'Fat Pants Friday' mega-sandwich at a Wayzata restaurant totals 3,000 calories

Could you eat this? Be honest.

Two half-pound burgers, chicken tenders, smoked ham, bacon, American cheese, bacon jam, chipotle aioli, Thousand Island dressing, fondue sauce, pepperoni, roasted jalapeño and bourbon-soaked cherries on a toasted milk bun. Oh, yeah, and an asparagus spear.

Piled high into one monster sandwich, this heap of juiciness totals a whopping 3,000 calories. And it's just one of 6Smith's weekly creations for the Wayzata restaurant's popular Fat Pants Friday. This one is called "The Resurrection."

Capitalizing on people's love of photographing their food, restaurants everywhere are dreaming up ever more bombastic dishes that come hot out of the oven and go straight onto social media. The gooier the better. With Fat Pants Friday, 6Smith is taking the food porn trend to the next level.

In the Star Tribune's new video series, Outta Control, we'll explore the best of the Twin Cities' Instagram-worthy dishes. Foods that are crazy, that go viral and that are Minnesota institutions are getting their close-up — and wow, that cheese-melting, bacon-crackling, deep-frying close-up is glorious.

You can watch our first entry at startribune.com/video and on the Star Tribune's Facebook page. We've also created a new Instagram account (@outtacontrolmn) featuring the wildest food photos in the Twin Cities. Come across something you think is Outta Control-worthy? Tag us on Instagram with your own food porn and we may invite you out for seconds.

For our first installment, we had to check out 6Smith's towering behemoth. The idea for a weekly food bomb was born in January 2015, after a particularly long day of work. Owner Randy Stanley and executive chef Angel Luna were unwinding over a couple of drinks, and as one does after a couple of drinks, they got into a deep conversation. Stanley was concerned that the acclaimed restaurant on Lake Minnetonka was "taking [itself] too seriously." So he and Luna came up with a way to "have some fun and break the rules," Luna said.

Luna scoured the restaurant's refrigerators and voilà, came up with a leftovers sandwich that could challenge any competitive eater. Each Friday since then, kitchen staff compete in a kind of "back-of-the-house challenge" to come up with the most insane meal using the best of 6Smith's menu.

There have been poutines that pile pounds of various meats atop a French fry base. There have been tacos topped with whole orders of cheese curds. There was a molten Cubano stuffed inside a loaf of bread (they called it the "Cuban Missile"). There was even a skewer of a steak, a grilled cheese and a chicken wing encased on either end by cobs of buttery corn.

The only thing that doesn't change week to week is the side dish: a single grilled asparagus spear, "so you can tell your mom you got your vegetables," Stanley said.

The Fat Pants plate is available only at lunch, and only at the bar. Cost: $10. Because of the steep discount on at least five pounds of food, no sharing is allowed. No doggie bags, either. In exchange, diners get a full belly and bragging rights. "It's all about the bravado," Stanley said.

Fat Pants Friday regular Christian Even prides himself on finishing every last bite. The trim banker devoured 46 of these meals consecutively last year, and hasn't missed a Friday yet in 2017. His weekly workout regimen revolves around Fridays, when he walks over from work at around 11:15 a.m., finds a spot at the bar, orders an Old Fashioned, and digs in.

Some weeks are harder than others. That Cuban Missile was a particular challenge for Even.

"I have never been in so much physical pain," he said. "My jaw was aching. I was sweating."

But when the Resurrection came out of the kitchen — held together by a giant steak knife — he had a big smile on his face.

"It's a work of art," he said.

He ate the whole thing.

Sharyn Jackson • 612-673-4853