The Strong Buzz

“Ed's Lobster Bar”

May 31, 2007

MY DINNER AT ED'S LOBSTER BAR

It must be tough to be Rebecca Charles. For those of you who don't know who I'm talking about, she's the chef and owner of Pearl Oyster Bar. Let me rewind for a moment. When she opened Pearl, she pretty much put the lobster roll on the map for land-locked New Yorkers. She did it with the help of her co-chef, Mary Redding. When their relationship ended, Mary left, and opened her own seafood shack, Mary's Fish Camp, and started serving her own lobster rolls, steamers and fried clams. (I prefer Mary's. Sorry Rebecca.) So, anyway, then came Ed McFarland, who was Rebecca's sous chef for the past six years. And then, well, Ed goes off and opens his own lobster roll joint called Ed's Lobster Bar.

Now, look, it's not like Rebecca invented the Lobster Roll, but it must sting a little bit to have two of your protégés leave you and open competing businesses peddling the same sort of fare in similar environments. But hey, that's the way the lobster crawls. And you know what, Mary and Ed are very talented and they've created their own visions of a fish shack, and I am glad to have more options than just Pearl. In fact, I don't really eat at Pearl anymore. About a four years ago now, maybe more, I had made plans to have a late lunch at the bar with a friend. We got to the bar at 2:25. Lunch service ended at 2:30, and we were refused a seat. I pointed out that there were five minutes left and that all I wanted was a lobster roll, but Rebecca didn't care. She turned her back on us and walked back into the kitchen. I've never forgotten that and I will not return and eat there again. I've worked in the business, and I know what it's like to be at the end of the shift and not want to do one more cover, but there's something called hospitality, and I didn't feel any of it there.

However, I do feel it at Mary's (even when the wait is long), and I did feel the other night at Ed's, an absolutely fabulous (yes, I know that's effusive, but that's how I feel) new lobster bar that opened a few weeks ago on Lafayette Street, just across the way from La Esquina and Room for Dessert.

Ed's is a cute little shop of lobsters. A narrow windowed storefront is shaded by an awning of wide navy and white stripes. Walk inside, and you'll find a pencil-thin room lined in wainscoting that plays host to a stretched out white marble food bar (that can seat 30) lit up with bright globe lighting that leads back to a snug dining room with about five tightly spaced tables. It's a difficult fit back there, so if you can do a some sort of a cartwheel/jump move, you might have to bust it out in order to get to your chair. I cannot do such a move and so I sucked in my gut and squeezed myself between two neighboring tables and into my chair. Once in, I exhaled and was not moving. Neither were Katy or Steven. We were tucked in and ready to eat.

It was a hot night, so we ordered a bottle of Muscadet ($28) to drink while we got to around to looking at the menu which is printed on white paper that is also your placement.  It's a brief study in seafood shack fare with the usual suspects-raw bar, mussels, fried clams, steamers, lobster salad, bouillabaisse, and steamers in addition to the coveted roll de lawbstah.

We decided to start with a round of the cold watermelon and tomato soup. A sweet cool tomato broth was bobbing with juicy chunks of watermelon and ribbons of basil. The soup was simple and refreshing, and tasted like taking a running plunge into a cold lake on an oppressively sticky summer afternoon. A Bibb salad was massive (for all of $7)-a chest-height pile of fresh and crisp rippled Bibb leaves (the small inner ones and the larger outer ones) topped with ripe red wedges of beefsteak tomatoes, a judicious crumble of Maytag blue, some toasted walnuts, and a few slivers of red onion, all dressed in a simple yet assertive red wine vinaigrette.  I don't remember the last time I was that excited by a salad but when you get something so basic, so right, it's really quite impressive.

From these two dishes it was already clear that Ed's strengths are clearly simple food done right. The fried Ipswich clams ($M/P) were terrific-robed in a tight dry batter that hasn't even the slightest hint of grease. The clams (bellies and all) were really excellent, but what was even more of a treat was the accompanying tartar sauce, a thick dipper that was crowded with diced red onion and pickles. It's killer. I'd slather it on a slice of juicy tomato and have it for lunch.

The PEI mussels ($8) were plump and bursting from their shells, stepped in a rich Dijon cream sauce given some bite from horseradish. Katy and I were spooning the broth into our mouths, when our waiter asked if we might like some bread for sopping up the sauce. We nodded in unison and then spent a good few minutes turning a loaf of bread into edible broth sponges.

Steamers ($M/P) are served in a blue clam pot, with a bowl of water to rinse and a shallow pool of melted butter to dip. I can't ever seem to get all the sand out but I didn't really mind. Steven agreed. "They're a little sandy, but I think they're better that way," he said as he dipped one in the butter and popped it in his mouth with a smile. "Delicious!"

Ed serves a fish of the day ($M/P) with seasonal sides, and we went for the Alaskan halibut with corn, fava beans and snap peas. The halibut was nicely cooked, though it could have been seasoned up a bit more. And while he's jumping the gun on the corn, on the night in question, which was like August, it felt like the right thing to eat. 

Now, I have been trying to figure out a way to do justice to the loveliness of this lobster roll ($M/P) in print, and I am not sure that I can, so I encourage you to go and have one for yourself as soon as possible. Ed's opens daily at 5pm. Catch a 6 train to Prince Street and it's a block away. Park yourself at the bar. Order a pint of Smuttynose or a Hitachino White, and a lobster roll, and you will thank me. Actually you should thank Ed, first. Then you can thank me too, if you want. 

For those of you who can't get there until later today, or for heaven's sake tomorrow (!), picture this: a pulled pork sandwich, but instead of a roll, substitute a split hot dog bun, buttered and griddled, and instead of pork, substitute a mound of sweet and luscious lobster meat that tastes like it's been poached in butter (or possibly sugar) so it's almost seasoned from the inside out, then pulled apart into blessed shredded mess, dabbed with just the right amount of mayonnaise to let it loosely hold together. Add an ample serving of hand-cut, piping hot, sea-salted fries, and a ramekin of housemade bread and butter pickles, cut like Ruffles potato chips, and slapped with the heat of a habanero pepper. Okay. That should do it. You are now in the lobster roll zone with me. It's wonderful, isn't it? Yes, it is.

There are desserts too, like a rather silly ice cream sandwich (three scoops of vanilla in a hot dog roll), a homemade strawberry rhubarb crumble that's nothing to look at but tastes like something that might have one the Country Fair, and a lackluster blueberry crème brulee. I'd have the pie, though. And another lobster roll, if you can fit it in. Ed learned well from his mentor. And once again, Rebecca's loss is our gain.

Ed's Lobster Bar is located at 222 Lafayette Street, between Spring and Broome Streets, 212-343-3236.

 

Andrea Strong