Maryland Restaurateur Of The Year Owns 2 Columbia Eateries

COLUMBIA, MD — The owner of two Columbia restaurants has been named the 2019 Restaurateur of the Year. Steve Wecker, who owns the Iron Bridge Wine Company as well as Cured | 18th & 21st, won the honor from the Restaurant Association of Maryland.

The award is given annually to a restaurant owner who "shows originality, offers quality customer service, demonstrates success in the eyes of his/her fellow operators, and demonstrates leadership on behalf of the food service industry," according to the association.

Wecker opened Iron Bridge Wine Company with his brother Rob in 2003, and since then the eatery off Route 108 has gained national recognition. In 2018, it made OpenTable's list of top 100 restaurants for wine lovers in America.

RELATED: Iron Bridge Wine Company Among Best Wine Restaurants

The Weckers also founded Mutiny Pirate Bar & Island Grille in 2011, which Rob Wecker told Baltimore Style was intended to be "a place a pirate would hang out," with a vast array of rum selections and a scratch kitchen. The restaurant first opened in Glen Burnie, then moved to Pasadena and in 2018 opened a second location in Elkridge.

Cured | 18th & 21st opened off Little Patuxent Parkway in spring 2018 and presents diners with two concepts —American cuisine on one side and a speakeasy on another — under one roof. Steve Wecker partnered with former Iron Bridge General Manager Vince Culotta in that business, located near Merriweather.

SEE ALSO: CURED | 18th & 21st Now Open In Columbia

Steve Wecker was presented with the Restaurateur of the Year Award at the Restaurant Association of Maryland's annual Stars of the Industry Gala on Sunday, May 5, at Baltimore's Renaissance Harborplace Hotel.

“The gala is our opportunity to honor and give recognition to elite restaurants across the state,” President and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland Marshall Weston said in a statement. "We are fortunate to have such a diverse group of restaurants to choose from who are dedicated to their customers, their community and their employees."

These were the contenders for Restaurateur of the Year:

• Brian & Lisa Bolter of Red Red Wine Bar and DRY 85
• James King - Blackwall Hitch of The Blackwall Barn & Lodge and The Greene Turtle
• Susan & Lee Nardyz of RockSalt Grille and RockSalt Grille Carryout & Seafood Market
• Jay Taustin of The Embers Restaurant, BLU Crabhouse and Raw Bar and Mad Fish Bar & Grill
• Steve Wecker of Cured | 18th & 21st, The Iron Bridge Wine Company and Mutiny Pirate Bar & Island Grille

More than 30,000 people participated in online voting, according to the Restaurant Association of Maryland, the Columbia-based trade association that sponsors the awards.