Saturday wasn’t your typical day at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It was time to celebrate the 29th Annual Clam Chowder Cook Off & Festival, where individuals, restaurants, and organizations compete for the title of best clam chowder. All of the festivities efforts go to raise money for the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department programs.

Rain or shine, we were going to cover the event as Foodie Correspondents thanks to Foodbuzz. Thankfully, the weather stayed dry throughout Saturday’s festival where the crowds of hungry chowder fans walked the Boardwalk in search of the best Manhattan and Boston clam chowders. Booths were all set up attracting crowds. Some simple, others with playful themes like dancing mermaids or Oompa Loompas complete with a Willy Wonka commanding the crowd. It was all about checking out each booth because to try out the chowder, you had to give up one of five of your precious tasting tickets from your tasting kit.

Just like last year’s festival, we walked the Boardwalk just before the public tasting began to see the final prep work being completed.

You could see contestants busily mixing up their batches of chowder, chopping the remainder of their ingredients, and setting up for the rush of people ready to come to their booth. I can recall the smell of bacon permeating the air at one of the booths. Seeing all of this action was enough to get anyone excited to eat.

Right when 1:00 P.M. hit, it was time for the public tasting. Armed with our tasting kits – which included 5 tasting tickets, a People’s Choice Ballot card, reusable chowder cup, and spoon – we began to line up. We sampled chowder from all three divisions: individuals, corporate/media, and professional, to get a balanced selection of different chowders. Below is what we were able to try.

Draeger Construction
Boston: This was the booth where I smelled bacon being fried, so I wanted to line up here first. Bacon fans would rejoice to the plentiful bacon bits. To complement the bacon, you had plenty of chunks of clams, potatoes, and celery.

Manhattan: Just like their Boston chowder, their Manhattan chowder was chunky. The taste of sweet tomatoes shined through.

Mom’s Clam Diggers
Boston: Right away, just visually the differences can be seen between Mom’s Clam Diggers’ chowder and Draeger Construction’s chowder. We noticed that their chowder wasn’t thick at all, but more of a lighter cream broth with a smokey and peppery finish.

The Clamtone Cruzers
Boston: It was back to the thicker Boston chowder with The Clamtone Cruzers. It seemed that the flavor mainly came from herbs they must have used.

Cabrillo Culinary Arts
Manhattan: Those who like a little heat would have enjoyed this Manhattan chowder. The chowder was bold and spicy.

Boston: On the other hand, Cabrillo Culinary Arts’ Boston chowder had a very sweet finish.

Aegis of Aptos
Boston: Strangely enough, the last Boston chowder that we sampled was almost a combination of every Boston chowder that we had. Both sweet and smokey, every bite reminded me of what I had throughout the afternoon. Almost the perfect way to end it.

We went to the festival not looking for the best… That’s left for the judges to decide. We were there more for enjoying everyone’s take on clam chowder and appreciating all of the uniqueness each competitor brought to the cook off. Whether they were cooking clam chowder based from passed down family recipes or just a plan amongst a circle of friends, everyone was out to have a good time.

Below is the list of the winners of the 29th Annual Santa Cruz Clam Chowder Cook Off & Festival:

Best Professional Boston
1st Place – Severino’s Grill, Chef Antonio Gomez (Aptos)
2nd Place – Blackboard Catering, Chef Clint Hughey (Santa Cruz)
3rd Place – Lil Biscuit House, Chef Martin Krawetz (San Mateo)

Best Professional Manhattan
1st Place – Severino’s Grill, Chef Miguel Ponce (Aptos)
2nd Place – Blackboard Catering, Chef Clint Hughey (Santa Cruz)
3rd Place – Cabrillo College Culinary Arts, Chef Danny Pena (Aptos)

Best Individual Manhattan
1st Place – “Little Kahuna” – Brad Winding (Castro Valley)
2nd Place – “Dragonmama’s Red” – Michelle Ber (Fremont)
3rd Place – “Mitchell’s Chowder” – Zack Mitchell (Santa Cruz)

Best Individual Boston
1st Place – “Ye Oldde Cape Codders” – Darin Wallace (Oak Grove)
2nd Place – “Clam Rock” – Chris Hirz (San Jose)
3rd Place – “Clamma Lamma Ding Dongs” – Amy Gilmore (Roseville)

Best Corporate
1st Place – Dominican Hospital (Santa Cruz)
2nd Place – Jerry’s of Hollister (Hollister)
3rd Place – MYC Delta Clammers (Martinez)

Most Original Team
1st – Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing (Santa Cruz)
2nd – Dominican Hospital (Santa Cruz)
3rd – Cocoanut Grove Castaways (Santa Cruz)

People’s Choice
Professional: Severino’s Grills (Aptos)
Corporate: Dominican Hospital (Santa Cruz)
Individual: Grandma’s Clam Digger (Aptos)

Most Tasted
Professioinal: Carmona’s BBQ & Deli (Watsonville)
Corporate: Draeger Construction (San Jose)
Individual: Rosie’s Clam & Get it (Soquel)

Next to the water of the San Francisco Bay is the Ferry Building with its clock tower standing tall. Pedestrians close by hear the chimes of the tower echoing with each passing hour. Not only does the Ferry Building serve as a terminal to ferries that cross the San Francisco Bay, but nestled within its walls are restaurants and food purveyors. It is also home to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market where local produce and artisanal foods are available for purchase. A stroll through the building is enough to please any food aficionado.

The more time that I spent in the Bay Area, the more I found myself finding reasons just to go to the Ferry Building. I slowly began to discover my personal favorite finds, always returning back to them. There’s so much to take in. It’ll take awhile for me, or anyone to discover it all in one visit.

One spot that I catch myself going back to, time and time again, is the Hog Island Oyster Bar.

Why? Just so I can share the experience of having some of the freshest oysters available, some right out of Tomales Bay, with others. You can have them shucked and enjoyed fresh or baked. The Casino oyster, shown above, is just one example of baked oysters that they offer on the Hog Island Oyster Bar menu. Layers of flavor from paprika, shallots, thyme, and butter, just soak into the sweet oyster. Add just a touch of lemon juice to finish it off, eat, nod your head in delight, and repeat.

Backing up Hog Island Oyster Bar’s oysters are some solid soups that are not to be missed. One in particular that pleases us every time we visit is the clam chowder. Floating around the creamy broth you’ll find the standard potatoes and bacon, but what stands out here are the Manila clams. Still in the shell, you’ll have to work at picking them out. We don’t mind. It just adds to the aura of knowing you’re getting fresh clams and not any of that canned stuff. With my friends and family, we all agree that for the most part, the texture of chowder is pleasantly on the light side, not thick and heavy. I’ve had chowders in the past that were always thick, leaving me with a full feeling in my gut after one bowl. I can tell you that it’s refreshing to get something on the lighter side of things. You focus less on the richness of the texture and begin to see the clams as the highlight.

Continue Reading » Hog Island Oyster Bar

Summer is here. That means it’s time to get your grill fired up. Gas or charcoal, take your pick.

One question that sits on my mind is, “What to barbecue?” I could do a plain old hamburger or steak, but I wanted something more exciting that would combine some of my personal favorite spices to bring out rich flavors. And then, it hit me. What could be better than having sweet shrimp sizzling in a smoked Spanish paprika butter sauce right on the grill?

Continue Reading » Smoked Spanish Paprika and Cumin Spiced Barbecued Shrimp

Oysters are one of the things I enjoy eating. Whether they’re raw, grilled, fried, nothing beats fresh oysters. Hinigaran in the Visayas region of the Philippines is home to some of the area’s freshest oysters. Right under the town’s bridge lays an oyster plantation. Oysters are fished out and sold by the sackful here.

Rose shared her stories of oyster feasts that they had when she visited the Philippines. It makes me want to experience it first hand. How could you say no to these…

Just give me some lemons and Tabasco sauce and I’m ready to chow down.