Last taste of summer?
Unseasonable warmth greets visitors to 11th annual ChowderFest
TROY, N.Y.» The annual Troy ChowderFest was greeted Sunday by unseasonably warm weather and lots of visitors to downtown Troy.
An estimated 15,000 eventgoers had the opportunity to taste 23 different chowders — the most ever offered — while walking city streets Sunday afternoon.
A total of 20 different eateries from Troy and the surrounding area participated in the 11th annual ChowderFest. Some were returnees hoping to maintain their winning titles from previous years, while others were new businesses just dipping their toes in the waters of the chowder competition.
The team from Waterford restaurant McGreivey’s, including chef Chris Zlotnick and proprietor Art Riley, were hoping to win the People’s Choice award for a third time this year with their Buffalo Chicken Chowder. In previous years, their soup proved to be so popular that McGreivey’s permanently added it to the menu.
Riley said he likes being part of ChowderFest because it’s an opportunity to promote the restaurant through a good teambuilding experience.
“It’s really a fun time,” he said. “It’s a fun day.”
A few blocks down from Monument Square, at the new Hudson-Chatham Winery tasting room, manager Meghan Powers was serving a Collar City Seyval Blanc Fish & Potato Stew, made with a recipe from owner Dominique DeVito’s cookbook. The recipe uses one of the winery’s estate wines, which includes only grapes grown from the company’s vineyard in Ghent.
“It’s seafood-heavy, with mussels, shrimp,” Powers said, adding that the store was excited to be part of its first ChowderFest.
Katie Hammon, executive director of the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District, said ChowderFest is an event that gets people exploring the entire district.
“It’s showcasing a lot of the restaurants downtown and really getting people to experience all of downtown Troy,” she said of what is one of the BID’s largest annual events.
Hammon was happy to include some of the new eateries that have opened within the past year, such as Plumb Oyster Bar and Hudson-Chatham Winery in the competition for 2017.
ChowderFest also welcomes first-time attendees each year, this year including Karen Ventura of Cohoes.
“This is amazing,” she said after tasting McGreivey’s award-winning chowder.
Dennis and Nancy Hasso of East Greenbush were also experiencing ChowderFest for the first time this year. The Hassos, who previously lived in Troy, now visit sometimes for the Troy Waterfront Farmer’s Market, but were planning to check out more of the city and its businesses on this visit.
“I can’t wait to try them all,” Dennis Hasso said after trying his first sample of the day.
Other festival-goers, like Lori Cafarelli, return year after year.
“I like being out and about with people. It’s a nice day,” she said, “and I like chowder.”