Only One Nomination for Danbury in the 2023 CRAzies Awards?

For the past 4 years the Connecticut Restaurant Association (CRA) has honored the best of the best of Connecticut at it's annual awards ceremony 'The CRAzies'. The 5th annual CRAzie's is happening December 4, 2023 at Foxwoods. The 2023 nominees have just been announced, and only one nominee from Danbury made it in.

CRA is Connecticut's sole trade association for the hospitality industry - restaurants, caterers, and bartenders, and they have over 2,000 members. The CRAzie's first started in 2018, and they've really gained my attention over the past two years. The list of nominees is broken down geographically by Counties in Connecticut, and there are a few statewide/overall categories too. The 2023 CRAzie's nominee list has just opened up for your votes for the December 4th ceremony.

There are 17 different categories to vote in, including:

• Connecticut Restaurant of the Year
• Restaurant of the year (By County)
• Restaurant Newcomer
• People's Choice
• Chef of the Year
• Pastry Chef of the Year
• Server of the Year
• Caterer of the Year
• Vendor of the Year
• Bartender of the Year

In all 17 categories, only 1 nominee made it from Danbury -  Sam Reyes from Mariposa Taqueria at 56 Mill Plain Road, Reyes is one of the nominees for 2023 Bartender of the Year.

Who is all over the statewide 2023 CRAzie's? Bantam/Litchfield county. Materia Ristorante in Bantam is up for multiple awards, as is Litchfield Distillery, West Street Grill, At the Corner, and Arethusa al tavolo. A big round of applause goes out to other area town's lone nominees - Hindsight BBQ, who made the Best Restaurant - New Haven County shortlist, and Good Old Days in Newtown for Fairfield County's Restaurant of the Year.