Savoy
Cafe & Crocodile Restaurant
Take "Best Chowder" 2018 Awards
By FBWorld Team
It
was chowder on at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, first time
host for the delicious annual Chowder Fest event, where attendees
tasted and voted on the best chowder for the people's choice
award. The Annual event is presented each year by Food &
Home Magazine to benefit Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara
County. Jennifer R. Smith, Executive Director of Legal Aid Foundation
was graciously greeting guests as they arrived, and I enjoyed
speaking with Greg Gorga, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara
Maritime Museum during the event.
The
patio of the Maritime Museum was one fun filled venue where
guests enjoyed the musical entertainment of Spencer and the
Gardner while sipping wine and chowder between visits to the
elegant silent auction area where an impressive collection of
auction items were open for bidding, including a chance to attend
Rod Stewart's concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. My favorite
auction items included a box of Chocolate du Cali Bressan with
a fine rose wine, and a weekend in Las Vegas.
Chumash Casino Corn Chowder with Corn Bread
The
museum was over flowing with charitable supporters, LAFSBC members,
local guests and enthusiastic 'foodies' all enjoying gourmet
and down-home style chowders. A few welcome change was the Shepherd's
Pie Paul Dargan brought over from Dargan's Irish Pub and amazing
street style Mexican food by Taqueria El Pastorcito for guest
consumption, as well as individual strawberry shortcakes from
Andersen's Danish Bakery & Restaurant. The variety of food
and wine at this event was absolutely awe inspiring.
2018
Winners: The Best Chowder First Place Award went to Paul &
Kathy Shield of Savoy Cafe & Deli, while Estaban Carrillo
and Charlie Rios of Crocodile Restaurant won the People's Choice
Award and also were the 1st runner up for Judges Choice. The
2018 Contenders included Bluewater Grill, Chase Restaurant &
Bar, Chef Alison Catering, Chumash Casino, Crocodile, Crush,
Enterprise Fish Co, The Nugget, The Oyster Tin, Savoy Deli,
The Secret Ingredient/Cafe154 and Whole Foods.
Crocodile Winning Representatives Charlie Rios & Estaban
Carrillo
Past
Chowder Fest best winners include The Boathouse, Y's Foods,
Outback Steakhouse, Chuck's Waterfront Grill, Three Pickles,
Four Seasons Biltmore, and The Nugget. A special tribute honoring
Bob Lovejoy owner of Three Pickles Restaurant and 2017 Chowder
Fest winner, who passed away this year, as well as Allan Ghitterman,
Board Member of Legal Aid, who also passed away in 2018 appeared
in the event program.
2018
Judges for the event included Chef Edie Robertson, former chef/co-owner
of the Sojourner Cafe, and recognized as one of Santa Barbara's
best private chefs by Santa Barbara Magazine; Diana Cuttrell,
Executive Chef/Owner at Dining With Di, the daughter of the
owners of a successful steak house in Northern California she
founded a catering company in Santa Barbara in 2009; Mark ad
Margaret Huston, Owners of Jane Restaurant who met at the Culinary
Academy in San Francisco, have a stellar career history in restaurant
and food including work at San Ysidro Ranch and the Montecito
Cafe, along with their current venues in Santa Barbara and Goleta
known for delicious food, made from scratch at affordable prices;
Kaity Swanson, Manager of Chuck's Waterfront Grill & The
Endless Summer bar-cafe has been with them for twelve years,
and took home the "Best Chowder" award in 2013.
Savoy Cafe Winners Kathy & Paul Shields
Restaurants,
wineries and breweries participating this year included Andersen's
Danish Bakery & Restaurant, The Brander Vineyard, The Brewhouse,
Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard, California Wood Fired
Catering, The Creekside Restaurant & Bar, Dargan's Irish
Pub & Restaurant, Deux Bakery, Figueroa Mountain Brewing,
Grassini Family Vineyards, Island Brewing Company, Kanoloa Seafood,
Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, Oreana Winery, Pali Wine Company,
Savoy Wines, Seagrape Wine Company, Stolpman Vineyards, Taqueria
El Pastorcito, Telegraph Brewing Company, Temperance Cellars,
Via Maestra 42, Whitcraft Winery.
Event
sponsors included the Title Sponsors Fell, Marking, Abkin, Montgomery,
Granet & Raney, LLP and Santa Barbara County Bar Association.
Lobster Chowder Circle sponsors Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians,
Clam Chowder Circle Sponsors Cappello & Noel LLP, Community
West Bank, Foley, Bezek, Behle & Curtis LLP, Gursey Schneider
LLP Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy LLP and Fish Chowder Circle
Sponsors Ambrecht and McDermott LLP, Renee Fairbanks, Kelly
Knight Real Estate, Bill and Susan Wagner, Wilson & Petine,
LLC, and Vegetable Chowder Circle Sponsors American Riviera
Bank, Alan and Carol Blakeboro, William L. F. Felstiner, Griffith
and Thornburgh, LLP, Mission Wealth Management, Montecito Bank
and Trust, Mulle and Henzell, Price, Postel & Parma LLP,
Village Properties. Corn Chowder Circle Sponsors Anticouni and
Associates, Bongiovi Mediation, Collins and Associates, Drury
Pullen, A Prof. Law Corp., Ghitterman, Ghitterman & Feld,
Saji Gunawardane, US Business Counsel, Hebda Property and Title
Solutions, Herring Law Group, Law Office of Harvey Wolf, Law
Offices of Elizabeth E. Vogt, Law Offices of Moises Vasques,
Montecito apital Management, Nicholson and Schwartz CPAs, Nordstrand
Black, Plverman & Pulverman, LLP, Quinn Fiduciary Services,
Judge Elinor Reiner, Rothschild and Alwill APC, Sierra Property
Group, Thompson Naylor Architects.
Bluewater Grill Half & Half Chowder
About
Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County: Legal Aid Foundation
of Santa Barbara County has been providing free legal services
since 1959. Many people are unaware that when factoring in cost
of living, Santa Barbara County's poverty rate is estimated
to be 23% of all residents. Our vision is to ensure that everyone,
regardless of their financial status, has habitable shelter,
adequate income, and protection from domestic violence, sexual
assault, and elder abuse. Our attorneys and staff are trained
to work with people who have little knowledge of our legal system,
people with mental or physical disabilities, and people who
speak languages other than English. For information visit www.lafsbc.org.
By Bonnie Carroll
About Bonnie Carroll
Bonnie Carroll has been a food/travel/lifestyle writer since
1983. She is the founder & publisher of Bonnie Carroll's
Life Bites News - www.lifebitesnews.com,
does travel and food reporting on KZSB1290 radio, and contributes
to a variety of national and international travel/lifestyle
publications. Her first children's book C.C. Charles was published
in 2002 and she is currently working on a second book. Contact
her at Contact her at writebc@aol.com.