Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 19, 2025 FOCUS: Food & Drink Chef Brian Lewis, founder and CEO of Full House Hospitality Group based in Westport, is a finalist for a 2025 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER A National Stage CT restaurants use James Beard Awards' publicity to fuel growth footprint outside of Fairfield and West- chester counties, or both. He said he's developing a new restaurant concept, but isn't ready to talk about it yet. "Quite honestly, I want to push myself into other areas that are outside of — not necessarily my skill set by any means — but my comfort zone, whether it's from a business standpoint or a creative standpoint," Lewis said. Serendipitous rise Coracora never sought the publicity it eventually received, either. Two immigrants from Coracora, Peru, opened the restaurant in 2011. Now, it's owned by their daughters, Macarena and Grecia Ludena. Grecia Ludena said the restau- rant's sales approximately doubled the year it became a finalist for Outstanding Restaurant. "Every day was a busy day," she said. "Of course, that meant more employees to hire, more crowds in the kitchen. And that was something new for us." The Ludenas said the main ingredi- ents to their success are high-quality food, exceptional customer service and consistency. Those attributes led to a positive New York Times review in 2013, but it was the James Beard nomination that brought them into the limelight. "I think that James Beard pushed us a little bit, in a sense, because now we had a platform, people were paying attention," Grecia Ludena said. "And, we really want to make it like a huge statement." Coracora's first glimpse at national fame came in 2022 when Macarena Ludena was named a semifinalist for "Best Chef in the Northeast." Also that year, the restaurant was a semifi- nalist for Outstanding Restaurant. In 2024, Coracora was again named a finalist for Outstanding Restaurant — the third time in three years. Although Coracora hasn't won the top award, the recognition has attracted new business and fueled an expansion. "We were on the news. It was crazy. People were coming in asking all the waiters about seeing us on TV, or reading about it," Macarena Ludena said. "It was incredible, because we can share our food with more people, and we can tell our story to more people." Coracora plans to open a second location in West Hartford's Blue Back Square later this year. The space at 51 Isham Road is the former home of Rosa Mexicano restaurant. It will feature a full bar and profes- sional restaurant design, expanding possibilities beyond the confines of their current home, built for a fast-food chain. They plan to keep both locations open; their current spot will become a fast-casual eatery, while the one in Blue Back Square will be an upscale, By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com U ntil 2023, Connecticut had not had a James Beard Awards finalist in the national "Outstanding Restaurant" category in 17 years. That streak was broken two years ago when West Hartford Peruvian restaurant Coracora, set in a nonde- script former McDonald's location, stunned critics by being named among five national finalists for the coveted title. Coracora is among a handful of Connecticut restaurants that have benefited from the national attention brought by the annual James Beard Awards, which are considered among the U.S.' most prestigious culinary arts recognitions. This year, Westport-based restau- rateur Brian Lewis is a finalist for "Best Chef in the Northeast" for the third time, and he's determined to win the title. Lewis is the CEO and owner of Full House Hospitality Group, which has more than 100 employees across four restaurants. He was also a finalist for Best Chef in the Northeast in 2018 and 2022. Although he's the top executive of his company, Lewis still considers himself, first and foremost, a chef. "The balance between being an artist and the art dealer is a really apt kind of analogy," Lewis said. "As far as being the artist, being the chef, I have an apron on every day when I come to work. And sometimes I'm forced into more of a CEO role." Lewis said he delegates some decisions about the realities of running a restaurant group to his business partner, Kirk Saari. "I think I'm a better chef than I am a businessman," Lewis said with a laugh. "I'm the one that messes up the food costs when I cook, because I just want the best." Four restaurants Full House Hospitality Group has two restaurant concepts: The Cottage, which offers upscale American cooking in a cozy atmosphere; and OKO Kitchen, which fuses traditional Japanese techniques and ingredients with Lewis' signature culinary style, and focuses on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. In 2015, Lewis opened his first restaurant, The Cottage in Westport, in an intimate 54-seat setting. He said he never thought he'd operate three more. "A lot of it was serendipity and just really good circumstances," Lewis said. The idea for OKO, he said, came to him in a dream. After studying Japa- nese culture and cuisine, he decided to move forward with the idea. In 2017, he opened his first OKO restaurant in Westport. He opened his next OKO in Rye, New York, in 2019. He opened his fourth restaurant, The Cottage in Greenwich, in 2022. Lewis said he hopes the James Beard publicity will help him grow the business — whether that means adding new brands, expanding his existing AND THE JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER IS … Brian Lewis, owner and CEO of Full House Hospitality Group, will find out if he's won the 2025 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast on June 16, during an awards ceremony to be held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He plans to attend with about 30 members of his staff. Lewis is competing against four other finalists in the category: • Avery Buck, of May Day (Burlington, Vermont); • Sky Haneul Kim, of Gift Horse (Providence, Rhode Island); • Erin Miller, of Urban Hearth (Cambridge, Massachusetts); and • Derek Wagner, of Nicks on Broadway (Providence, Rhode Island).

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