Winter is a time for comfort food. While much of the Midwest bundles up and hunkers down for an extended period of darkness and cold, hearty and rib-sticking standbys like casserole, chili, and soup enter our collective meal rotation in a major way. Pasta—and specifically pasta with red sauce—can definitely be filed in that “comfort food” category as well. And if you’re looking for something to fill that post-Casserole Call and pre-Rockabilly Chili gap in Milwaukee’s food competition calendar, Black Husky Brewing is cooking up something special.
On Saturday, January 17, the Riverwest brewery and taproom (located at 909 E. Locust St,) will host a red sauce competition. The inaugural “Legalize Marinara” contest will bring a field of approximately 15 local competitors to the brewery for a full-on “red sauce off” from 2-5 p.m. with bragging rights, prizes…and karaoke involved.
For $5, attendees will get a wristband that’s good for bread (for dipping into the sauce), unlimited sauce samples, and a ticket they can use to vote for their favorite sauce. Black Husky owner Tim Eichinger tells us the winning sauce will earn a $50 prize. The second place sauce will get a $25 Black Husky Brewing gift card. Surely there’s no other aspect of this event we need to tell you about, right?
Oh wait, we forgot to tell you that immediately after the votes are counted and the prizes are awarded, Black Husky will host a karaoke contest. Eichinger says “songs must be Italian-themed in the Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Rat Pack genre,” and there will be a similar prize structure of that contest. The sign up for that will happen the day of the event.
As far as the red sauce contest is concerned, Eichinger says there are a couple of spots left. Email him at [email protected] if you’re interested in participating. Whether you’re preparing sauce, eating it, or looking to sing lounge music classics in a Riverwest brewery on a mid-winter evening, save the date and make your way to Black Husky Brewing on Saturday, January 17.