Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correct an error regarding soup sales. Participants weren’t able to purchase full containers of soup at the event.
The Musikfest Cafe at SteelStacks filled with a festival-like atmosphere Sunday as ArtsQuest attended its 16th annual Souper Bowl, featuring 15 soup competitors from Bethlehem. Vendors handed out tasting cups while classic hits from the 1950s and ‘60s echoed throughout the venue.
The Souper Bowl featured local vendors and caterers competing in cream-based, meat-based, vegan and most-unique categories, along with people’s and judges’ choices.
Food services including Molly’s Irish Grille and Sports Pub, Roasted, La Kang Chicken and Rice and Lehigh Catering presented original and new recipes.
Throughout the event, a panel of three judges moved through the tasting tables, completing a grading rubric based on flavor and presentation to determine winners.
Upon arrival, each patron received three miniature spoons — similar to ice cream sample spoons — which served as ballots for the people’s choice award. To cast a vote, people dropped their spoon into the corresponding receptacle box.
Guests circulated through the tasting tables in an orderly fashion, learning the backstory and inspiration behind each soup.
Cathy’s Catering and Cafe won the 2026 people’s choice award and debuted a sweet potato casserole soup with a crumb topping soup at the event.
Joseph Ayala, a representative for Cathy’s Creative Catering and Cafe, said the Souper Bowl provided an opportunity to showcase the business following a recent transition.
“I’ve worked for Cathy for 22 years,” Ayala said. “She retired as of last year, and we took over, so this is our chance to show what we have to offer.”
Ayala said the company introduces a new soup each year and has earned around 11 wins total.
Once voting concluded, the receptacles were collected and weighed to determine the people’s choice winner.
Anthony Valdez — also known as “Thai Tony” — represented La Kang Chicken and Rice at the event. Before opening his restaurant, Valdez worked as a chef at Lehigh’s Clayton University Center for 12 years prior to its renovation, where he contributed to the former Chick-N-Bap restaurant.
Valdez said he opened La Kang Chicken and Rice on the South Side in hopes of eventually bringing his menu back to Lehigh. He said he plans to offer a free drink to students who stop by the restaurant.
“Hopefully, if (Lehigh students) enjoy (La Kang Chicken and Rice), maybe we can talk to somebody (at) Lehigh and have (the restaurant at) Lehigh,” Valdez said.
La Kang Chicken and Rice presented its Yen Ta Fo soup, an all-natural Northern Thai street food dish with a distinctive rosy hue. The restaurant began operating in Easton in 2020 and opened its South Side location in April 2025.
Valdez said staff members regularly eat the food served at the restaurant.
“The reason we put (Yen Ta Fo) on there is because we love it, and we hope everybody else loves it as well,” Valdez said.
Event coordinator Alexis Kuczek said she began working at ArtsQuest as a comedy and cinema assistant before transitioning into event leadership roles, including overseeing the Souper Bowl.
For this year’s event, Kuczek created an immersive environment where attendees could cleanse their palates with drinks from the bar.
“One of the highlights of my day is going around and just getting little samples of everything that’s left,” Kuczek said.
Guests also had the opportunity to enter a raffle for a prize basket featuring goods from competing vendors, including gift certificates to The Brick, Molly’s Irish Grille and Sports Pub and Hanoverville Roadhouse, coffee beans from Roasted and merchandise from multiple participants.
At the end of the event, guests returned to their seats for the announcement of category winners.
Molly’s Irish Grille and Pub won best meat-based soup for its chicken tortilla soup, Winsor Deli won best cream-based soup for its roasted tomato soup, Taichi Bubble Tea won best seafood-based soup for its crab egg drop soup and Roasted won best vegan soup for its Moroccan lentil and chickpea soup.
The Musikfest Cafe will host similar community gatherings in the future, including Winter WineFest and Market on Feb.15 and the Spring Beer Festival on March 29.
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