The culinary team from The Oaks Waterfront Hotel, led by Chef Dave Donohue, took top honors at the Oyster Stew Competition as part of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s annual OysterFest last Saturday.
During CBMM’s celebration of the Bay’s favorite bivalve, nearly 400 guests sampled five stew entries from local chefs and cast their ballots in a blind poll. The Oaks’ entry was the champion with Stew D to the delight of Donohue, who won the coveted title at OysterFest for the first time after several runner-up finishes including last year.
Donohue shared that his stew recipe is incorporated into the oyster pot pie at the resort’s restaurant, The Oak Room. The contest gives him a chance to turn up the flavors with more oysters, bacon, and sherry, aiming to impress the judges who are just sampling a few bites.
“The oyster stew contest is something all the local chefs look forward to!” Donohue said. “It’s always fun tasting everybody else’s soup and seeing old friends, but ultimately, it’s a chance to give back to the community and help support the many great works of CBMM. Oh, and the bragging rights are nice, too!”
Chesapeake Chef Service and Chef Kurt Peter landed second place with Stew A, while Theo’s Steaks, Sides & Spirits, led by Jason Huls-Miller, took bronze with Stew B. Gourmet by the Bay at the Village Shoppe (Stew C) and T at the General Store (Stew E) were also part of the fun.
CBMM was thrilled to welcome nearly 4,000 guests for OysterFest for a day of delicious food and drinks, oyster-themed festivities, and family fun. Head to flickr.com/cbmmphotos to see a selection of photos from the fall-favorite festival courtesy of volunteer photographer George Sass.
Up next, CBMM hosts the Holiday Edition of the Eastern Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival on Saturday, Nov. 22, from 10am-4pm., before closing out festival season with its Winter on the Chesapeake celebration on Saturday, Dec. 13, in conjunction with Christmas in St. Michaels. Learn more and buy tickets at cbmm.org/Festivals.
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