Governor Lamont, Tourism Officials Announce Launch of Connecticut’s New TV-To-Table Trail With James Beard Award-Winning Chef Scott Conant

New Tourism Trail Connects Visitors With Connecticut Chefs, Restaurants and Dishes Featured on Some of the Nation's Most Popular Food Television Shows

(HARTFORD, CT) - Governor Ned Lamont and the Connecticut Office of Statewide Marketing and Tourism today announced the launch of the Connecticut TV-to-Table Trail, a new statewide culinary tourism experience featuring Connecticut chefs and restaurants that have appeared on national food television programs.

The trail gives food lovers the opportunity to go beyond the screen and experience the places behind the television appearances-from chefs who have won Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay to restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Best Bite in Town, Guy's Grocery Games, Cupcake Wars and other national programs.

"Connecticut chefs have been competing, winning, and getting noticed on national television for years, and now we're giving people a way to experience that talent for themselves," Governor Lamont said. "You can watch these chefs on TV, but there is nothing like sitting down at their restaurants, tasting their food, and discovering the communities they call home. This trail takes the national attention they've earned and turns it into another reason to explore Connecticut."

The trail is being launched today during a special event held at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center and hosted by Connecticut native and James Beard Award-Winning chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and longtime television personality Scott Conant. It will feature chefs from Connecticut who have been featured on various television programs, and the chefs will provide guests with an opportunity to sample their dishes and desserts. Conant will move from station to station, speaking with the chefs about their television experiences, how those appearances impacted their careers, and why they chose Connecticut as the place to build their restaurants and culinary careers.

"Connecticut is my first home and will always be my forever home, so being part of a trail that celebrates the chefs and restaurants putting this state on the national culinary map is especially meaningful," Conant said. "There is incredible talent here, and I'm excited for people to experience it firsthand-and to have a little fun with some of these chefs in the kitchen."

The event will also feature the "TV-to-Table Throwdown," a fast-paced, 15-minute live cooking competition featuring several of the chefs. Competitors will create dishes using Conant's new line of tomato sauce: Martone Street-named for the street in Waterbury where his grandparents live-alongside locally sourced ingredients, with proteins, produce and dairy provided by Shaggy Coos Farm and Creamery (Easton), Silverman's Farm (Easton), and Laurel Glen Farm (Shelton).

The chefs are also cooking for a cause, with each competitor selecting a charity they would like to support. The winning chef in the TV-to-Table Throwdown will earn a $2,000 donation for their selected charity.

Participating organizations include Hands on Hartford, Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, CT Farm to School Collaborative, Save the Children, Mowat-Wilson Syndrome Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, and Feeding Families Foundation.

The charitable component extends beyond the launch event. Each organization will also be featured through Merch CT, Connecticut's statewide merchandise platform, with 100% of the proceeds from designated merchandise benefiting the participating charities.

While the launch event brings together food, competition and charitable giving, the broader goal of the TV-to-Table Trail is to turn the national visibility of Connecticut's culinary talent into a reason to visit the state.

"Food has become one of the most memorable ways people experience a destination, and Connecticut's culinary scene is one of the state's greatest assets," Ellen Woolf Rubrich, Connecticut's state brand director, said. "What makes TV-to-Table so compelling is that the audience already has a relationship with these chefs-they've watched them compete, followed their stories, and rooted for them on television. This trail takes that familiarity and gives people a reason to experience Connecticut in a completely new way."

Connecticut chefs step out from behind the screen

Today's launch event is featuring culinary talent from across Connecticut, including:

• Tyler Anderson (Millwright's and Ta•Que): A James Beard Award nominee and Connecticut Chef of the Year, Anderson won Chopped, was a finalist on BBQ Brawl, and has also appeared on Top Chef and Beat Bobby Flay.
• Adam Greenberg (Sparrow Pizza Bar and tacobarn): Greenberg won the Chopped Grand Champion Tournament and Beat Bobby Flay, was runner-up on Guy's Grocery Games and Alex vs. America, and competed on Tournament of Champions.
• Emily Mingrone (Tavern on State and Fair Haven Oyster Co.): The first female chef to be named Connecticut Chef of the Year and a James Beard Award semifinalist, Mingrone has appeared on Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games, and Best Bite in Town.
• Joel Gargano (Grano Arso): Gargano won the grand prize on Rocco's Dinner Party and has also appeared on Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Beat Bobby Flay. Grano Arso was named Connecticut Restaurant of the Year in 2019.
• Adrien Blech (Orienta): A winner of Beat Bobby Flay, Blech previously helped open Eric Ripert's Blue at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, which went on to earn a AAA Five Diamond rating.
• Joseph Hamboussi (Prime Burger): Hamboussi's Belgium Bierhaus Burger was featured on Best Bite in Town, where he finished among the top contenders and earned praise from Guy Fieri who called the burger a "flavor explosion."
• Matt and Lisa Storch (Match, Match Burger Lobster, and Clean Slate): Matt Storch won Chopped, while his sister Lisa Storch is a two-time winner of Beat Bobby Flay. The siblings later appeared together on Beat Bobby Flay, where Lisa defeated Matt before defeating Bobby Flay.
• Kim Hoàng Wood (Le Banh Patisserie): Wood competed on Spring Baking Championship and is serving her vanilla bean fruit tart from the show's first episode.
• Michele Albano (Michele's Pies): Albano defeated Bobby Flay with her signature Maple Pumpkin with Pecan Streusel Pie and has also appeared on Unique Sweets and The Martha Stewart Show. Her baking has earned more than 50 first-place blue ribbons.
• Haven Hot Chicken (Multiple Connecticut locations): Haven Hot Chicken won Best Bite in Town and has been recognized among Connecticut's fastest-growing companies and by QSR Magazine as one of America's standout startups fast-casual concepts.
• Carol Vollono and Brenda DePonte (Sugar Bakery): The team won Cupcake Wars, advancing through the competition before creating a massive final-round display featuring 1,000 decorated cupcakes.

Turning screen time into travel

The Connecticut TV-to-Table Trail is the latest statewide tourism experience developed by the Connecticut Office of Statewide Marketing and Tourism to transform distinctive Connecticut stories, businesses, and cultural moments into reasons to visit.

It follows other similar statewide trail initiatives, including the Connecticut Pizza Trail, the Connecticut Christmas Movie Trail, the Connecticut Oyster Trail, and the Connecticut Haunted History Trail.

The trail model allows visitors to build personalized itineraries around a shared interest while encouraging travel across communities throughout the state.

Recent initiatives have demonstrated the ability of experiential tourism campaigns to generate national attention and increase awareness of Connecticut destinations.

The nationally recognized Pizza Capital of the U.S. helped elevate Connecticut's reputation as a pizza destination. According to Connecticut's latest H2R Brand Perception and Health Study, 60% of the state's target audience recalled seeing, hearing, or reading coverage about Connecticut pizza in 2025, while 62% agreed that Connecticut has great pizza, an increase of 17% over the previous year.

"Trails work because they make discovery easy," Morgan Nyerick, director of the Connecticut Office of Statewide Marketing and Tourism, said. "They give travelers a reason to move around the state, try something new and build an experience around something they already love. With the Connecticut TV-to-Table Trail, that connection is food television-but once people get here, they're also discovering our downtowns, our neighborhoods, our local businesses, and so much more of what makes Connecticut a place these chefs chose to call home."

Tourism continues to grow in Connecticut

The Connecticut TV-to-Table Trail builds on the state's growing focus on experience-driven tourism, creating new reasons for visitors to explore communities, restaurants, and destinations across the state.

That comes as Connecticut continues to attract more travelers. The recent Annual Tourism and Economics report finds that tourism growth in Connecticut more than doubled the national rate in 2025, and the state welcomed 72.2 million visitors during the year-with visits to Connecticut increasing 3.1% over the previous year.

Tourism generated $20.1 billion in total economic impact, including $12.3 billion in direct visitor spending, and supported more than 125,000 jobs statewide. Visitor activity also generated $1.6 billion in state and local tax revenue.

That momentum has continued in 2026. Through June, statewide hotel occupancy increased 4.3%, compared with growth of 1.3% nationally, and a 0.8% decline across New England.

Visitors can explore the Connecticut TV-to-Table Trail at ConnecticutTVtoTable.com.