Celebrity travel author reports on experience as West Coast Chowder showdown judge.

It started off like a clam chowder boot camp.

With his close-cropped hair and precise (albeit down-to-earth) demeanor, Chef Paul Lee, director of the Rancho Cielo Drummond Culinary Academy, ran a tight ship as the man in charge of the judges of the Monterey Wine Festival’s West Coast Chowder Competition.

As he instructed a disparate group of seven judges—including me—on how to properly gauge the quality of clam chowder at the event, he quickly earned our judging team’s respect.

The chowders were judged in three categories: appearance, texture and flavor.

Before marching out into Custom House Plaza to taste the chowders, Lee talked of roux, properly cooked vegetables and flavor.

We suddenly had a good idea of what conspires to make a chowder stand out.

Following the lesson, we followed Lee to booths ladling out chowders of varying greatness to us judges.

Some were dense with clams and veggies, while others were thick and creamy and surprisingly short on their namesake ingredient.

The best for me was Characters (inside the Marriott), a clever and comforting chowder with crunchy fried clams floating atop a tasty seafood stew.

I guess the other judges concurred: it took home first place in the contest.

Second place was a bit of a surprise: Sysco. Third went to Loulou's Griddle in the Middle.

In the more creative category, the seafood chowder, Sysco won, followed by Gladstone's Long Beach and Flaherty's of Carmel.

Loulou's, fresh off an appearance on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives the day before, won the People's Choice nod, their second in as many years.