Saturday’s 6th annual Davidson Housing Coalition Souper Bowl brought several hundred diners of all ages to Davidson College’s Lilly Family Gallery Saturday to taste some of the best soups in town – and raise money for emergency home repairs.

Restaurant X on South Main Street delivered the day’s crowd favorite – a carrot and ginger concoction. Awards also went to Toast Cafe, the Brickhouse, and Campania Cafe. The voters – college students, seniors, children, businesspeople, and even the mayor and town manager – had a total of 16 soups to sample.

Marcia Webster, executive director of the housing coalition, observed that the annual Souper Bowl is unique because it attracts such a variety of residents. “This involves such a great cross-section of the community: youth, families with little ones on their laps, older folks from The Pines, and singles,” Ms. Webster said.

Ms. Webster said the event is one of two major annual fund-raisers for the Housing Coalition, which develops and manages affordable housing. (The other is the Ride for Hope and Housing every fall.) This event provided funding for HAMMERS, a regional program of the coalition that has made emergency repairs on more than 100 homes in the Lake Norman area since its founding in 2005.

A total of 10 restaurants and caterers participated this year, up from 6 last year. They were: from Davidson, Armin’s Catering at Beaver Dam, Brickhouse Tavern, Campania Cafe, Restaurant X, Toast, Sabi Asian Bistro; from Cornelius, Creole House on Main and XO Restaurant and Lounge; from Huntersville’s Birkdale shopping center, Maddie’s Southern Bistro; and from Mooresville, Jeffrey’s.

While sipping, diners listened to a variety of music by Davidson College a cappella groups the Delilahs and The Generals, another vocal group Sands of Time, and a country/bluegrass quartet of Rusty Knox, Mike Orlando, Dwight Burks and Gregg Miller.

The event also had help from Davidson College’s Community Service Office, and Davidson students helped staff the event.

OTHER AWARDS

The 16 competing soups from 10 restaurants were vying for five awards. Here’s what the judges – those of us who sampled the soups – thought were the best. (Didn’t make it to the Souper Bowl? You’ll just have to stop by all the restaurants and offer your own reviews.)

• Best Creamy: Brickhouse Tavern, Cream of Wild Mushroom & Chicken
• Best Chunky: Toast Cafe  Chili
• Most Creative: Toast Cafe, Southern Beans and Greens
• Best Vegetarian: Campania Cafe with Pasta Fagioli
• Best Overall Soup: Restaurant X with Carrot & Ginger

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos by David Boraks. Click on any image to start the slideshow.