The Starboard’s Bloody Mary Contest Winners

The Starboard Restaurant and Tito’s Vodka teamed up for the second annual bloody mary contest on Sunday, May 17th. Sundays always belong to the Starboard Restaurant and their massive bloody bar, but last Sunday was more bloody fabulous than ever! Mayhem met vodka in a creative showdown, placing local bartenders head to head. Competing were 16 participants vying for the first prize title. Contestants were judged by panel of five local personalities who were tasked with tasting over 15 bloody marys!

The bloodies were built behind the scenes, then shown off to the audience, explained, and then off to the judges for the tasting. The crowd gathered to watch as Dickie Heidenburger emceed the event clad in a red polyester leisure suit. Personality was in no short supply as Heidenburger helped the bartenders present their concoctions to the audience.

The prizes were $500.00 for first place, $150.00 for second place, and $50.00 for third place. There was also a special prize given—an electric guitar—for perfect presentation. In trying to win the grand prize, each bartender brought their A-game, building cocktails that show cased everything from chicken leg garnishes to razor clams. One bloody even came intact with a meat stick straw.

Among the most notable bloodies was the massive lobster tail bloody, built by Matty Kasper and William Somoza from the Starboard, which included a Thai lobster tail, four bacon-wrapped scallops, atop an entire burger. It won 3rd place overall, and a special prize for perfect presentation. Second prize went to Travers Downs. But the big prize of the day went to Isabella Argueta and Todd Drotleff for their flame throwing style and truly innovative “tomato soup” style bloody, complete with a grilled cheese sandwich!

Luckily the Starboard Restaurant was able to pull out a win for the home team, defending their turf and adding to their arsenal of bloody mary accolades. But with the bloody mary contest growing in popularity (and creativity) it’s hard to say who will bring the heat and the pull out a win next year—chances are, those bartenders are already thinking of how to build the next winning bloody mary!



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