookie sheet at Marianito’s Extreme Texmex Grill. The burrito was gone in less than an hour.

Perhaps Torres’ most stunning eating accomplishment occurred Feb. 23 while visiting a friend in Lakewood, Colo. With time to kill and a stomach to fill, Torres walked into Virgilio’s pizzeria, which had a standing offer of $1,000 for the first person to eat a 28-inch, 11-pound pizza, called the Hugilio ($65), in under two hours.

Many men had tried and failed, said Virgilio’s manager Kim Waldrop. Torres wiped out the pizza in an hour and 51 minutes, and took the prize.

“She’s a legend,” Waldrop said.

“I drank almost a pitcher of water with it,” Torres said. “I was really uncomfortable for quite a bit.”

Hot Dog

Torres warmed up for Coney Island when she won the regional Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Las Vegas, Nev., in late April by gobbling 23 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

While the winner of the Coney Island event, televised on ESPN and held before 40,000 people, blew away the competition by eating 40 hot dogs, Torres impressed the experts.

“It was just really terrific, really shocking,” said George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating, which operates the Coney Island event he calls the “championship of all hot dog championships.”

“She’s an extremely talented eater,” Shea said. “She’s fantastic.”

Torres is relatively new to the world of competitive eating, but has always been able to pack away big meals, said father Sal Torres of Buena Park, Calif.

“I’m telling you, when she’s in the house, I stock up the pantry and the kitchen and the freezer and say, ‘Do what you want to do,’ ” Torres said. “Grandpa doesn’t believe this stuff. One time she went to his house, and he said, ‘Don’t you feed this kid?’ ”

Torres grew accustomed to a high-calorie diet as a competitive runner. In high school, she ran every day, won championships in track and cross country in Southern California, and earned an athletic scholarship to NMSU where she now is pursuing graduate studies in business.

In 2006, she was injured in a bicycle accident and was not able to compete as before. But she still rides 10 to 20 miles per day.

Torres is looking forward to next year’s championship in Coney Island and the possibility of besting the reigning champ – whose résumé also boasts consumption of 11 pounds of cheesecake in 9 minutes, 46 mince pies in 10 minutes and 65 hard-boiled eggs in six minutes 40 seconds.

But Torres says she has plenty of intestinal fortitude.

As she puts it, “I’ve been known to be able to handle a great amount of pain.”
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal