The Winners Of The 23rd North Adams Winterfest Chowder Cook-Off

In Press release email from Suzy Helmes & the whole gang at North Adams Tourism, over 4,000 samples of 14 different chowder entries were served between 12-2 pm at the 23rd Annual North Adams Winterfest 2020 Chowder Cook-Off, resulting in 351 ballots cast for “People’s Choice” favorites and write-in’s for the “Only in North Adams” most unique chowder award.

Peoples’ Choice:
Voters were asked to rank their top 3 favorites, though many just picked one. Competitors were awarded 3 points for every 1st place mark, 2 points for each 2nd place mark, and 1 point for every 3rd place mark.

And the winners are...
1st Place with 333 points – Clarksburg School, a first-time entry!
2nd Place with 271 points - MCLA Dining
3rd Place with 202 points - A-oK Berkshire Barbeque

Judges’ Choice: First, thank you to this year's judges, Nick Moulton/Chef at Mezze Bistro+Bar, Nina Zacek/GM at TOURISTS Welcome, and Cheryl Adams/DJ at WUPE FM.

The judges blind-tasted all fourteen entries and these are their top three.
1st Place – Grazie
2nd Place - Bounti Fare
3rd Place - Wild Oats Market

“Only in North Adams” Most Unique Chowder
This year 199 voters wrote in their choice for the most unique chowder. This category was a tight race with only 3 points total difference between the top 5 picks, but this year's winner is The Wigwam Western Summit with 25 votes.

Every single entry was picked as 1st place by at least one of our voters. 2020 Participants: A-ok Berkshire BBQ, Berkshire Food Project, Berkshire Palate, Boston Seafood Restaurant, Bounti Fare, The Capitol Restaurant, Clarksburg School, Gramercy Bistro, Grazie, MCLA Dining, Charles H. McCann Technical School Culinary Arts, Sweetwood of Williamstown, Wigwam Western Summit, and Wild Oats Market.

A hearty CONGRATULATIONS to this year's winners and a big THANK YOU to all of you for spending your time, energy, and resources to be with us and participate in the annual WinterFest tradition.

I hope you'll consider joining us again next year! WINTERFEST 2021 will be Saturday, February 20, 2021.