Business & Tech
So Close, Yet So Far
Cupertino resident Bear Silber comes up shy of finishing two "Pounder Challenges" Saturday afternoon at Togo's sandwich shop.
Cupertino resident Bear Silber came up just short of eating over four pounds of Togo's pastrami sandwich in 48 minutes Saturday afternoon at the sandwich shop's location on Stevens Creek Blvd.
Silber, 29, ate over three feet of the sandwich, which was over three pounds and decided to call it quits as the clock wound down. The competition was part of the shop's "Pounder Challenge" competition that has been sweeping the region.
"I'm a little upset, it was so close, yet so far," Silber said after the challenge. "There was so much pastrami that I could not take another bite. But it was absolutely delicious."
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Donning a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle vinyl jacket and ski hat, the Oak Grove graudate devoured the first pound of the sandwich in just over seven minutes, and jammed through the competition with tunes from artists Skrillex, Kanye West and Rage Against the Machine through the headphones of his iPod.
Silber chose to have his two family-sized sandwiches on white and onion bread, and livened the taste up by ordering guacamole, barbeque sauce, au jus, chipotle mayo, ranch and marinara to spread on with pepper jack, American, swiss, provolone and cheddar cheese.
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Three of the eating machine's brothers were in attendance to watch him take on the challenge.
"I thought he would eat twice as much," said his half-brother Jeff Racheff.
Silber completed the "Pounder Challenge" a few weeks ago, and decided to up the ante by throwing his hat in the ring for doubling the competition.
According to Cupertino Togo's franchisee Rose Le, only two other people have competed in the challenge at her store location.
The thought of returning to Togo's to retry the "Double Pounder" still looms in the back of Silber's mind, as he is also eyeing the "Judgement Day" challenge offered by popular Bay Area sandwich shop Ike's Lair, which will be opening a new franchise on Stevens Creek Blvd.
"I might be crazy enough to give it a try," he said.
You can view the video of Bear taking on the two "Pounder Challenge" by clicking here.
