In the spirit of two wholly American pursuits — overeating and winning — comes the Takedown, a cooking competition where anything goes. – New York Times
There’s simply no other food gathering in which a community of cuisine lovers can unite to celebrate the wondrous and wild recipe discoveries by amateur chefs. -Village Voice
Matt Timms, the czar of amateur cook-offs, take-downs, and bake-offs in NYC, (inspired) a movement of down-home cooking competitions. – Phoenix New Times
Probably the most diverse, the most positive, and the most unpretentious thing I’ve ever witnessed in NYC. – Little Baby’s Ice Cream
America’s most important home-cook food competition (obviously).
The Takedown blasted into existence in the winter of 2003 in a tiny Brooklyn hovel, and has grown into a full-blown, adult-sized indie cooking competition series. Long before TV cooking shows got shiny and corporate, The Takedown was already packing Brooklyn bars with wild chili cook-offs and DIY food battles.
Today, The Takedown is a nationwide home-cook food event, celebrating chili, mac and cheese, cookies, bacon, fondue, salsa, lamb, curry, snacks, and more. Self-taught cooks and ambitious amateurs bring their most unhinged brilliant recipes and compete for money, prizes, cookware, and eternal bragging rights.
We’ve thrown food competitions in NYC and across the country:
Austin • Houston • Chicago • New Orleans • Nashville • Boston • St. Paul • Seattle • San Francisco… and more cities keep getting Takedowns’d.
Most New York City Takedowns now go down at Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Brooklyn, with the crowd tasting everything and voting for their champions. It’s part cooking contest, part food festival, part gluttony ritual.
The press has been all over it for years, with love from food sites, newspapers, and blogs who can’t resist a good mac and cheese meltdown or cookie battle. (Check out the Press page for the receipts.)
Who’s responsible for this?
Actor/filmmaker/beautiful man Matt Timms produces the events and MCs the night, hyping the crowd, roasting the competitors (lovingly), and making sure everyone leaves full and slightly dazed.
Get Involved
-
Want to compete in a chili, cookie, mac and cheese, or other Takedown?
-
Want to host a Takedown at your venue or festival?
-
Want your brand or cookware company to sponsor prizes?
👉 GET ON THE MAILING LIST or pitch your idea by emailing:
Matt at thetakedowns dot com (or just: Matt@TheTakedowns.com)
Come cook. Come eat. Come vote.
The Takedown will always be the first. And the awesomest.
