Colorado Restaurant Association Honors 2023 Industry Spotlight Awards Winners

On November 8, the hospitality community gathered at the Chambers Grant Salon inside the Ellie Caulkins Opera House to do what it does best: celebrate.

The occasion was the Colorado Restaurant Association’s  2023 Industry Spotlight Awards, “the only awards program for Colorado’s hospitality community that celebrates contributions at all levels of the industry, from back-of-house employees and managers to chefs and owners,” according to the CRA. Signature Dish Awards are also “given to honor individuals and hospitality partners who serve as outstanding mentors and allies for the industry.”

One of those awards is given to Outstanding Media Professionals, and I was honored to receive that recognition this year along with Kip Wilson of Stoned Appetit.

The stars of the night, though, were the restaurant employees who took the stage to thank their supporters, including family, friends and coworkers, with speeches that got rowdier as the night went on – James S. Pollard, manager of Rhino’s Sports and Spirits in Colorado Springs, and Nicholas Winden, chef from Laundry Kitchen & Cocktails in Steamboat Springs, both had the crowd laughing and cheering by the time they were done.

The final honoree of the night was Richard Schneider, the tortilla savant of Raquelitas Tortillas, who received the Richard P. Ayers Distinguished Service Award. “I’m happy when I see the room, all the people that won tonight,” he said. “If you don’t think the future of this industry is in good hands, with good soldiers, you didn’t come here. Because we’ve got some all-stars, truly, all over the state.”

Last month, the CRA inducted three hospitality professionals into the Colorado Foodservice Hall of Fame, a program that was established in 1978 to “celebrate Coloradans who are devoted to the idea of hospitality and practice it in their daily lives,” the CRA says. (Westword editor Patricia Calhoun was inducted in 2019.)

This year’s inductees:

• Chip Bair, founder of Beau Jo’s
• Andy Clark, founder and owner of Moxie Bread Co., the Mill Site, Moxie Feed + Seed and Moxie Mercantile (posthumously; Clark passed away on November 7, 2022)
• Holly Arnold Kinney, owner of the Fort Restaurant and executive director of Tesoro Cultural Center

Here’s the complete list of 2023 Industry Spotlight Awards winners:

Signature Dish Awards

• Outstanding Community Partner: Visit Denver
• Outstanding Allied Partners: Republic National Distributing Company and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
• Exceptional Newcomer: Francisca Chacon, Twenty One Steak (Pueblo)
• Outstanding Media Professionals: Molly Martin, Westword, and Kip Wilson, Stoned Appetit
  
• Outstanding Professionals: Anthony Lambatos, Footers Catering/MIBE/Social Capitol Events and Madeline Stamm, Elevated Inc. (Cheba Hut)
• Outstanding Regional Professional: Ezra Gutierrez, the Dish Room (Burlington)
• Outstanding Philanthropist: Arlan Preblud, We Don’t Waste

Stars of the Industry Awards

• BOH Employees of the Year: Jose Manuel Garcia, Brider Rotisserie & Kitchen; Matthew Hernandez, the Dish Room (Burlington); Joe Link, Sullivan Scrap Kitchen; Martin Mendez, Sweet Basil (Vail)
• Chefs of the Year: Jenna McNeil, Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar (Glendale); Kenny Minton, Coperta; Greg Weadick, Monarch Chophouse at Monarch Casino Resort Spa (Black Hawk); Nicholas Winden, Laundry Kitchen & Cocktails (Steamboat Springs)
• FOH Employees of the Year: Nicholas Caten, Tavernetta; Humberto Ruiz, Rioja; Marco Vazquez, Twenty-Four 7 Restaurant at Monarch Casino Resort Spa (Black Hawk); Michelle Yates, Colonel Mustard’s Sandwich Emporium (Colorado Springs)
• Managers of the Year: Karla Bernhard, Homegrown Tap & Dough; Oscar Meir Carrillo, Brider Rotisserie & Kitchen; James “Steve” Pollard, Rhino’s Sports and Spirits (Colorado Springs); Hildo Salvador, Ted’s Montana Grill (Littleton)
• Bartenders of the Year: George Wright IV, Tavernetta and Dylan Zarett, Adobo