Chefs get creative for third annual Wingfest Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The sound of rumbling motorcycle engines met the sound of rumbling stomachs at Milwaukee's Harley-Davidson Museum on Sunday, April 14th for the third annual Wingfest Milwaukee!

The event got its start on a wing and a plan.

"Just eating some wings at Red Rock Saloon, you know, loving them and thinking that 'Hey, they've got some good wings. Do they have the best in the city?'" Wingfest Organizer DJ Cartledge said.

Three years ago, Cartledge created Wingfest Milwaukee, where 17 restaurants have a chance to showcase their very best chicken wings.

"There's gonna be probably about 35 to 40 different variations of wings and styles and sauces and all that good stuff," Cartledge said.

JT Gustafson is Red Rock Saloon's Executive Chef. He said he was excited for the opportunity to put his best wings forward for competition and consumption.

"Usually the chefs try to create new things for this contest, so you get a lot of innovation and things that normally wouldn't be on a menu because people have no boundaries. They can try anything that they want," Gustafson said.

Creating something new was Gustafson's inspiration for this year's Wingfest.

"The Confessor Wing is new, with pineapple-habanero sauce. We added a pineapple-tequila mango salsa on top of it to give it that extra little refreshing kick," Gustafson said.

Wingfest also features a wing-eating competition to determine who can eat 10 wings in the shortest span of time. For most, the focus Sunday was on having a tasty time!

"We started with the hottest ones first, so we needed time to tone it down a little bit. Everybody is super awesome, very delicious," Beth Beyer said.

"I like the variety of wings. They have hot and spicy I really like. I'm just trying to test my palate," John Wright said.

Money donated during this year's Wingfest will benefit the Propionic Acidemia Foundation. CLICK HERE for additional information.