Open Season Returns for Great Chowder Cook Off at Fort Adams

NEWPORT, R.I. — Warwick’s Open Season Catering will be among the area restaurants competing in the Great Chowder Cook-Off  today at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, which has a lot of new features to its credit this year.

This year’s event will have a number of firsts to its credit, including the addition of a “Best Red Chowder” category at the top of the list. Veteran competitors, including The Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar in Newport, Bristol Plymouth Regional Technical School – Culinary Arts Program of Taunton, Massachusetts and Greenwich Bay Oyster Bar in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, will be stirring things up with the red tomato-based broth originally popularized by Portuguese immigrants living in the Ocean State.

Competitors will also serve all-you-can-eat samples of chowder in the traditional “Best Clam” and “Best Seafood” categories while gunning for bragging rights and prize money, including 11 newcomers led by the 2016 champion of the All-Ireland Chowder Cook-Off, Nancy’s Barn from Ballyliffin County Donegal, Kinsale, Ireland.

Open Season Catering took home second place in the chowder competition last year, as well as Most Spirited and Best Decorated awards.

The event features other fun ingredients too, including the Newport Oyster Festival, live music and a variety of entertainment for all ages.

Participants in the Great Chowder Cook-Off: 

Clam Category – Charlestown Rathskeller Tavern, Charlestown, RI+; Charlie O’s Tavern, Narragansett, RI+; Crowther’s Restaurant, Little Compton, RI+; Greenwich Bay Oyster Bar, East Greenwich, RI*; Ocean Catch Seafood, Wakefield, RI+; Open Season Catering, Warwick, RI; and Woods Tavern, West Greenwich, RI+.

Seafood Category – Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School – Culinary Program, Taunton, MA*; Brix at Newport Vineyards, Middletown, RI+; Chapel Grille, Cranston, RI+; Nancy’s Barn, Ballyliffin County Donegal, Kinsale, Ireland+; Portsmouth Publick House, Portsmouth, RI+; Red Stripe, Providence and East Greenwich, RI+; and Revolving Door, Newport, RI+.

Red Category – Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School – Culinary Program, Taunton, MA*; Greenwich Bay Oyster Bar, East Greenwich, RI*; and the Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar, Newport, RI.

+ First time Great Chowder Cook-Off Competitors.

* Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School – Culinary Program, Taunton, MA and the Greenwich Bay Oyster Bar, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, are competing in both the Clam and Red categories.

Parking for the Great Chowder Cook-Off will be free but limited at Fort Adams State Park. Attendees are encouraged to take a RIPTA bus directly to Fort Adams State Park from the Newport Marriott in downtown Newport or contact Old Port Marine and the Jamestown Ferry regarding water shuttles to Fort Adams from both downtown Newport and Jamestown. Please visit www.riwaterfrontevents.com and click on “Venue Information” for more information.