[crowd chants] GhostFace pizza!
I'm at Twisted Pine Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado,
taking on the GhostFace challenge.
So how hot are we talking?
80% of people fail
going up against this challenge.
If I can finish a ghost pepper-infused pizza in 15 minutes...
The dough has chili, the marinara has chili,
as well as the top of the pizza has chili.
It's the hottest thing you've ever had.
[Casey] I get a T-shirt and bragging rights!
I can't believe he's still breathing.
You're not afraid of no ghost!
[mocking] Hey, ghost face...
Boo!
[Casey] For years, food's army has grown unchecked.
Oh, my God.
Bigger...
Wow.
Spicier...
[crowd cheers]
Bolder.
What is that?
But a hero rises...
It's tremendous!
ready to taste the nation's most epic eats.
- Uh... - [cheering]
I'm Casey Webb.
Yes!
Holding the banner of men
and armed with years of experience in the restaurant industry...
[crowd chanting] Casey! Casey!
[Casey] ...I go into battle.
- Bring out the steak! - [crowd cheers]
[Casey] Food... your days are numbered.
It's gonna be a wild ride!
The mighty Casey has a taste for victory.
[all cheering]
This is Man v. Food.
I'm blazing a tasty trail to Boulder, Colorado
for a bourbon burger blast, a campfire classic
and a challenge that doesn't have a ghost of a chance against me.
Boulder, I'm ready to rock.
[Casey] Named one of America's foodiest towns,
Boulder boasts a big selection of first rate food
against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains.
And my first stop isn't just one of the best restaurants in the city...
it's one of the oldest.
Boulder is a college town with a rich history.
And no restaurant encapsulates this more than The Sink.
This iconic institution has served up decades' worth of bar food favorites
to students and hungry locals alike.
[Casey] First opened in 1923 as Summer's Sunken Gardens,
this 100-year-old restaurant finally garnered the nickname "The Sink."
And while ownership has changed hands over the past century,
it's remained a favorite food hotspot for the city of Boulder.
So, how would you describe The Sink to people that have never been here before?
It's an institution in Boulder.
Some place everyone who visits Boulder needs to come to.
Our son is in school here and this was the first stop.
It was hands-down, like, the best meal we've ever had.
[Casey] It's not just the history that keeps patrons coming back,
it's their delicious takes on comfort food classics.
Like their 'buff mac',
topped with buffalo chicken tenders
blue cheese and scallions.
Or The Sink's infamous 'ugly crust pizza'
that has locals adding a little something to sweeten the deal.
What do you love about this pizza versus other pizza you've had?
It's a huge crust,
which crust is my favorite part.
And then the honey that you can put on it afterwards.
[Casey] See, that's a thing you don't see everywhere else.
- It's a Colorado thing. - [Casey] A Colorado thing!
- People get weirded out. - Yeah.
Yeah, no, I'm weirded out.
I haven't had it yet.
So how do you go about eating a slice of pizza here?
Eat the slice, then ask for the honey,
then just drench the crust in the honey.
[Casey] The Sink's food has been bringing people together for nearly a century.
And as long as locals can remember,
the main attraction has been the burgers.
Mmm. We love the burgers here.
Burgers are my favorite food,
this is the best burger you're ever gonna get.
- So serious. - The best burger in town or the best burger in Boulder?
Possibly the world. Possibly the world!
[Casey] This high praise has my mouth watering.
I'm headed back to the kitchen
where chef Chris Cunningham has been carrying the torch.
Hey, Casey, how you doing?
-Welcome to The Sink. -I'm doing good, man. Thanks, man.
This place is... can I say a place of legends?
It is. 99 years old.
We've kept it going strong since.
So, Chris, tell me. What are we making today, man?
We're gonna be making a bourbon jalapeño burger.
[Casey] Uh-huh! So a little bit of heat?
[Chris] Little bit of heat, little bit of sweet...
and then that nice, juicy burger to cut through the fat.
I like juicy burgers. And fat, too.
- That's kind of... - [both laugh]
That's right up my alley.
So first we're going to make our pickled bourbon jalapenos.
[Casey] Chris starts by toasting coriander in a pan
and then adding bourbon, apple cider vinegar,
agave and more seasoning.
While that comes to a boil,
we slice down jalapenos and add in the liquid.
- So we're gonna let this cool? - Yep.
I like to let them sit for about five days.
Even though it's a quick pickle,
we're gonna let it sit for a bit
just so you get the flavor right.
Exactly.
[Casey] Next, Chris drops the fries
and while they're cooking, we start on the burger.
[Chris] Free-range, grass-fed beef.
All or meat comes from Caribou Ranch,
20 minutes up the road here.
[Casey] We melt two slices of Monterey Jack.
The cheese is gonna be like a blanket for the burger.
- Cheese blanket. - Heck, yeah.
He's one of those.
Then, we can stack this historic burger.
Sesame seed bun, lettuce, pickled red onion,
grass-fed burger with Jack cheese,
pickled bourbon jalapenos and guacamole.
All served alongside their house-made pickles and Cajun fries.
The Sink's legendary bourbon jalapeño burger.
I'm digging in, Chris.
I get the spice from the jalapenos kinda like, right away.
That and the Jack cheese.
It's creamy, it's crunchy, it's tangy...
And then the guacamole on top,
that rich creaminess of guacamole
and the cheese combination
is actually cooling this off a little bit.
- Yeah. - There's heat, there's sweet.
And the burger's just delicious, flat-out.
This burger is straight fire,
but I got a blazing challenge ahead.
[crowd cheers]
The fact that he's still breathing freaks me out.
Let's stay positive, all right?
Let's stay positive!
Get ready to feel the burn.
Right?
[both laugh]
[crowd cheers]
[boxing bell rings]
[Casey] I'm in Boulder, Colorado to take on the GhostFace challenge.
A 10-inch pizza packed with layers
of fiery ghost pepper.
But before bringing the heat,
I'm trying something sweet
with an adult-sized twist on a childhood classic.
Boulder tradition is steeped in the great outdoors,
and here at River and Woods, they are taking that mindset
and creating delicious cabin cuisine
that'll make you feel like you're at the campfire.
As the famous saying goes,
over the river and through the woods
leads to grandmother's house.
And true to its name,
this historic homestead-turned-restaurant
is delivering elevated home-style meals
to crowds of hungry locals.
And how often do you find yourself
rowing through the river and to the woods?
Too often. [laughs]
I've never had a bad meal.
The very best place in town to get good, cozy comfort food.
Better than grandma would make.
[Casey] Mmm!
- To Boulder. - Cheers, ladies. To Boulder.
But cozy home-style cuisine doesn't mean small-time cooking.
These guys are packing big flavor into every plate,
from the slow-braised Colorado short rib,
to the Southwest-style poutine.
And one of the go-to favorites here at River and Woods,
it's the S'mores Campout,
with massive house-made marshmallows
and sugar-dusted graham crackers.
But when you're dealing with a campfire classic,
everyone has their own technique.
[woman] I like to start with the graham cracker.
You have to find the one with the perfect amount of sugar...
[boy] I would go sugar side down.
- Sugar side on the inside. - Yeah.
[woman] I have to warm mine up a little.
Yeah, so you can melt the chocolate, right?
[boy] Usually, I just burn them completely black.
And then you just kinda, like, shove it in there.
Are you just making this up as you go along?
And then you go take a bite?
- [laughs] - Love it.
A million ways to eat 'em, but there's only one way to make 'em,
with chef Daniel Asher.
- Daniel! - Hey, Casey! What's up, man?
- How are you, man? - Good.
Welcome to River and Woods, welcome to Boulder, Colorado.
Thanks for having me, man. What are we making today?
Lighting something on fire, to be quite honest.
[laughing] Yes!
- Why not do that? - We're burning something!
[Daniel] So, tableside campfire s'mores.
Let's rock with some graham crackers.
We're gonna start by...
- Um... you know... - Lots of butter.
creaming together... Yeah, little bit.
We're keeping it healthy, starting with a pound of butter.
[Casey] The graham crackers start with butter,
brown sugar and salt,
then get a mix of honey and egg whites.
[Daniel] You want it to be kinda whipped and creamy.
[Casey] We mix in two types of flour,
all-purpose and graham flour.
You see the dough starting to come together.
Very much so, and you could smell it, too.
Yeah! It's delicious.
[Casey] And when the dough is ready, it gets cooled, rolled, cut and scored.
And it looks identical to every graham cracker you've ever had.
Right? Yes!
[Casey] 10 minutes in the oven, a dusting of cinnamon sugar,
and we can start making our marshmallows.
The foundation to any good marshmallow
is the perfect amount of gelatin.
It almost looks like lead glass.
- Yes, totally. - It has that kind of antique look to it.
- Like window panes. - Like window panes.
Exactly, yes.
[Casey] 10 sheets mixed with cold water forms a gel.
So the more sheets we use of the actual gelatin...
- Determines... - Determines the...
The squeezy-give factor.
- Squeezy-give... - Squeezy-give factor.
It's a technical term.
- SGF. - [laughs]
[Casey] Then we add vanilla bean paste
and a hot sugar mixture
to activate the gelatin.
12 minutes later, we've got impossibly sticky marshmallow.
- Okay. - The marshmallow boys.
- The marshmallow mixture... - The marshmallow men.
It's gotten way out of control.
Wow, it sure has.
[Daniel] This is why store-bought marshmallows are remarkably popular.
So you get that in the pan
- and then that'll... - Expand.
That'll settle. Right, exactly.
[Casey] The marshmallow gets refrigerated for 24 hours
and then it's ready to work with.
Is everyone ready? Are we doing this?
- I'm just going... - Three, two, one, do it!
Down. Now carefully...
- Oh, see? You got a nice, smooth surface. - How cool is that?
[Casey] The biggest marshmallow I've ever seen!
Isn't that amazing? Man versus marshmallow.
- It's... - [giggles]
Can I just have one little one?
Daniel slices the marshmallow into thinner strips.
-That's so cool! Can I pick that up? -Yeah.
[both laugh]
- Isn't that great? - Look at that!
The longest marshmallow on the planet.
[giggles] And the happiest.
Dan portions out each massive marshmallow.
The final plating serves four cinnamon sugar graham crackers,
two mountain-sized marshmallows,
and a bar of chocolate.
The S'mores Campout from River and Woods!
Here we go. Ready?
Yes, do it!
Fantastic!
[Casey] This brings s'mores to a whole new level.
I love that we used local ingredients,
we created the marshmallows ourselves, we made the graham crackers...
This adds a whole other level to the campfire experience.
- Yes. - The graham cracker...
Just the crunch alone, and the cinnamon and the sugar on top of our cookie...
and just the smell of the campfire.
It's like, you're really transported back to when you were a little kid.
Yes.
And I try to do that every day.
- [laughs] - Yeah, me too.
[Casey] The more I can do that, the happier I am.
- Super good. - [grunts with pleasure]
These s'mores have me feeling like a little kid,
but soon I'll have to put my big-boy pants on.
[crowd cheers]
Crazy hot. I think at this point
it's just about just being able to actually breathe through it.
GhostFace challenge, get spooked!
- You like that? - Yeah, that was great.
[crowd cheers]
[boxing bell rings]
I'm at Twisted Pine Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado
taking on the GhostFace challenge.
If I finish a ghost pepper laced pizza in 15 minutes,
I get a free T-shirt.
GhostFace challenge,
it's time to turn up the heat.
Winner of 10 awards from the country's biggest craft beer festival,
Twisted Pine isn't just one of the best breweries in Boulder,
- it's one of the best in the country. - [bell rings]
One thing I really like is that the people that work at the front
actually actively participate in brewing the beer.
So you get a really good inside perspective.
[Casey] But the 30 beers on tap aren't the only attraction.
Twisted Pines' food menu is just as tempting,
with massive plates like their piled-high nachos,
and perfect pairings like the chicken bacon ranch pizza.
[woman] They do beer-braise their chicken here.
The hand-tossed crust is perfect,
and then the herbs on top.
I mean, what's not to love?
[Casey] But something truly twisted dwells deep within this brewery.
A specter so spicy, it'll shock your senses.
They call it the GhostFace challenge!
[evil laugh]
A 10-inch pizza loaded with ghost pepper marinara,
shredded cheese and two layers of ghost pepper flakes.
And the true secret to this fiery phantom
is their GhostFace Killah,
ghost pepper-infused beer
baked into the pizza's crust.
We're about to drink the GhostFace Killah beer.
[sighs]
- All right. - Yeah, sips are good.
- All right, let's do it. - Salud.
[clears throat]
This is hot.
Wow.
- So that's in the dough. - Yeah.
I can't feel my face.
[Casey laughs]
Usually, when you're eating spicy food,
there's usually, like, milk and bread and stuff
that helps with the spice, right?
So they take that out of it.
You know what's interesting?
As much pain as I'm in right now,
I really want another sip.
- Are you going back for more? - It's really good.
[Casey] A meal so menacing, it could only be cooked by a madman.
And the mastermind behind this monstrous creation
couldn't be more suitably named.
- [evil laugh] - Hey, Chasen.
- Hey, how's it going, Casey? - Good, man, how are you?
- Great, nice to meet ya. - To you too, man.
So, the GhostFace pizza challenge,
how many people have taken this thing on?
Oh, quite a few hundred.
Very few have finished the challenge.
80% of people failed.
- [Casey] 80% fail rate? - Yes.
- That's not good numbers, Chasen. - No.
Let me ask you,
'cause you've seen probably a lot of people take this on,
what's the best way?
'Cause it's only 15 minutes.
Eat it as fast as you can.
Damn right I'm gonna eat it as fast as I can.
- Fast as you can. - [Casey exhales loudly]
Is it getting hot in here? I feel hot.
- You wanna build this thing? - Let's do it.
[Casey] Chasen starts by making the ghost pepper dough.
[Chasen] So we have our all-purpose flour here.
We got some salt that's gonna be going into it.
[Casey] A little bit of salt.
- Then we've got... - What's that?
- Yeast. - Yeast?
- And then what's that? - This is gonna be some water,
and a lot of GhostFace beer.
[laughs]
So you're adding just a little bit of water to the GhostFace Killah beer,
into our flour mixture,
and so it's essentially gonna be in the dough.
Dough mixes for a few minutes, then gets set aside to rest.
All right. So the dough is done...
for now and so we're gonna make our marinara.
- We're gonna make our marinara. - Okay.
[Casey] The marinara starts with a base of ground tomatoes,
then we add salt, pepper, oregano and dried ghost pepper flakes.
You guys wanna try these at home?
All right, just be gentle.
Just moving it around from here to there
you could smell the peppers,
it's wafting right in this area.
Oof.
Once the sauce has cooked down,
we roll out the dough, add our marinara,
a blend of mozzarella and provolone cheese,
then we sprinkle a gram of ghost pepper flakes on top.
So the dough has chili, the marinara has chili,
as well as the top of the pizza has chili.
A gram of it.
About five minutes in the oven,
a final gram of ghost pepper
and I'm ready to face the flames.
Whoa... Mamma mia! That's a spicy pizza.
[exhales]
You take that thing.
You got it.
I wanna go home.
[crowd cheers wildly]
Yeah!
[whistles]
[Nick] Casey, welcome to Twisted Pine Brewing Company.
This is the GhostFace pizza challenge.
- [exhales] - Are you ready for your challenge?
Boulder, are you ready?
[crowd cheers]
- I'm ready. - All right.
All right, bring out the pizza!
Bring out the pizza!
[all cheer]
Here we go!
Okay, you have 15 minutes to eat this pizza.
If you win, you get a T-shirt,
a GhostFace pint and notoriety for the rest of your life.
- Being the champ. - Yeah! Notoriety!
It's hard, this town.
All right, let's do it, y'all.
[crowd chants] Five, four, three, two, one...
[crowd cheers]
[Casey] That first bite is like diving into the deep end.
No time to second-guess myself now.
But immediately my mouth is melting.
I'm in for six slices of searing pain.
- If I don't tap out first. - [crowd chants]
You're not afraid of no ghost!
- Yeah! - [crowd whoops]
[crowd cheering]
[boxing bell rings]
[Casey] I'm at Twisted Pine Brewery in Boulder, Colorado
taking on the GhostFace pizza challenge.
[chanting] Twisted Pine! Twisted Pine!
[Casey] I'm two slices in,
but my face is on fire.
And this iced tea isn't helping.
[chanting] GhostFace pizza! GhostFace pizza!
[Casey] With ghost pepper in the sauce and the crust,
there's no relief
and each new bite is stoking the flames.
I can't believe he's eaten that much, he's doing awesome.
[Casey] Three slices down in just three minutes.
[chanting] Half-way, half-way, half-way!
[Casey] But my mouth is so numb, I can barely chew.
I'm losing all my momentum,
and the longer this takes me,
the worse it gets.
The fact that he's still breathing freaks me out.
Let's stay positive, all right? Let's stay positive!
It's gonna take everything in his being to finish this.
I can do it!
[crowd cheers]
[Casey] By slice five, the heat from the chilis
is reaching my lungs
and I'm feeling short of breath.
It's crazy hot. I think at this point it's just about breathing,
just being able to actually breathe through it.
[Casey] I steady my breath, then force down the crust.
But that GhostFace beer is haunting me.
[evil laugh]
What's so funny?
Five minutes in, doing great!
So far, so good.
Thank you.
[Casey] The only thing left to do is feel the burn
and embrace it.
[crowd chants] Final slice!
[Casey] All this heat's lit a fire in my belly
and I have to push through.
[crowd chants] Final slice!
Let's go, Casey!
Yeah, Casey!
[all cheer]
[crowd cheers wildly]
Ooh, all right! Six minutes and 14 seconds!
My man, new record!
- You got the shirt. - Yeah!
You got the pint of GhostFace.
- Oh, no! - Good man.
[crowd cheers]
[chanting] Casey, Casey, Casey, Casey!
In a battle of man versus food,
man won!
- Woo! - [all cheer]
Thank you, Twisted Pine!
Thank you, Boulder!
Thank you, Colorado!
I can't feel my face.
[all laugh]
[screams]