Spring Break
ISO hosts "Boss of the Sauce" event
Loren McFalls
Issue date: 5/22/09 Section: News
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The participating restaurants included Ralphs, Dante & Luigi's, Cucina Forte and La Scala's, which competed to determine who made the best marinara sauce in the city.
"We chose Ralph's and Dante & Luigi's because both have great histories. We chose Cucina Forte and La Scala's because both serve some of the best Italian food in the city," Erica Conti, vice president of the ISO, said. "We hope we introduced students to great Italian restaurants that they might not have known about, but are definitely affordable for them."
Dante & Luigi's won the competition, followed by La Scala's in second place and Cucina Forte in third place, according to Conti.
Students picked their favorite sauce by taste testing and placing note cards in the box at the table of their favorite restaurant.
"The sauce competition was a great opportunity for the Italian Students Organization to showcase some Italian culture and to provide Drexel with some awesome food at the same time," John Falcone, a freshman biology major, said.
The ISO also had a panel of judges at the event in addition to a student vote. The judges were prominent Italians and Italian-Americans from the surrounding community, according to Conti.
"We reached out to two Italian-American Drexel alumni and asked them to join the panel, as well as for ideas for whom else to invite," Conti said. "They put us in contact with Lorraine Ranalli, and from there, we were able to secure the rest of our judges.
The ISO was inspired to hold the event by a similar competition that takes place every year in San Francisco, Conti said.
Conti said she thought a "gravy" competition would be a good idea because Italian Americans are competitive about making the best sauce.
"Everybody claims they make it the best, so I thought it would be cool to have a gravy competition," Conti said.
This was the first event of its kind, but Conti said that the ISO hopes to hold similar events, perhaps with a different type of food.
"We think meatballs, sausage and peppers and roast pork sandwiches are all good candidates," Conti said.
Conti said the group began planning this event in January by compiling a list of all the best and well-known Italian restaurants in Philadelphia. The officers then visited the restaurants to invite them to participate in the competition.
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