Pride comes on a bun, with mustard and chili

RALEIGH -- Gabe Gigliotti staggered out of the Roast Grill like a punch-drunk fighter, bloated, red-faced and sweating pure meat.

He grabbed his gut, now stuffed with 22 chili dogs, and surrendered, nearly weeping with pain. His quest to gobble two dozen frankfurters in less than an hour was in danger of ending in woozy failure. He was two wieners shy of the record.

"I'm delirious," he gasped, eyes shut. "I'm dizzy. You don't understand. My body won't swallow anymore."

Gigliotti, 24, had traveled five hours from Maryland to reclaim the crown for gluttony that already had twice been snatched away.

Last year, while still living in Raleigh, he consumed 16 Roast Grill hot dogs in a sitting, shattering the previous record by a pair of franks.

Then last March, he drove back to scarf 18 in 34 minutes - smacking down the mark set by Adam Richman, who ate 17 while taping an episode of the Travel Channel's "Man v. Food."

Now Gigliotti faced humiliation on a downtown Raleigh sidewalk, having seen his triumph outdone three times, first at 19, then 21 then 23 hot dogs gorged. It couldn't end this way. Not after he'd come so far.

"This is a Hollywood ending!" assured his friend Bryan Shive. "It's like Brett Favre!"

Ten minutes remained on the kitchen timer ticking on the Roast Grill's counter.

Gigliotti shook his head, inhaled deeply and sat back down to face the chili-slathered enemy.

"You know you're going to feel bad," Roast Grill owner George Poniros explained. "So you might as well feel bad with the record."

Each bite took a minute, and Gigliotti cradled his head with his free hand.

The crowd hovered over the plate. "You want some water in your face?" someone asked. "Slap him!" yelled another.

Gigliotti chewed like a gladiator shot through with arrows.

The timer ticked. He worked his aching jaw. Then, granted a few bonus minutes, Gigliotti snapped the 24th wiener in two, wadded up the bun and shoved the whole mess in his mouth just as the buzzer sounded.

And the crowd cheered its hero, returned from hungry exile.

"I did it for the beautiful people of North Carolina," Gigliotti said, "and to make my mother proud."

He kept it down long enough to walk outside and accept congratulations, and then the wiener king and his retinue drove home.

Now there was beer to think about.