And the Winners Are…
That’s right…what started as a local chowder competition to help raise much needed money for local food banks has grown immensely. So immensely, in fact, that organizer (and Chief Chowderhead) Jim Keenan had to put some serious thought into expansion. Would he keep Chowdafest at the same level…or take it to the next level? If you’ve met Jim before you know he’s never content with keeping things at the same level; he always wants to kick it up a few hundred notches. And that’s exactly what he’s doing this year with Chowdafest 2014 (Part II) on Sunday, October 12 from 12-4 pm at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk! An obvious added benefit will be a more spread out festival to help combat the large crowds that people faced last Souper Bowl Sunday.
So, if you’re new to this, here’s the deal:
🍲 You get a spoon
🍲 You get a scorecard
🍲 You try soup in four categories (listed below)
🍲 You rate each soup
🍲 When you’ve tried all the soups, you give in your scorecard
That simple…and THAT delicious
Parking is $5 or free if you have a permit, tickets are $15 ($10 online), $5 for kids 6-12, and free for 5 and under. But…hold up! For $25 (accompanied kids 6-12 are $5 with 5 and under free) you can get a VIP ticket for ChowdaHour! Yes, during the VIP ChowdaHour you’ll get to rub elbows with the chefs and owners and share some personal moments all while downing a monumental amount of soup in an hour early! Plus, you’ll get a nice fancy parking spot up front and the official Chowdafest hat.
Like this past February, we are very proud to be one of the sponsors for Chowdafest! And, we’re even more proud this time around because we’re happy to report that money raised from this year’s event will be donated to one of our favorite charities, Community Plates! CP is a volunteer driven food rescue organization that takes food from local restaurants and markets and gets it to the hungry in Fairfield and New Haven Counties…and beyond.
Now, take a gander at this list of restaurants for each category
New England Clam Chowder
Donahue’s Madison Beach Grille, Madison
Donovan’s, South Norwalk (Defending Champions 2 years running)
Guvnor’s Brewery, South Norwalk
Old Post Tavern, Fairfield
O’Neill’s Pub & Restaurant, South Norwalk
Rory’s, Darien
The Restaurant at Rowayton Seafood, Rowayton
Washington Prime, South Norwalk
Traditional Clam Chowder
The Clam Castle, Madison
Dunville’s, Westport (Depending Champions)
The Gray Goose Cafe, Southport
Liquid Lunch, Shelton + Milford
Lobster Post, Fairfield
Westfair Fish & Chips, Westport
Creative Chowder
The Brewhouse, South Norwalk (Defending Champions)
Ginger Man, South Norwalk + Greenwich
Knapp’s Landing, Stratford
Liquid Lunch, Shelton + Milford
Post 154, Westport
Simply Delicious, Norwalk
Southport Brewing Company, Southport, Milford, Branford
The Spread, South Norwalk
Soups & Bisque
Bistro 7, Wilton (Defending Champions)
BRYAC, Black Rock
Cask Republic, Stamford + New Haven
LobsterCraft, Darien + food truck
Lobster Post, Fairfield
Local Kitchen & Beer Bar, Fairfield and South Norwalk
Parallel Post, Trumbull
Soup Thyme, Monroe
Tikkaway Grill, New Haven
For more info on ChowdaFest and the other activities going on such as the Italian food samplings, some Mexican flare, iced treats, and drinks, check out the ChowdaFest site. See you there!
Wow – great write up as always – some of our restaurants have already changed and will let you know (just haven’t adjusted the list on the site yet – we had an unexpected slot open up as Mansion Clam House, a Chowdafest favorite and my leading candidate for best Rhode Island clam chowder bowed out – not sure why as of yet but bummed – Rigo is a great guy and is RI clam is outrageously good). So got a couple holes to quickly fill. HEY – we did get OLIO in Stamford in yesterday so excited Stamford is now well represented.
– Jim
LikeLike