may 2019 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 37
bayashi's technique involved taking a deep breath to draw
the intact hot dogs into his stomach. Surely, humankind
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needs to be broken, right? Wrong! Nathan’s Famous has
been curating the results of its annual contests, and its web-
site shows Kobayashi's dominance of the sport up to 2006,
when he ate 53.75 hot dogs in 12 minutes. But the current
hero of hot dog eating emerged in 2007. Joey Chestnut has
dominated the leaderboards, winning 11 titles since coming
on the scene and setting a new record in 2018 by eating 74
hot dogs in 10 minutes. If that doesn't make you feel nause-
ated, consider this: During his record-setting performance,
he consumed nearly 20,000 calories in those 15 pounds of
wieners and buns. Pepto-Bismol, anyone?
In December 1995, GAMES introduced us to the Serial Din-
ers, a group of university students in Toronto, Ontario, who
were seeking sustenance beyond the usual campus
fare. Founding member Jason Taniguchi (see interview
below), didn't want the hassle of selecting a restaurant
every week, so he came up with the idea to dine at
every restaurant in the city, in alphabetical order, fol-
lowing the local Yellow Pages. In 1989, the Serial Din-
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meet every Friday since. At the time the original article
was published, the club was six years old and just
wrapping up a long list of CAFÉ restaurants and mov-
ing on to CALIFORNIA.
And now, 24 years later, they are about to tackle the
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them for a meal if you happen to be in the neighbor-
LSSHƂEXTVSFEFMPMX]GEHMRIVWQJason Taniguchi is the founder of the Serial Diners. He talked with me about copycat clubs and the group's
upcoming 30-year anniversary.Q: Do you remember your first meeting? What was the restaurant’s name? I hope it wasn't aardvark-related.
A: I shall never forget the first meeting of the Serial Diners, which took place on Nov. 24, 1989, at the AC Ranch Cafe, which
is, remarkably, still in existence! It was an Italian bar/hangout, and they cooked up a big pot of spaghetti just for us!Q: You post your dining schedule on your website and extend an open invitation to the general public. What kind of
relationships have you made from Serial Diners over the last 30 years?
A: Yes, we have always encouraged anyone to join us at any of our sessions—the only criterion for joining the Serial Diners
is to somehow know about us and show up! Most of the current regulars are people who showed up one week and then just
kept on coming! Over the years, people have come and gone, but there always seems to be a group of people up for
checking out restaurants in alphabetical order. I've made many dear friends through the Serial Diners—and some people
even met their spouse there!Q: Is every dining experience a positive one?
A: While most restaurants are at least somewhat decent, I can't say that every week has been positive as an actual dining
experience—though in general, I would say that we are less offended by cheap places that serve mediocre food than we
are by fancy places that don't deliver the goods. However, I can say that every week it is a pleasure to make my way to a
restaurant at some random location in the city, walk in the door and see a bunch of friends sitting there to eat dinner
together. Even when the restaurant is terrible, the company and the conversation are great!Q: Are there any copycat groups that you know of? Would you recommend that people in other cities start their own Serial
Diners club?
A: We have, at times, briefly had chapters of the Serial Diners in Buffalo, Boston, and Winnipeg... and we even learned that
there was, for a time, a Stockholm Serial Diners! We would certainly encourage people in other cities to start a chapter—it's
a great way to discover the city, to discover restaurants, to broaden your culinary tastes, and to meet like-minded people!Q: Is there a Guinness World Record category for what you’re doing?
A: As far as we know, Guinness has yet to recognize alphabetical dining as a category.Q: This year marks your 30th anniversary. Did you think you’d make it this far?
A: Good grief, I don't know if I thought we'd make it 10 years! Certainly when I came up with the idea of a club that visited
all the restaurants in the Toronto Yellow Pages in alphabetical order, I had no conception that the more vulnerable institution
might prove to be the Yellow Pages—or indeed, the very concept of the print directory!Q: You expect to finish in 2037. So what then?
A: It was never really about getting to the end of the alphabet. It was all about having a different place to eat every week,
with friends who have congregated in the same place. The alphabet’s just a means to an end. There are a few theories for
what will happen when we hit the final Z restaurant and finish our decades-long quest. Perhaps we will simply call it a day,
having completed our culinary mission. Perhaps we will pick something else to go through alphabetically. But then again,
perhaps we’ll just return for another big pot of spaghetti at the AC Ranch Cafe and start all over again.INTERVIEW WITH THE SERIAL DINER
may 2019 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 37