Tom Kevill-Davies has eaten some of the best food in the United States in some of the greatest places in the country.
He has eaten Willapa Bay oysters, munched on fresh-caught Dungeness crab with fishermen on the Oregon coast and devoured some of the finest pizza New York City has to offer.
It might seem difficult to match those experiences, but on Saturday, the 26-year-old man from London got a taste of Autzen Stadium, and he loved every bite of it.
Kevill-Davies has spent the last six months biking around the country in search of the perfect meal. He started in New York and plans to end the trip in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, making plenty of stops along the way.
Calling himself The Hungry Cyclist, Kevill-Davies takes tips through his Web site, www.thehungrycyclist.com, about where he might find good food.

He learned of the annual Civil War football game through tips submitted on the site.
“People said tailgating was an all-American culinary experience, so here I am,” Kevill-Davies said.
The English might indulge by eating sausages out of their Volvos before rugby games, “but it’s on a completely different level here,” Kevill-Davies said. “They don’t drive 400 miles in a million-dollar RV.”
A phone call to the University Athletics Department put him in touch with Eric Brandt, director of food and hospitality services for athletics, and come game day Kevill-Davies had what amounted to an all-access pass to Autzen.
“This is crazy,” he said as he made his way through the sea of busses, cars and motor homes. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Kevill-Davies visited the poshest and most lavish tailgaters the Autzen parking lot had to offer, snacking on barbecued chicken, grilled salmon and smoke-cooked pork sandwiches while hobnobbing with some of the most diehard Duck fans around.
Minutes before kickoff, Brandt whisked him up to University President Dave Frohnmayer’s skybox, where he watched the first quarter of the game with the Frohnmayer family and more than 40 guests.

A writer and aspiring food journalist, Kevill-Davies talked journalism with the dean of the School of Journalism and Communication and discussed the food in London with the University senior vice president and provost while sipping on a bottle of ESB India Pale Ale, compliments of the company catering the skybox.
He left Frohnmayer’s skybox after the first quarter, passing Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon in the hallway as Brandt led the way to the next stop: the press box.
Sampling chicken and baked beans as more than 50 of the Northwest’s top sports journalists worked nearby, Kevill-Davies said he wanted to experience the game as an average student would in the student section, not as a “corporate bigwig” in a skybox.
“I think it’s a bit more honest down with the band and the students,” he said.
He stood in the student section during the last quarter and soon realized the pass Brandt had given him was enough for some security guards to allow him on the sidelines.
He spent a few moments watching the game from behind the Ducks’ bench before a skeptical guard ordered him to return to the stands.
Kevill-Davies hopes to write a book about his experiences and is trying to raise money for cancer research, but he says that’s not the main impetus behind the trip.
He’s here to eat food and see America.
“If a book comes out of it, great,” Kevill-Davies said. “If that means I raise ã10 or ã50,000 for charity, brilliant.”
He said he’s always loved food and saved money for years to make the trip happen, though many companies have sponsored him by providing camping equipment for his bike ride.
He ranks his experience at this year’s Civil War as one of the best he’s had on his nearly 5,000-mile trip.
A perfect meal doesn’t just depend on food quality, he said, because the sights, sounds and people that make up the surrounding atmosphere play a huge role.
Duck fan Randy Enders of Eugene has been attending the football game tailgate parties for many years and told Kevill-Davies tailgating is the best example of American culture he’ll find during his travels.
“Americans lack culture, but it all comes out at the tailgate party,” Enders said.
And come out it did.
After a full day of eating, drinking and generally being merry, Kevill-Davies said he’s still as amazed as he was when he first set foot in the Autzen parking lot.
“I’ve never gotten to see anything like that in my life,” he said. “The fact that people do it week in and week out is amazing.”

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