October 18, 2007 6:00 AM
PORTSMOUTH — The second time was the charm for Paul and Eric Sorli, and Scott Fisher, owners of the Portsmouth Gas Light Co. restaurant in Portsmouth.

Tuesday evening they were awarded the coveted Restaurateur of the Year Award from the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association. The award was presented in front of approximately 320 association members at the organization's 93rd annual Stars of the Industry"award dinner at the Radisson Hotel Manchester/Center of New Hampshire.

AT A GLANCE
Portsmouth Gas Light Co. restaurant
Owners: Paul and Eric Sorli, and Scott Fisher
Location: 64 Market St., Portsmouth
Phone: 430-9122
Web site: www.portsmouthgaslight.com

"It is a great honor," Paul Sorli said Wednesday. "To even be in the company of those other nominees is terrific."

This year, the Sorlis and Fisher were up against Chris Kozlowski of the Orchard Street Chop Shop in Dover and Brian Shea of the Barley House in Concord.

This is the second time the owners of he Gas Light Co. have been nominated for this award. The last time was two years ago when they lost out to C.R. Sparks, a Bedford-area restaurant.

"The finalists for the 2007 awards have provided leadership and exemplary service in the workplace, but they've also done far more than that," said Dicky Desai, chairman of the board for NHLRA. "They've stayed actively involved in their communities, inspired their coworkers to grow and excel alongside them, and raised the bar on professional standards in the industry.

"In honoring them, we are honoring the very best qualities in each of the 68,000 people who work in New Hampshire's restaurants and lodging properties," said Desai.

The process for choosing the award winners is vigorous, said Drew Drummond, the association's events manager and the man who set up Tuesday's awards dinner.

Nominating forms are sent to all association members in early summer and after they are returned, the nominating committee, made up of previous award winners, goes through the submissions. Fifteen finalists are chosen in each of the five categories: Innkeeper of the Year, Restaurateur of the Year, Ed Bednarowski"Allied Member of the Year, and Employee of the Year for Lodging and Restaurant properties.

Those who are initially chosen are visited by committee members without warning. The results of those visits and the nomination papers are again reviewed, and three finalists are chosen each year. After further review, a winner is chosen, Drummond said.

"Every year, we are inspired anew by the quality of the Stars of the Industry'nominations we receive," said Bob Arnold, NHLRA Awards Committee chair. "It's always a difficult process to choose the finalists, but an extremely rewarding one, too.

"Reading about these star'colleagues and their contributions to the workplace, community,and industry, you get a clear picture of how much difference one person really can make," Arnold said. "We congratulate the finalists and thank them for all of their hard work."

Paul and Eric Sorli and Scott Fisher together launched the Portsmouth Gas Light Company in November of 1989. In effort to constantly re-examine and improve their business, the Gaslight in 1995 expanded its deck to double its space.

In 1997 they began the permitting process necessary to renovate and expand the ground floor restaurant and to open a nightclub on the third floor. Therefore, the Portsmouth Gas Light Company has evolved from its humble beginnings as a 60-seat restaurant with a single dining room to a culinary and entertainment Mecca — with a cozy bar and wood-fired pizza shop downstairs, a newly renovated dining room featuring fine American cuisine on the first floor, an outdoor deck with live music out back, and one of Portsmouth's hottest nightclubs on the third floor.

In effort to be involved in the industry, Paul has been very active with NHLRA in recent years. He currently serves on the board of the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, and is a past president of Seacoast Mental Health.

The Gas Light operators have formed alliances with their neighbors through the creation of the Downtown Business Association and many other state and local organizations.

Founded in 1914, the New Hampshire Lodging & Restaurant Association is a statewide, non-partisan trade organization. Its mission is to promote, protect and educate the food service and lodging industries of the state, and to ensure positive business growth for our members.

The NHLRA strives to represent the best interest of its members on small business issues, hospitality and tourism concerns and toward the protection of New Hampshire's Quality of Life. For more information, visit www.nhlra.com.