Restaurateurs tend to be a competitive lot. They will, at the drop of a toque, enter their menu, chef, restaurant design or other unique characteristics in cook-off style challenges. Some even travel across the country to have the public taste their food and vote for their favorite. Why do they compete year after year? I asked some of the recent winners in the Great Chowder Cook-Off.
“Win or lose, these competitions are just a great way to showcase our restaurant,” said Alan Delaney, proprietor of The Skipper Restaurant of South Yarmouth, Mass. The Cape Cod seafood eatery won first prize in the clam category at this year’s Newport event. The Skipper has competed since 2003 in chowder-tasting events throughout New England. Delaney explains: “If we are successful, it’s a huge benefit; if we are not successful, there is still some benefit.” As a case in point, he told about one of the first years the Skipper entered its clam chowder in the Newport competition. It placed third which was enough to earn the restaurant and its chowder an appearance on the CBS “Early Show.” The Skipper makes a serious commitment to competing. Delaney looks at it as a marketing investment for his restaurant. Twenty-two staffers made the trip to Newport for this year’s Cook-Off. With investing in special equipment to transport the chowder to the festival, accommodations for staff and time away from the restaurant, the outlay equals what some restaurants spend all year on advertising. Delaney said that to be in the Newport event is well worth the effort. “We have won chowder festivals here on the Cape and in Boston, but Newport is the premiere prize. It is a first-class operation.”
The Great Chowder Cook-Off has been run since 1981 and attracts restaurants from all over the world. Recent international entrants have come from Ireland and Bermuda. According to the Newport Yachting Center, the Cook-Off is the original and longest-running chowder festival in the world. An estimated 17,000 attended this year’s event. Winning restaurants receive a cash prize along with merchandise and hopefully recognition which lasts long after they leave the City by the Sea.
The Montauk Yacht Club in the Hamptons on Long Island, N.Y. is looking for some of that recognition from a particular group of potential customers.
“We want to reach the boating crowd that travels from Newport to Block Island to our marina,” said Keith Battaglia, marketing director of the 80-year-old resort.
Many of Montauk’s patrons also dock at the Newport Yachting Center, the site of the Chowder Cook-Off. Montauk Yacht Club’s clam chowder won second place in its first year of competition. Battaglia could not be happier. “To be able to say ‘Award-Winning Chowder’ on our menu in our first year of entering is a real coup for us.”
The Blue Mermaid Chowder House in San Francisco proudly displays its four Great Chowder Cook-Off trophies at the restaurant on famous Fisherman’s Wharf. This year, the Blue Mermaid won two awards for its Dungeness Crab and Corn chowder. Executive Chef Steven Connolly said the wins meant a great deal. “We’re a chowder house and here on Fisherman’s Wharf, literally every restaurant sells chowder. It is important to us to win the largest chowder competition in the country.”
Closer to home, Justin Braun, general manager at Tiverton’s Boat House restaurant, which won the “creative” award for the third time this year, said, “We find that guests have heard about our victory and are anxious to try the chowder to see if it measures up.”
Newport’s The Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar won the award for Best Seafood Chowder. Shawn Westhoven, general manager, describes the Chowder Cook-Off as “the most competitive,” adding, “We get great exposure and a ton of people in the restaurant to try the award winner!” •
Dining Out with Bruce Newbury can be heard on TalkRadio 920 WHJJ-AM Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at noon.
E-mail bruce@ brucenewbury.com.
