Westport, CT – March 6, 2018 – Chowdafest presented by Stop & Shop, started their fun Chowda Madness this week. “All our Chowdafest fans seem to hoop it up every fall at our event so we thought why not hoop it up now when everyone is about to fill out brackets for the upcoming NCAA college basketball tournament” said Jim Keenan, event director. All the restaurants over the past 10 years were ranked by their achievements (1st, 2nd or 3rd) and the top four ranked restaurants in each of the four competition categories were entered.
This online “one & done” competition will take place over the next four weeks:
- Round One – Sweet 16: March 5 to March 11 at midnight
- Round Two – Great Eight: March 12 to March 18 at midnight
- Round Three – Final Four: March 19 to March 25 at midnight
- Round Four – Championship: March 26 to April 1 at midnight
Fans of these restaurants and their chowders can vote as often as every 5 minutes at www.Chowdafest.org/ChowdaMadness. The most votes per match-up will move the winning restaurant into the next round.
“There are four and three time Chowdafest champions in this event who may very well get upset depending on how passionate the fans of the opposing restaurant may be” Keenan said. It’s all for fun. The real competition of course takes place at the 11th annual Chowdafest competition on Sunday Sept 30th, 2018 at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport.
Here are the sixteen restaurants entered in Chowda Madness by category:
Classic New England Clam Chowder:
#2 seed: Pike Place Chowder from Seattle WA – Three time champion
#6 seed: Donovan’s of Westport – Three time champion
#10 seed: Sedona Taphous in Norwalk – 2nd and 3rd place finishes
#14 seed: B.R.Y.A.C. from Bridgeport CT – Finished 2nd last year
Traditional Chowder (reserved just for Rhode Island and Manhattan clam chowders)
#4 seed: Dunville’s in Westport CT 3 championships to their name!
#8 seed:: Donahue’s Clam Castle in Madison CT – One championship so far
#12 seed: Gray Goose Cafe in Southport – One championship to their name
#16 seed: Chef’s Table of Fairfield – a 3rd place finish to their credit
Creative Chowder:
#3 seed: Our House Bistro from Winooski VT – a threepeat champion
#7 seed: The Gingerman of Greenwich – another three time champ
#11 seed: The Spread of Norwalk – 1 championship to their name
#15 seed: Smithsonian Chowder House of North Hampton MA – a 3rd place finish
Soup/Bisque:
#1 seed: The Crab Shell of Stamford – 4 championship trophies so far – a record
#5 seed: Old Post Tavern of Fairfield – 1 championship trophy and a 2nd place finish
#9 seed: SBC of Milford – 1 championship plus numerous runner ups
#13 seed: Simply Delicious of Norwalk – A championship to their credit
Restaurants that have been sold or are now closed weren’t considered in the field of 16.
For additional information about Chowdafest, please visit www.chowdafest.org or email event director, Jim Keenan at [email protected]. Chowdafest, presented by Stop & Shop, is sponsored by: AAA Northeast, BlumShapiro, Cabot Creamery, Chica de Gallo, City Carting, Clover, CT Bites, Copp’s Island Oysters, The Farmer’s Cow, Frontera Foods, HamletHub, Harney & Sons Tea, Hotel Zero Degrees, Local Food Rocks, Lowe’s, MINI of Fairfield County, Mohegan Sun, New England Coffee, OmnomCT, Peapod by Stop & Shop, People’s United Bank, Polar Beverages, Tate’s Bake Shop, WEBE 108, Westminster Bakery and Yankee Magazine.
This press release was supplied to IntoxiKate.com.
