Connecticut Restaurant Association Announces 2022 Winners & Finalists

CONNECTICUT — The Connecticut Restaurant Association (CRA) has announced the award winners and finalists for the 2022 CRAzies Awards Gala presented by Sysco, LLC.

Restaurant owners, operators, chefs, vendors and more will come together to celebrate their industry at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Dec. 5. Last year’s CRAzies Gala brought more than 1,100 guests together at Foxwoods and saw more than 20,000 online public votes made to choose winners across numerous categories.

“We are extremely excited to celebrate our industry at the 2022 CRAzies, and to highlight the many incredible Connecticut restaurants and caterers that serve as a backbone of their local and regional economies,” said Connecticut Restaurant Association Executive Director Scott Dolch.

The CRAzies selection process began in August with an online public nomination process and state-wide chef panel. Subsequently, more than 35 food writers, critics, bloggers, and social media influencers finalized the list of honorees and finalists for 2022. Finally, the nominees for Restaurateur of the Year, CT Hospitality Hall of Fame, and Friend of the Industry were brought to the CRA Board of Directors, where the overall winners were selected in each of these three categories.

The public can now vote for the remaining categories online here through the end of November. Categories include Chef of the Year, Baker of the Year, Bartender of the Year, Server of the Year, Caterer of the Year, People’s Choice, Restaurant Newcomer, Regional Restaurants of the Year and Overall Restaurant of the Year. Winners will be selected from not only the public vote, but also from nominating panel members.

The full list of honorees and nominations is here:

New for 2022, the CT Restaurant Association will honor Jacques Pépin with the CRAzies first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award. Since 1976, he has called Madison, Connecticut his home and his impact on the Connecticut culinary community has inspired so many chefs and restaurateurs for almost fifty years.

The 2022 Restaurateurs of the Year are Phil Barnett and Mike Hamlin of Hartford Restaurant Group, who own and operate ten Wood-N-Tap restaurants throughout Connecticut and Que Whiskey Kitchen (Southington).

The Connecticut Hospitality Hall of Fame inductees for 2022 will be Blackie’s Hot Dogs (Cheshire) and Sally’s Apizza (New Haven). The 2022 Friend of the Industry Award will go to Speaker of the House Matt Ritter and Vendor of the Year finalists are Copps Island Oysters (Norwalk), Gulf Shrimp Company (Plantsville), Seacoast Mushrooms (Mystic) and VerTerra Dinnerware (Norwalk).

The five Chef of the Year finalists for 2022 include David DiStasi from Materia Ristorante (Bantam), Jared Falco from Rosina’s (Greenwich), Jared Sippel from L’Ostal (Darien), David Standridge from Shipwright’s Daughter (Mystic) and Renee Touponce from Oyster Club (Mystic).

The Baker of the Year finalists are Kevin Masse from Small State Provisions (West Hartford), Pierluigi Mazzella from Fatto a Mano (Monroe), Selene Tepatzi from Atticus Bakery (New Haven), David Vacca from Nana’s Bakery & Pizza (Mystic) and Rob VanKeuren from Flour Water Salt Bread (Darien).

The Bartender of the Year finalists are Sebastian Guerrero from The Port of Call (Mystic), Raasikh Muhammad Joseph from Anchor Spa (New Haven), Juan Meyer from Rosina’s (Greenwich), Jamie Oakes from Millwright’s (Simsbury) and Dimitrios Zahariadis from Viron Rondo Osteria (Cheshire).

The Server of the Year finalists are Lamott Britto from Grano Arso (Chester), Melissa Cannon from Restaurant Bricco (West Hartford), Christopher Hodson from Materia Ristorante (Bantam), Jess Saunders from Dockside Brewery (Milford) and Stefano Middei from Winvian Farms (Morris).

The Caterer of the Year finalists are Delicacy Catering (West Hartford), DORO Catering & Events (West Hartford), Gourmet Galley Catering (Stonington), Knot Norms Catering (Norwalk) and Shaken & Stirred Catered Events (New Haven).

The 2022 People’s Choice Award is selected by the public and covers any dining establishment in Connecticut, across any genre of food or style of dining. Finalists from this category are Dockside Brewery (Milford), Flanders Fish Market (East Lyme), HooDoo Brown BBQ (Ridgefield), Mecha Noodle Bar (Five Connecticut locations) and Sayulita (Glastonbury).

The Restaurant Newcomer award highlights the best new restaurants in Connecticut. The 2022 finalists are Chef Jiang (Farmington), Good Old Days Pizza (Newtown), L’Ostal (Darien), Materia Ristorante (Bantam) and Rosina’s (Greenwich).

The final category is Restaurant of the Year, where the CRA recognizes four different regional winners, as well as an overall winner from the sixteen nominees.

Finalists from the North Region (Hartford & Tolland Counties) are Arugula (West Hartford), Cora Cora (West Hartford), Max Downtown (Hartford) and The Charles (Wethersfield).

The South Region (Middlesex & New Haven Counties) finalists are The Essex (Old Saybrook), Strega (Milford), Tavern on State (New Haven) and Union League Café (New Haven).

The East Region (New London and Windham Counties) finalists are Oyster Club (Mystic), Shipwright’s Daughter (Mystic), Stone Row Kitchen & Bar (Willimantic) and TAO Asian Bistro & Lounge (Uncasville).

The West Region (Fairfield & Litchfield Counties) finalists are Elm (New Canaan), Kawa Ni (Westport), Swyft (Kent) and Tony’s at the J House (Greenwich).