This is the Amore Italian Market and Bakery’s Tour of Sicily Challenge. The meal is around five and a half pounds and consists of Twist bread, breaded chicken cutlet parmigiana, eggplant parmigiana, meat ball parmigiana, broccoli rabe, sausage and peppers, pasta, and a rice ball on top. All layers have sauce and cheese. PROVIDED

Randy Santel is coming to Cape Coral.

The professional food eater has won more than 872 food challenges in all 50 states and in 37 unique countries around the world.

He will be at Amore Italian Market and Bakery on Feb. 3 and LaMotta’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant on Feb. 6.

“Florida is pretty much the only state that’s 100% open for dining and things like that,” Santel said. “There’s great weather and I always had a great time in Florida.”

His girlfriend and fellow professional eater, Katina DeJarnett, will join him.

LaMotta’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant’s Soprano Cold Cut Challenge. The mega-sandwich weight in at 7 pounds. PROVIDED

The Randy & Katina’s February Florida Tour Schedule will focus on Southwest Florida, Miami, the Tampa area, Lakeland, Jacksonville and the Panhandle.

Santel contacted a bunch of restaurants and some responded.

LaMotta did a food challenge years ago when it was in its Fort Myers location.

“It’s a perfect opportunity for them to get it started again,” Santel said.

This will be Amore’s first food challenge.

Owner of Amore Italian Market and Bakery Giovanna Lafata encourages everyone to come out and cheer him on.

On Feb. 3 at 4 p.m., Santel will participate in Amore Italian Market and Bakery’s Tour of Sicily Challenge.

The meal is around five and a half pounds and will consist of: Twist bread, breaded chicken cutlet parmigiana, eggplant parmigiana, meat ball parmigiana, broccoli rabe, sausage and peppers, pasta, and a rice ball on top. All layers have sauce and cheese.

Lafata was going to do traditional sandwich, but she wanted to make it a little different and more unique.

“I wanted to incorporate the rice ball,” she said. “It’s a very traditional Sicilian item.”

LaMotta’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant is hosting its Soprano Cold Cut Sandwich Challenge on Feb. 6 at 1 p.m.

Owner of LaMotta, Carmelo LaMotta, says it’s going to be awesome.

“We’re rocking it,” he said. “We’re going to make it huge in the Cape.”

They’ll also continue doing food challenges even after Santel leaves.

“We’ll film it live and put it on Facebook,” he said.

When he did the Soprano Cold Cut Challenge two or three years ago at his Fort Myers location before it moved to Cape Coral, LaMotta said no one was ever able to eat it all.

“It’s something different to try,” he said. “We enhanced it a little more from when we had it had the Fort Myers location. Now it weighs about seven pounds.”

When he’s sitting down just to enjoy a meal, Santel said he always enjoys Italian dishes.

“That’s always delicious,” he said.

He loves pizza, specialty hotdogs and tacos.

“Anything with a variety,” Santel said.

When it comes to food challenges, sometimes it’s easier to eat Mexican food.

“Most of the food is already broken up. There isn’t a ton of chewing with it,” he said. “It’s usually easier to eat faster when doing something like a burrito challenge.”

In 2010, Santel won the National Men’s Health/Spartacus Transformation Challenge. The week after he completed the contest, Santel finished his very first food challenge, the 28″ Pointersaurus Pizza Challenge in St. Louis, Missouri.

He teaches people how to strategize, train and dominate all restaurant food eating challenges. Santel also teaches restaurant owners and marketers how to design and promote successful food challenges based on their geographical area and clientele.

He’s a huge supporter and advocate for nutrition, which is why he is able to stay lean while still averaging over 100 food challenge wins a year. In 2019, Santel graduated from Missouri State University with his second bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics.

It takes a lot of preparation, but Santel’s success speaks for itself.

“The biggest thing is you have to prepare your stomach capacity,” he said when asked if he had any advice for beginners. “If you can’t fit the whole meal in your stomach, it doesn’t really matter how much you prepare. Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew.”

Amore Italian Market and Bakery is at 4703 S.W. 16th Place. They are open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Sunday. For more information call 239-800-3938 or visit https://amoreswfl.com/.

LaMotta’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant is at 303 N.E. Third Avenue, No. 1. They are open11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday; noon to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. For more information call 239-540-8555 or visit https://www.lamottapizzeria.com/.

For more information on Santel, visit his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMJlGrPk73l9U6qahc8D_gA.