Osteria Mozza Staff Lunch Chicken Soup by Chef Sal Takes "Commanding Lead" in 2017 Soup of the Year Competition

It didn't look special. In fact, many who walked into Osteria Mozza at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday expecting the famous staff meal chicken thighs  - featured in Nancy Silverton's new cookbook "Mozza At Home" -  were disappointed to see a large tray -  yes, tray - of soup.

Until they tasted it.

Although 2017 is not over yet, the Chicken Soup made by legendary day kitchen manager Salvatore "Sal" Jamamillo has taken such a commanding lead in the prestigious national Soup of the Year (SOY) competition that several bookies in Las Vegas announced this afternoon they will no longer take wagers on the award.

"It's over,' said a influential member of the SOY committee who spoke n the condition of anonymity. "Unless Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin come back from the dead and make Creme of Heroin soup, this years SOY is over."

Dahlia Narvaez, Mozza's James Beard award-winning pastry chef, had three bowls of the chicken soup. 

"Big shot wins an award and thinks she can hog the soup," said a Mozza line cook who begged that his name not be used. 

The soup's recipe was not immediately released to the public. However, if the soup does make it to the final five, as most experts expect it will , the recipe will, by law, have to be released.

"That's foolish," said Sal's right hand man chef Raul Ramirez. "We don't have no recipes back here. We just cook until it's just right."