Get drafted to the Gee-Gee platter challenge
The Draft in Minto Sports Complex serves drinks and food in a way that no other place can, because it hangs right over a hockey rink. The restaurant’s menu contains most of the classics: nachos, fries, poutine, wings and lots of other deep-fried delectables.
It also has something which, in the very spirit of the establishment, is called the Gee-Gee platter challenge. Normally, the item sells for $50 and contains 11 food items alongside six different sauces, but at the Draft there is always room for healthy competition. If you can eat the entire platter to yourself in less than 30 minutes, you walk out of the Draft scot-free.
The Fulcrum wanted to know if the platter was manageable and so I offered myself up as sports editor in a duel against 6’2”, 240-pound second-year defensive linesman Rashid Timbilla. The terms were simple: eat the entire platter before the 30 minutes were up, and before my adversary. And like any other food challenge, my eyes deceived my stomach.
During the challenge, Timbilla compared the platter to a strategic board game.
“It’s like Risk,” said Timbilla. “First you start in South America with the fries and the wings, then you move into North America with the garlic cheese bread and jalapeno poppers. After that you move onto Europe with the nachos, and hopefully from there you take the entire platter.”
While his mind was focused on dividing and conquering the food, I was focused on pacing myself and readying myself for the final hurdle. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that it’s full, so if you eat too quickly in the first five minutes, by the 25-minute mark you’ll be choking.
Neither of us ended up finishing the challenge, but I got first place because I ate one and a half pounds more food than Timbilla. I was also left wondering, in the aftermath, if finishing the platter was even possible.
“It definitely is,” explained Greg Ewin owner and operator at the Draft. “I remember this one guy finished the platter.”
He says it is also a safe haven for students looking to study comfortably while also enjoying a game.
You can take a seat and watch the upcoming men’s hockey game on Oct. 26 when the Gee-Gees take on the Carleton Ravens, all while eating your food and enjoying your drink.
“Being on campus allows us to interact with students a little differently,” said Ewin. “Students don’t have to leave the building to go from class to here.”
The Draft’s charm is more than just its opportune placement. It is also an establishment that is very involved with its community, offering sponsorship to the varsity teams as well as a student-only draw in September, offering a bursary of $2,500.
Ewin also said some of the rookies on the football team might be up to the challenge. It was at La Maison that I met the man who finished the platter: fourth-year chemical engineer Anas Daoud. He said he didn’t know how he finished the platter, but it was a heck of an uphill fight.
Can you measure up and eat more than a Gee-Gee?
