Rutigliano ‘Chowdas’ praised; festival gives to good cause

Kayla Ruge and Shannon Colburn manned the SBC booth at Chowdafest with Rep. Dave Rutigliano, Oct. 12.  Photo courtesy of Leslie Yager.

NORWALK – SBC Culinary Director and State Representative (R-123) Dave Rutigliano’s Spinach and Artichoke Bisque was listed as a Chowdafest top pic on the Connecticut restaurant and food blog, OMNOM CT. At Sunday’s Chowdafest, his Local Kitchen & Beer Bar’s Fall Harvest Bisque also took home third place in the soups/bisque category.

The seventh annual Chowdafest was held at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Oct. 12. This was the first Chowdafest event held outdoors. Thousands of attendees sampled 36 soups, chowders and bisques from some of the region’s most popular restaurants.

Judging by the lines of people waiting in line for samples at the Chowdafest booths, this year’s selections did not disappoint.

Rutigliano said it was great to see so many people in attendance and great to contribute to a good cause.

“We try to showcase our creativity at this event; some people don’t think Southport Brewing Company for food. We like to show that we have real chefs cooking real food,” he said.

“Our fall harvest bisque replicated all the flavors of a thanksgiving meal in a cup of soup, complete with pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. The spinach and artichoke bisque was just for fun. We converted a dip into chowder and added bacon,” Rutigliano said.

The Southport Brewing Company received recognition for their longtime contribution to the event. On Sunday, SBC was inducted into the Chowdafest Bowl of Fame for winning multiple Chowdafest championships in multiple categories.

We are happy for the induction, said Rutigliano with a smile. Now it’s back to the drawing board for next year.

Proceeds from this year’s Chowdafest proceeds went to ‘Community Plates,’ which provides meals to residents of Fairfield County and to multiple sites around the U.S.

For additional information about the seventh annual Chowdafest, please visit www.chowdafest.org.

For additional information about volunteering with “Community Plates,” visit communityplates.org.