At lunch yesterday, the Las Vegas Hilton held the world’s largest buffet that will go in the history books as a Guinness World Record.
A total of 510 dishes were set out for over 850 hungry people at a low $7.50 per person, or a little over a penny per offering. All proceeds went to hunger relief charity America’s Second Harvest.
Each dish had to be different enough to be certified by a Guinness judge, though they didn’t have to taste each one. That should be another Guinness record — the person who ate a plate full of each of the 510 dishes.
Hilton executive chef George Bargisen spent over 24 hours overseeing and carefully putting together each of the unique dishes that comprised 40 soups, 100 salads, and 150 desserts spanning across tables measuring 500 feet.
Over a dozen ethnic cuisines were represented. With food choices from regular buffets exhausted, exotic selections were added, such as Mongolian chicken, salmon Wellington, and fried alligator. Dessert included pumpkin pie, creme brulee, baklava, and truffles.
Because Guinness didn’t have a prior record for world’s largest buffet, they set 500 dishes as an arbitrary number in order to qualify.
Alka-Seltzer, celebrating their 75th anniversary, appropriately sponsored the buffet.