Shannon Lindell, executive chef at Taste Italian Kitchen in Starkville, stands tall at her station. Aside from her proven experience, she now boasts another accomplishment, one that is perhaps her greatest yet. Taste was named the 2023 Souper Bowl Champion in The Greater Starkville Development Partnership’s annual contest.

“As the chef, I was so excited to share the news with my kitchen staff,” she said. “I lead a young, incredibly talented team, and a little public acknowledgment of their efforts means the world. They were thrilled to hear we won first place.”

The staff considered themselves a bit of an underdog in the competition because Taste had never competed before.

“Being a relatively new restaurant, we felt like we were an underdog in the contest,” Lindell said. “We definitely will compete more in the future. We have a title to defend!”

The soup the restaurant chose to enter was its smoked tomato bisque. The main reason for choosing this soup was because it is a constant at the restaurant.

“It is our house soup and always available,” Lindell said. “ We also carry a soup of the day, but it constantly changes. Entering the one that is a menu staple made sense.”

The contest was structured differently this year as well. Instead of a single-day event, it was spread out over a period of four weeks. The goal was to get more people entering restaurants in Starkville, therefore drumming up additional business.

“We think it went really well. Because of this promotion nearly 600 additional people were eating out in restaurants in Starkville to vote for their favorite soups,” Director of Main Street for the Partnership Paige Watson said. “The competition definitely accomplished our original goal which is to get more people in restaurants during a time that is typically slower throughout the year.”

She said there were about three times more votes cast this year than previous years.

Participation was incentivized as well, with customers being entered for numerous prizes.

“Every person who voted for their favorite soup was entered to win gift cards to participating restaurants,” the Partnership press release reported. “From those patrons, three grand prize winners were announced and posted on social media. Grand prize winners received either four tickets to unWine, two MSU Baseball Triple Crown passes or a $250 downtown shopping spree.”

Lindell echoed Watson’s sentiment from Taste’s side of things as well, stating that there had been an increase in business for the restaurant. She said contests like this one help to not only boost the business, but also increase name recognition.

“We have only been exclusively Italian food for a year, so participating in local events allows us to get our brand out there, and let people know there is an excellent Italian restaurant right here in Starkville,” Lindell said.