So Close, Yet So Far

came up just short of eating over four pounds of Togo's pastrami sandwich in 48 minutes Saturday afternoon at the sandwich shop's location on Stevens Creek Boulevard. 

Silber, 29, who lives in Cupertino, ate over three pounds and decided to call it quits as the clock wound down. The competition was part of the shop's "Pounder Challenge" competition that has been sweeping the region. He actually completed the "Pounder Challenge" a few weeks ago, and had upped  the ante by throwing his hat in the ring for doubling the competition.

"I'm a little upset, it was so close, yet so far," Silber said after the challenge. "There was so much pastrami that I could not take another bite. But it was absolutely delicious."

Donning a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle vinyl jacket and ski hat, the Oak Grove graduate devoured the first pound of the sandwich in just over seven minutes, and jammed through the competition with tunes from artists Skrillex, Kanye West and Rage Against the Machine through the headphones of his iPod.

Silber chose to have his two family-sized sandwiches on white and onion bread, and livened the taste up by ordering guacamole, barbeque sauce, au jus, chipotle mayo, ranch and marinara to spread on with pepper jack, American, Swiss, Provolone and cheddar cheeses.

Three of Silber's brothers were in attendance to watch him take on the challenge.

"When we were kids, Bear always made fun of us for how little we would eat," said step-brother Lance Racheff. The two spent their early years growing up in Los Altos before moving to San Jose, where Bear graduated from Oak Grove High School.  

"I thought he would eat twice as much," said Jeff Silber.

According to Cupertino Togo's franchisee Rose Le, only two other people have competed in the challenge at her store location.

The thought of returning to Togo's to retry the "Double Pounder" still looms in the back of Silber's mind, as he is also eyeing the "Judgment Day" challenge offered by popular Bay Area sandwich shop Ike's Lair, which will be opening a new franchise on Stevens Creek Blvd.

"I might be crazy enough to give it a try," he said.

Editor's note: The original story has been edited to correct the name of Silber's step-brother and clarify the size of the sandwich attempted and completed.