Sunny skies lured a record number of soup lovers to the 4th Annual South Side Mid-Winter Soup Contest Saturday. More than 1,200 hungry shoppers (35 percent more than last year) sampled and voted for their favorite of 22 soups made by South Side chefs who ladled them out at participating stores.

The contest is a hot competition among the chefs, and they dug deep to find savory concoctions. From Lobster Bisque to Sweet Coconut with Mushrooms, the soups didn't disappoint.

Cost for the souper feast was $5 and a canned good for the Brashear Food Pantry, which serves about 400 South Side families. More than 1,500 cans were brought to the Brashear Association building on Sarah Street and $7,000 was collected.

A panel of eight food critics, including myself, met at 2:30 p.m. at the association to taste, one at a time, the fragrant soups. WQED's Chris Fennimore, as he has done before, chaired the panel, and he brought a still-warm four-braided egg bread ("What's soup without bread?" he quipped). The judges were split into two groups, each to sip 11 soups and rate them on taste (1 to 12 points), creativity (1 to 3 points), and appeal (1 to 5 points).

The three top picks from each table were then sampled by all judges. Meanwhile, volunteers frantically tallied the People's Choice ballots. Finally, the winners were announced:

Judges' Choice: First Place -- Chicken Florentine Soup from chef/owner Anthony Folino, Folino's Ristorante. Runner up -- Sausage and Shrimp Chowder, chef Matt Helon, Tom's Diner.

People's Choice: Bacon, Bleu Cheese, Apple, Brandy Soup from chef/owner Patrick Joyce, 17th Street Cafe.

The winners received spoon-decorated plaques and applause.