Business & Tech

The Village Way Walks Away With a Three-peat in Annual Chowder Competition

Restaurant's clam chowder beats out 16 others to retain its title of best chowder in Port Jefferson.

When it comes to chowder, The Village Way is the reigning champ of Port Jefferson, locking in the title of best chowder in the village for the third year in a row.

Every year since its inception, the Port Jefferson Spooktacular Harvest Festival has included a chowder crawl.

“When we did our first Harvest Festival it was a way of introducing all the different restaurants to people in the community,” said Marianne Ketcham from village shop Home Kingdom who ran the event.

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This year’s event tested the palettes of those with the stamina to navigate all 16 local restaurants offering up their best chowder for the competition.

Among the competitors were restaurants both established and brand new, including: Custom Café, Graceful Rose, Schafer’s, The Village Way, The Steam Room, Vincenzo’s, Tommy’s Place, Tequila Jacks, C’est Cheese, Twilight Café, Pace’s, P.J. Lobster House, Grumpy Jack's, Portside Bar and Grill, Gourmet Burger Bistro and Juniors Spycoast.

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According to Ketcham, 87 people entered into the competition. At $10 a pop, each entrant was allowed a heaping of chowder at each stop and a chance to vote for their favorites.

When all was said and done, The Village Way walked away with about 29 percent of the votes, with 25 people picking it as one of their top choices. Schafer’s came in second with 15 votes and third place went to C’est Cheese with 11 votes.

Ketcham said that it was a very good turnout this year.

Last year, a total of 73 ballots were counted and the voting was much closer. The Village Way got 13 votes, with runner up Pasta Pasta receiving 11 and Tequila Jacks getting 10.


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