It was a beautiful evening at the Riverview in Simsbury Thursday for Faith Middleton’s Food Schmooze® Martini Competition to benefit WNPR.
The Food Schmooze® team mixed it up with more than 700 revelers at the sold-out event. Ticket holders sampled creative “martini cocktails” and voted and then noshed at stations serving knockout food from many of Connecticut’s top restaurants.
The winners of the martini competition are as follows:
Food Schmooze® Gold
Faith Middleton stands with the team from Infinity Hall who won first place for their Lime in the Coconut.
Food Schmooze® Silver
Bartenders from the Double Tree by Hilton, Bristol dish out their Slim Shady to expectant voters.
Food Schmooze® Bronze
The team from Max Burger pose proudly with the trophy for their BRB.
Best Craft Cocktail Winner
as awarded by Anthony DeSerio
Town Plot Collins, from Highland Brass Co.
“The dancing was hot, the light show was sizzlin’, and setting an attendance record was thrilling,” says Faith. “Yet mostly I’m struck by how talented our Connecticut bartenders are. They could enter and conceivably win at any international competition. We’re so grateful for their participation and so proud of them.”
The Food Schmooze®, including Faith, Chris Prosperi, Alex Province, Lori Mack, and Jonathan McNicol, extends their thanks to those that attended the event—it was fantastic for our team members to meet our audience in person. We are beyond grateful to the restaurants, bartenders, and staff who generously supported the knockout party of the season.
Many thanks to the management team at the Riverview, which was at its best that evening. Lastly, sincerest appreciation goes to the entire team at WNPR who did so much great work behind the scenes to make the event a roaring—and we mean roaring—success.
As always, our cocktail recipes, food recipes, value wines, tips, and lessons are at foodschmooze.org.
Here are some photos of fun from the night:
