HAMDEN -- Joe Menchetti felt as if he was on a reality television show all day Friday. He wasn't far off.

Menchetti, a 38-year-old Wallingford resident and a professional competitive eater, was being taped for the Fuji Television Network in Japan for an upcoming competition. He will be in Japan from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 with four other American competitive eaters to take on some of the top Japanese eaters.

A camera crew followed Menchetti on Friday to shoot video for the biography portion of the show.

"So far, it's been a little surreal," said Menchetti, who is known as "Gentleman" Joe Menchetti for his competition attire of tuxedo and red bow tie.

"It's strange to have a video camera in my face all day as I go about my rather mundane life."

Menchetti put on an eating demonstration at Zio Franco's in Hamden on Friday to give the production crew footage for the program.

"He's one of the best competitors," said Tom Kato, coordinator for Kei Inc., a production company based in New York City that is filming the American footage for the Fuji Television Network.

"They know a lot about him and a lot about the eaters over there. I think the people there are more conscious of it. It's more like they're celebrities. You'll see the competitive eaters in the tabloid magazines."

Menchetti put on an eating display for about an hour Friday, but much of that time was spent setting up camera shots and bringing out the food.

In that time, he ate five hamburgers, two plates of French fries, three slices of pepperoni pizza, a 12-ounce steak, five hot dogs, half of a stuffed bread, two bottles of water and two cans of diet Coke.

"He's an exceptional eater," said Frank Sorrentino, co-owner of Zio Franco's as he and his staff watched Menchetti chow down.

Menchetti first became interested in competitive eating in 1990 in Wildwood, N.J., when he was the fastest competitor to eat a medium pizza. He did not enter another competition for 11 years, but he finally took part in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in 2003. He ate 18 1/2 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. He finished eighth out of 20 eaters.

He no longer takes part in the Coney Island competition because he refuses to sign a contract with the International Federation of Competitive Eaters. Instead, he eats in competitions run through the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters.

According to the association's Web site,www.competitiveeaters.com, "Menchetti holds world records in eight categories including pasta and sauce (three total pounds in 1 minute, 21 seconds) and dumplings (49 in two minutes.) Menchetti said he has since broken the dumpling record again and has eaten 60 in one minute."

He is the association's top-ranked competitive eater.

Menchetti said he has been told the competition in Japan will involve steak and that it will last 30 to 45 minutes. He said that most competitions in the United States are roughly two to five minutes.

He has been chewing gum to strengthen his jaw and drinking water to expand his stomach.

The production company picked up the tab for Friday's demonstration, but if Menchetti were to pay for the food he ate it would have come to $80.50.

Plus tax.

dchampagne@record-journal.com

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