a sea change
A new wave of restaurants is arriving on the city’s seafood shore
We may be surrounded by water, but until recently the Big Apple has mainly left the seafood scene to Boston and Baltimore. Yet what started as an infatuation with lobster rolls has turned into a tidal wave of coastal-themed joints, from the oyster shuckers behind nearly every new cocktail bar to the now-famous fish tacos sold out in Rockaway Beach to full-blown New England-themed spots like Extra Fancy (see related story).
Since there’s no better time than summer to follow a shoreline trend, why not dive into these new places.
SHUCKS
Born in Salem, Mass., Shucks founder Deanna Maher had so much trouble finding whole-belly Ipswich clams outside her native state, she took matters into her own hands. Now, instead of cooking them for friends in her Brooklyn apartment, she runs an outdoor stand at Smorgasburg on Saturdays.
There, you’ll find not just red-checkered baskets of fried bellies, but the $10 Clamwich (a soft bun stuffed with bellies, and Maher’s own coleslaw and tartar sauce) and $5 orders of thick-cut, buttermilk-battered onion rings. “It’s kind of a nostalgia thing,” says Maher. In fact, she saves the fattest specimens for regulars who share similar memories.
Smorgasburg, 27 N. Sixth St., Brooklyn. brooklynflea.com.
CLAW
Unlike most lobster-centric spots in this town, Joseph Miller’s new place doesn’t channel Maine, but New York State. The Oyster Bay native says his rolls are done Long Island-style. “They’re warm,” he says, “which is kind of unusual.” They’re basted with a little lobster stock butter, a little mayo and a dash of white pepper and served with cornichon pickles for $16.50.
Sound decadent? Dig his second biggest seller, a lobster stock-enriched mac and cheese made with fat pasta trumpets and brioche breadcrumbs ($12).
744 Ninth Ave., at W. 50th St. (212) 581-8400.
KITTERY
Nearly finished at a busy corner in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens, this seafood-centric spot should be open in the next few weeks. It’s backed by the owners of the Italian place Ciro’s next door, whose chef, Josh Moulton, grew up near Boston. (“I can make a seafood chowder,” he says, “that will make your toes curl.”)
The airy blue and white space will channel Moulton’s childhood trips to the coast, which included stops at fish shacks in rural Kittery, Maine. Expect the patio to open first for New England specialties like lobster rolls, brews and a raw bar, with more formal specialties from the entire Eastern seaboard — shrimp creole to grilled whole fish — to come later.
305 Smith St., Brooklyn.
HANDSOME HANK’S FISH HUT
Danny Lyu is already known for perfecting Mexico’s coolest sub: He sells overstuffed hoagies called cemitas at Smorgasburg every Saturday.
His newest Smorgasventure boosts the profile of another stellar sandwich: the Harlem-style fried fish beauties this amateur fisherman has been eating for years.
Lyu’s standard sammy features fillets of freshly fried whiting on thick slabs of mayo-slathered Texas toast, but this Korean-American jazzes up the breading with spicing inspired by the flavor packets of instant ramen. The Korean and Vietnamese versions channel Asia even further: They’re slathered with chilispiked slaws and fresh herbs. All are $8. Lyu also does fish and chips. (And Handsome Hank, notes Lyu, is his father.)
Smorgasburg, 27 N. Sixth St., Brooklyn. brooklynflea.com.
GABE THE FISH BABE
The daughter of a Cape Cod commercial fisherman, Gabrielle Stommel — aka “the Babe” — became the city’s newest fishmonger this spring, opening an office by the docks in Point Judith, R.I., so she can buy directly from the boats. While she mainly sells her pristine catch to chefs, she now has a stand at New Amsterdam Market on Sundays at South Street Seaport, and just launched a members-only fish club with pickups around the city.
It’s similar to a CSA, the “community supported agriculture” programs where folks pay upfront for weekly deliveries of produce. Prices are $25 to $40 a week for bags full of everything from striped bass and scallops to black sea bass, fluke, porgy, swordfish, tuna, oysters and clams.
New Amsterdam Market, 100 Peck Slip. gabethefishbabe.com.
LAKE TROUT
Williamsburg’s newest addition to the hipster hole-in-the-wall dining scene isn’t about pies or pizza, but the Baltimore specialty known as “lake trout”: two battered and fried slabs of whiting on white bread ($6.25) and best eaten with a knife, a fork and plenty of hot sauce. Chef Matt Lang — he’s from Maryland, natch — has even decorated the spare space with giant Baltimore Orioles baseball cards.
If you want tidier fare, try the Cheese Fish Sandwich, Lang’s $6.50 riff on the Filet-O-Fish: a neat square of fried fish with pickles, a skinny strip of tomato and shredded iceberg lettuce, all on a supersoft bun slicked with spicy cheese sauce. 160 Havemeyer St., Brooklyn.
NOR EAST CLAM SHACK
Just a week old, this tiny takeout window is the second seafood-centric
business from a trio of childhood friends from Nantucket. Think of it as a drivethru window for the Grey Lady, the more spacious place Ryan Chadwick and twin brothers Callum and McLaughlin opened just next door in May. (The Grey Lady is Nantucket’s nickname, thanks to its perpetual blanket of fog.)
The Shack’s menu is shorter and cheaper, essentially fried seafood sandwiches and the all-important mayoslicked lobster roll, served with chips and a pickle for $18.
77 Delancey St., (646) 389-3474.
BROOKLYN CRAB
This three-story waterfront “shack” across from Red Hook’s Fairway supermarket might still be working out the kinks — early reviews have folks yakking about three-hour waits at a place that’s literally on the edge of the borough — but nobody can deny it offers uniquely beachy entertainment. Built like an overgrown tree house, Brooklyn Crab boasts a shuttle bus from the subway, mini-golf, a rooftop with smashing views, beers by the bucket and, of course, seafood. Beyond peel-and-eat shrimp and platters of fried seafood, there are four types of crab-stuffed steamer pots, like a Southern version with blue crabs, shrimp, andouille links, potatoes and corn for $36.
24 Reed St., Brooklyn. (718) 643-2722.
FISHING SHRIMP FOOD TRUCK
Not only does this bright blue box truck fry up boatloads of shrimp and fish ($9 and $6, both served with skinny hand-cut fries), co-owner and head chef Odeis Stephenson serves up a specialty of his native Jamaica: fried conch.
A basket is $15, while fritters are $9. Both are excellent doused not with the truck’s cocktail or tartar sauces, but a splash of spicy Caribbean-style vinegar, swimming with chilies and onion. The owners are looking for space to fry in Ditmas Park near where all three live, but until then their truck is all over Brooklyn and Manhattan. Like most food trucks, the best way to track ’em down is through Twitter @FishingShrimp. Fishingshrimp.com
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