LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The world’s largest biscuits and gravy competition took place Saturday, Feb. 17 in Louisville. The event was hosted at the Mellwood Art Center and fundraised money for the Boys and Girls Haven.
The Rickhouse, a Bardstown restaurant, won two categories at this year’s competition.
"We won on the vegetarian, which is kind of weird because we're a steakhouse," said Jason Heath, owner of the Rickhouse. "But my wife's a vegetarian, so 20 something years of that, and then we won in the nontraditional, which is our ribeye ... creamy gravy on a pimento cheese toast."
The steakhouse doesn’t even serve gravy, but that hasn’t stopped them from dominating the competition and taking home wins every year they’ve competed.
"I grew up a fat kid; I like to eat," Heath said. "My mom and dad loved cooking biscuits and gravy and stuff, and it's one of my favorite breakfast foods, so I always just kind of went with it."
It was the 11th annual Gravy Cup, and event organizers are calling it the world's largest biscuits and gravy competition.
"As far as we know, it's not only the largest, but maybe the only biscuits and gravy competition," said Boys and Girls Haven board chair Steve Diebold. "That's the way we bill it, so until somebody proves us wrong, that's what we've got."
The Boys and Girls Haven hosts the event to raise money for teens who need help in the foster care system.
"They've been moved from foster home to foster home, and nobody will take them until we get ahold of them, try to calm them down, work through their problems with them and get them back into a foster home or into a better environment so they can become a contributing member of society," Diebold said.
It’s the Boys and Girls Haven that brings Heath to the Gravy Cup often.
"I've learned in this business that's what makes [it] enjoyable, is to be able to give back because when you're in the restaurant business, it's about serving people and taking care of people," Heath said.
More than 30 chefs participated in this year’s competition.