3 winners stub the “Toe of Satan” at À La Cart’s Heat Week challenge
It is billed as the “Toe of Satan,” a lollipop made from a “special ‘hellfire’ chili extract” with a Scoville rating of 9 million. And the challenge for competitors was to hold it in their mouths for five minutes.
In a week that saw Orlando named in a study as the Sweatiest City in America, it’s not surprising that not one, but three of the 10 seeking validation of their fortitude managed to surmount this satanic sucker for more than 20. Each walked away with bragging rights, a souvenir glass and a $100 gift card to À La Cart.
The Milk District food truck park was the location of this fiery food challenge, and just one of the reasons to hit ‘em up, now through July 24, for the remainder of their Heat Week event, during which its five vendors are offering special spicy dishes and several taps at their craft beer, cider and wine bar are serving up peppery pours.
The event, something fun co-owners Dustin and April Williams spun up to battle the seasonal doldrums so often experienced by restaurants and bars, was a scorching success. Folks came out in droves, not only to compete, but to cheer on competitors and sample scorch-worthy fare.
“We thought, ‘Hey, it’s really hot outside, so why don’t we just lean into it?’” Dustin Williams told the Orlando Sentinel. “We decided to have a signature event to build around.”
They considered a contest featuring actual peppers, “but I felt it could be inconsistent from pepper to pepper and wanted a product that could keep the playing field even.”
Enter the Toe of Satan.
“It’s made with a cooked-down pepper extract, technically hotter than an actual pepper, that’s poured into a mold roughly the size of a thumb — there’s a nail on it,” he says, chuckling. “We watched some challenges — to hold it in your mouth for five minutes — on YouTube. You see these people, their faces are dripping, they’re drooling all over the place. It’s really fun.”
Keeping it small — 10 contestants max — Williams sought to brand the event with À La Cart’s Milk District location and searched for school lunch-sized cartons with resident plant T.G. Lee’s moniker, but failed. Instead, for their $20 entry fee, competitors received a milk carton-shaped glass that was filled with unlimited pours of mlíko.
A popular drink in the Czech Republic, a creamy, wet, mostly-foam pour that looks like milk and goes down smooth.
“It’s delicious, and kind of like cappuccino foam,” says Williams, who logged more than a decade in the craft beer industry before opening À La Cart.
They expected the contest to go five minutes, maybe seven max, but surprises were in store.
“A few people dropped off pretty quickly, one lasted less than a minute, but then we had several going really strong. Five or six went past the five-minute mark.”
Laura Toner, 41, of Deltona was one of them.
“I kind of went into Zen meditation mode and tried to concentrate on my breathing,” said Toner, who spent an impressive and drool-free 20 minutes with the 9 million Scoville pop in her mouth. “I saw a video online later and didn’t realize how little I moved. I just sat there, staring straight out.”
Toner, a fan of the Hot Ones YouTube talk show — and their products — described the challenge as “intense.”
“I’ve done the Death Nuts challenge with friends before, which is actually spicer on the Scoville scale than the lollipop, but at least you can chew those up, swallow them and get it over with. The lollipop just sits there and marinates. It was pretty rough.”
Too rough for Toner’s boyfriend, Travis Melvin, 39, of Titusville.
“He just wanted to beat our friend, Jeff,” Toner says, chuckling. “He lasted maybe a minute past and then looked at me and (another winner) Big Rick and realized it wasn’t worth it to keep going.”
Toner, Big Rick and fellow competitor Zach Radziseski hit the 20-minute mark before Williams called the contest, awarding all three the grand prize.
“They weren’t budging,” says an amused Williams, who plans on doing another Heat Week contest next year. Possibly with a different product. Time will tell.
Meantime, the specials are still running through July 24, so if you’re a heat seeker, head out and hit ‘em up.
More info
À La Cart: 609 Irvington Ave. in Orlando, alacartorlando.com
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
