FIRST LOOK – LobsterCraft
I remember when I was growing up. Eating lobster was a BIG deal. It was a meal that was strictly reserved for special occasions; New Year’s Eve, your birthday, or maybe an anniversary. Definitely not just because it was Tuesday!
Back in the 70s, only the fanciest places had lobster on their menu. You could buy a whole live lobster from a tank in the larger supermarkets. Nobody I knew EVER did that. Cooking a whole live lobster in your home kitchen seemed crazy. I mean, that thing had to be cooked alive! (How many other things can you think of that are cooked alive?! Not many).
In my teens, I worked at one of those large supermarket chains that had a live lobster tank. It was always fully stocked. Fully stocked meant about 30 lobsters. Watching those lobsters climb all over each other like an aquatic game of King of the Hill was memorizing. They were oblivious to the fact that the winner was probably the first one selected to be eaten!
The tank was in the seafood department. The seafood and meat departments in this store shared the same general area perfect for your surf and turf shopping.
To get one of the lobsters out of his/her holding pen, the butcher used a small rake. He would poke around in the tank until one lobster separated from the pack. Then, he would scoop it up towards the top, where he could quickly grab it. He’d drop his catch on a scale, weigh it up, wrap it in wet newspaper and carefully put it into a bag for transport. It was a process.
Lobster has gone mainstream in the past 30 years, that’s for sure. Used to be that only the best restaurants had lobster on their menu. It made sense. They were expensive to start with. Plus you had to have a place to hold them where they would stay alive until someone ordered one. Again, it was a process.
Fast forward to 2022. Lobster is everywhere. Sure, it’s still available at the fine dining restaurants around town. Michael’s On East has a fantastic Lobster Pot special every Friday evening. 🦞🦞 And The Lazy Lobster up on Longboat Key has been serving a lobster-centric menu for years. But now you can find all kinds of lobster dishes oozing out of menus across Sarasota. From tacos, to mac n cheese, to lobster burgers, and yes, rolls.
Out on St. Armands Circle is the best example of lobster for the masses. That’s whereLobsterCraft (28A S. Boulevard of the Presidents, (941) 346-6325) is dishing out lobster in more ways than you thought were humanly possible. What started back in 2012 as a Connecticut food truck has made its way down to Sarasota, Florida as a full-blown, brick and mortar lobster mecca.
If you’re looking for lobster, you have certainly come to the right place! You can’t get the traditional whole boiled lobster, but you can have your lobster just about any other way you can imagine.
Yes, that is the Lobster Mac N Cheese. It is loaded with huge chunks of lobster meat. Yes, it is a $24 Mac N Cheese, but if you’re a connoisseur of Lobster Mac N Cheeses, you’ll have to add this to your “must try” list.
Lobster Mac N Cheese isn’t your thing? How about a trio of lobster roll sliders? Today’s selections are the Coastal, the Heatwave (seasonally appropriate), and the Dirty Maynard. It may seem hard to believe, but each of these mini-lobster rolls has its own very distinct flavor profile. There is something for all tastes here.
When I got a first look at the menu, this was the one thing that I had been waiting to sample. The Lobster Bacon Lettuce and Tomato! Honestly, this is more than just a lobster roll. This is a treat to eat! The bacon adds that nice salty element to the sandwich that takes it over the top! Just perfect.
LobsterCraft also serves a super-rich and creamy Lobster Bisque. They serve the lobster in a separate cup for you to add on your own. I love that touch. It keeps that delicate lobster meat from getting tough sitting in that hot broth. Gotta have a cup of bisque!
When LobsterCraft came to town, they got a lot of initial buzz. And rightfully so. But now that the initial flurry of activity has faded a bit, it’s time for you to wander on in and sample a few selections for yourself.
It’s lobster, lobster, lobster, and more lobster. So if that is what you’re after, this is the spot for you. Tell them we sent you!
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