NORWICH – Chenango County Habitat for Humanity’s (CCHH) third soup tasting event, the CCHH Souper Bowl had another very successful event! People packed the YMCA community room to support this very deserving non-profit organization. They sipped soup, ate bread, had coffee provided by the Christ Lutheran Church, had dessert, listened to music, participated in raffles, shopped the bake sale, and voted. Everyone became a food critic and had to choose their favorite soup from the participating restaurants from Chenango County. All, approximately 200+, entrants had one ticket to vote with.

From the restaurant’s point of view, this March event was a perfect opportunity to let the public taste a sample that demonstrates their special style of cuisine! Among the 30 wonderful soups, there were some that were really unique like the Smothered Steak soup from The Stadium in Oxford, Buffalo Chicken Wing soup from Gilligan’s Island in Sherburne, and a Chicken BLT soup from Suzi’s in Sidney. The Caboose Diner of Norwich had a sweet chocolate S’mores soup that was so well received it almost came in third place! All restaurants were encouraged to distribute menus, business cards, catering information or even coupons for their establishments. To go with the soups, La Maison Blanche Bakery and Café (Norwich) donated French baguettes that everyone loved!

Participating restaurants were Bob’s Diner (Bainbridge), Canasawacta County Club (Norwich), Dusty’s Dairy Bar & Grill (Norwich), Fred’s Inn (Norwich), Garf’s Deli (Norwich), Gilligan’s Island (Sherburne), Henry’s Drive-In (Afton), Judy’s Diner (Sherburne), Main Street Bakery & Grill (Afton), Mimi’s Italian Cuisine (Greene), New Berlin Diner (New Berlin), New York Pizzaria (New Berlin), Nina’s Pizzeria & Restaurant (Norwich), North End Deli (Norwich), Ontario Restaurant (Norwich), Park Place Restaurant (Norwich), S & S Café (Bainbridge), Serendipity Café (Norwich), The Caboose Diner (Norwich), The New Bluebird Deli Restaurant (Norwich), The Norwich Diner (Norwich), The Stadium (Oxford), Suzi’s Bakeshop Diner (Sidney), The Sherwood Inn (Greene), The Silo Restaurant (Coventry), Tony T’s (Greene), Uncorked Café (Norwich), Village Bakery & Café (Greene), and Vincent’s Italian Restaurant & Pub (Afton).

At the end of the two-hour tasting event, and after lots of difficult voting decisions made by the patrons, the soup voting tickets were counted. Many were very close, but rich and creamy soups were, once again, very popular. Placing third was Nina’s with their award winning Lobster Bisque. Winning second place was Dusty’s with a Broccoli & Ham Chowder. First place was Garf’s Deli with a Chicken Coq Au Vin with mushrooms. (Coincidentally, all the placing restaurants were from Norwich.) All in all, however, every single soup was a winner due to the fact they all were tasted, enjoyed, and finished off before the end of the evening!

The bake sale, organized by Bonnie Graves, raised $481 for Habitat. The Chinese Auction was also very well organized by Terrie Wrede and Linda Lewis-Moors. They raised $796 for Habitat. The total raised (with donations and sponsorships) was approximately $3,000! Not only was there a great bunch of super soup ladlers (all wearing bright green shirts donated by Fine Line Graphics) but there was also a tremendous staff of volunteers who worked behind the scenes. All of these people were orchestrated by one person, Terri Bickford, and she is responsible for the true success of the Souper Bowl.