When most of us think of a ‘cheat meal’, it usually involves sweet and savoury flavours running wild in the mind, culminating in a feast from a favourite haunt.
But Cobram’s Vince Mantovani was able to take that indulgent thought and turn it into a hobby — and a serious one at that.
Because when Mantovani sits down at the table, jaws drop.
From putting away parmas north of five kilograms in weight to demolishing every doughnut a store offers in one sitting, his mind-bending feats of eating are nothing short of amazing.
As a long-time bodybuilder, Mantovani sports a hulking figure which takes plenty to fuel.
But while he has been pumping iron for close to three decades, it was only in late 2015 when a series of cheat meals sparked something special.
“About six weeks out from a bodybuilding show I start writing down all the burger joints I want to go to after,” he said.
“When I’d finish a competition, I was going to burger places like three weekends in a row, I’d post them on Facebook and people were spinning out saying ‘didn’t you just eat before?’.
“One person said I needed to do a burger challenge, and I didn’t know they existed in Australia, I thought that was an American thing.
“I went and did it, broke the record in front of a massive crowd who were all cheering, and I got the food for free.
“I thought ‘this is cool, this is fun and everyone loves it’. That’s how it started.”
Since that fateful day, Mantovani, or ‘Big V’ as he’s aptly named his challenge eating persona, has smashed every single food challenge in the wider Goulburn Valley area and beyond.
He’s travelled all over Victoria and even interstate to chalk his insignia on pub challenge boards, often being the only name listed on them with his appetite an almost superhuman trait.
There’s only been one he wasn’t able to complete.
In his first year of ‘pro-eating’, Mantovani threw his hat in the ring to attempt a monster challenge at Richmond’s Beer and Burger Bar.
It consisted of two 600-gram patties, 700g worth of bun and 400g of chips — not to mention 16 cheese slices, 16 bacon rashers and two cans of soft drink, all to be completed in an hour.
And it soon became clear he’d bitten off more than he could chew.
“It was stupid to take on something so big,” he said.
“That’s the only one I’ve ever failed, and I’ve actually gone back and hold the record to that one now which they don’t run any more. I smashed it in 12 minutes.
“A lot of them are hard, mentally you’ve got to push through. I’ve done a lot of 5kg, 6kg, but anything over four-and-a-half kilo starts to get tough.
“I’ve done the whole menu at That’s Alotta Donuts, which was 60-odd doughnuts.
“That was probably the hardest because it started to get so heavy and sweet at the same time; it was a real struggle street towards the end.”
Now well-accustomed to pushing out the toxins associated with eating such large quantities, Mantovani has trained his stomach to stretch by drinking several litres of water before a challenge.
Considering the rigour of challenge eating puts such a large toll on the body, many may wonder why the Cobram native puts his innards through the ringer?
“I do it purely for the reactions and the entertainment for others,” he said.
“I guarantee it every time I go into a challenge you get two or three people say ‘are you going to eat all that?’
“Then when they see it at the end, their jaws just drop on the ground, they can’t believe what they’re seeing.
“I always like to hang around and talk to everyone because they’ve come to watch me.
“The kids are the best, because they think you’re some sort of superhero.
“You’ve got little kids saying ‘I want to be like Big V’ and they start gorging on all this food and pretending they’re a food eater.”
Mantovani will often send one of his young fans ‘Big V’ merchandise when they reach out, but admits the parents are sometimes apprehensive about their child following in his foodie footsteps.
After all, the hobby is only profitable if you finish.
But while he didn’t start his eating exploits until he was in his mid-30s, his first passion — bodybuilding — was sparked long before he ever stepped foot in a gym.
Idolising cartoon superhero He-Man as a child, a cheeky trick pulled by his father had Mantovani hooked on the thought of sculpting bulging biceps, powerful pectorals and the rest as a boy.
But the missing piece which put everything in place was none other than a certain former governor of California.
“I didn’t know who Arnold Schwarzenegger was, and one night my father fooled me when Conan the Barbarian was on TV, and he said ‘that’s the real He-Man’,” Mantovani said.
“I was in awe that a human could be that muscly, then I wanted to be like Conan.
“My dad bought me my first bodybuilding magazine and I saw these guys and how big they were ... and it’s been my passion ever since.
“I did my first bodybuilding comp when I turned 18 years old, and I’ve been competing ever since.”
Pushing his body to the absolute limits when it comes to eating and physical conditioning, Mantovani knows a thing or two about dedication.
While he can’t teach people how to eat big or get big, the Cobram calorie connoisseur wants to see more people give food challenges a go — and has set a challenge of his own for the region’s eateries.
“The country needs to get into food challenges more. I’d love it if there were more locally, I wouldn’t have to travel to Melbourne,” he said.
“They have to think about making it reasonable for normal people to have a go though, because I’m a needle in a haystack.
“They can’t make it too unrealistic, because guys like me go in and smash it — there’s only a few of us in Australia that can eat like this.”