CRA invites voting on restaurant awards; new hall of famers named
Louis Lunch in New Haven, where the hamburger was created in 1900, and Match, which helped spearhead the renaissance of the SoNo section of Norwalk in 1999, will be inducted into the Connecticut Restaurant Association’s Hospitality Hall of Fame, it was announced on Thursday.
The announcement was revealed with the list of nominees for this year’s CRAzies Awards, given annually by the CRA for the state’s most outstanding restaurants and restaurant employees.
“We are extremely excited to celebrate our industry at the 2021 CRAzies, especially at a time when Connecticut’s local restaurants and caterers have been through so much, and worked so hard, over these past 19 months,” said Connecticut Restaurant Association Executive Director Scott Dolch.
The 2021 Restaurateur of the Year awardee is Bill Taibe of For The Food Restaurant Group, who owns The Whelk, Don Memo and Kawa Ni in Westport and The Norwalk Art Space Café.
Members of the public are asked to vote on their favorite nominees. The voting deadline is Nov. 30. The CRAzies winners will be announced at a ceremony at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Dec. 6.
To vote, visit craziesawards. com. Here are the nominees:
Chef of the Year: Michone Danae Arrington of The Art of Yum in Waterbury, Ashley Flagg of Millwright’s in Simsbury, Joel Gargano of Grano Arso in Chester, Emily Mingrone of Tavern on State in New Haven and Manuel Romero from Olea in New Haven.
Pastry Chef/Baker of the Year: Kristin Eddy of Millwright’s in Simsbury, Chan Graham of BouNom Bakery in Avon, David Vacca of Nana’s Bakery & Pizza in Mystic and Rob VanKeuren of Flour Water Salt Bread in Darien.
Bartender of the Year: Ryan Andrade from The White Hart Inn in Salisbury,
Jade Ayala from Oyster Club in Mystic, Juan Meyer from Rosina’s in Greenwich and Khalid Williams from Taprock in Unionville.
Server of the Year: Amanda Casey from Viron Rondo Osteria in Cheshire, Jason Gould from Fleming’s Steakhouse in West Hartford, Brendan Hayes from Roma Ristorante in Oakville and Jess Saunders from Dockside Brewery in Milford.
Caterer of the Year: Delicacy Catering of West Hartford, Emily’s Catering of Bristol, Marcia Selden Catering & Events of Stamford and The Mobile Pub in Watertown.
Restaurant Newcomer: Camacho Garage in New Haven, The Charles in Wethersfield, Dockside Brewery in Milford, Don Memo in Westport and Shipwright’s Daughter in Mystic.
People’s Choice: Red36 in Mystic, Taco Daddy in Stamford, The Place 2 Be in Hartford and West Hartford and Twisted Italian Café in Hartford’s Parkville Market.
The Restaurant of the
Year award is bestowed in four geographical categories, and an overall winner among the 16. The nominees are:
North Region (Hartford and Tolland counties): Arugula in West Hartford, Millwright’s in Simsbury, Present Company in Tarriffville and Shu in West Hartford.
South Region (Middlesex and New Haven counties): Le Petit Café in Branford, Shell & Bones in New Haven, Tavern on State in New Haven and Viron Rondo Osteria in Cheshire.
East Region (New London and Windham counties): Oyster Club in Mystic, Stone Row Kitchen & Bar in Willimantic, Tao Asian Bistro & Lounge at Mohegan Sun and Tony D’s in New London.
West Region (Fairfield and Litchfield counties): @ the Corner in Litchfield, Community Table in New Preston, OKO in Westport and Taproot in Bethel.