Ben and Lorin Smaha, of Freshies Lobster in Park City, celebrated their top prize at the World’s Best Lobster Roll competition.
As The Boston Globe reported, the Smahas won Down East magazine’s contest last weekend, which was a surprise given that the Utah natives won a New England-based competition.
The couple said they had some concern about whether a Utah business even stood a chance in a Maine-based event when a friend told them about it months ago.
“We were just kind of going into it as, ‘Let’s have a weekend away in Portland, catch up with family, have some fun, (and) meet some people who are doing the same thing we’re doing,’” Lorin Smaha said.
But the couple found they had something successful on hand, as they were elected a one of three finalists of the competition.
Later, they won the best overall lobster roll.
According to the Boston Globe, the judges said the roll was well-balanced. The roll received fresh lobster within an eight hour period from New England.
Smaha said they received 400 pounds of fresh lobster from Maine just recently.
“I would close my restaurant before I used something that wasn’t up to our standards,” Lorin Smaha said.
Read more at The Boston Globe.