Soup, Pizza and Mezcal

I don't want to seem like a school girl with a crush or anything, but I have developed quite the thing for Luke's Lobster spicy crab and sweet potato soup. It's the perfect winter lunch, hearty and thick with a real kick of pepper - $7 for the large, 16 ounce version. If your taste leans towards something more traditional, they have a selection of soups ranging from Lobster Bisque to creamy flounder chowder and they all come with cute little packages of oyster crackers.

Neil and I went to Tonda the other night and really loved it. Originally the space started out as EU, they had liquor license hell and when they finally got one it never really took off. I'm glad to say that this large, sophisticated, but comfortable room gets it just right this time around. We loved our pizzas, the service rocked and best of all they offer a choice of white or whole wheat crust. We both had whole wheat (of course) and it was chewy with a hint of sweetness and really, really tasty. I'm looking forward to returning soon!

After my prediction about how mezcal was going to take the town by storm this year I ran out and visited Mayahuel where I found a funky, rustic speak easy feeling bar with an exhaustive selection of not only mezcal, but tequila.

The bartender was very sweet and gave me a few sample tastes, I ordered the mezcal chihuahua, a dark, Negro Modelo and two two small plates of food: a goat cheese, mushroom, huitlacoche stuffed poblano pepper coated in corn meal and deep fried and black bean/plantain croquette. With tax and tip it came to $52. A bit more then I wanted to spend, but then, shocking, mezcal here is not cheap like it is in Mexico City! They ranged in price from 12ish-30. It was well worth the splurge, and while the food was good the real focus is on drinking. Salute!

Luke's Lobster in the East Village

When I was at York University in theater school in Toronto I remember going to see a play called Cowboy Mouth by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith. I have no real recollection about the play except that Scott Thompson was in it (he later went on to Kids in The Hall fame), that the play was a lot of fun, very weird, and that there was a character called the Lobster Man. In this particular production it was a man made to wear a life size lobster costume.

Luke is the 25 year old newly crowned Lobster Man of the East Village. He was not wearing a lobster costume when my friend Ian and I stopped by for lobster rolls the other day, instead he'd gone for a more understated look of jeans and a blue shirt.

He was sitting in an Adirondack chair out front of his charming shop, aptly named Luke's, working furiously on his laptop. Luke's is his homage to the homard* of Maine. Well not just homard*, he serves shrimp and crab as well, but the lobster was the draw for us.

(sorry I grew up in Canada - homard is French for Lobster and for some reason it's one of the four words in French that I remember and I couldn't resist the line homage to the homard, but apparently I should! Sorry for the confusion.)

At 16 bucks the lobster roll with Vickie's chips and a Maine Root drink is a bargain. The rolls are about the size of a hot dog bun, only on a far superior bread than any hot dog bun you've ever had, and they're nicely toasted and filled with fresh, rich, simply done lobster from Luke's dad's fisheries in Maine.

The thing that really separates this lobster roll from any other I've ever had is that the lobster is not drowned in mayonnaise, as a matter of fact it's not drowned in anything. I detected a little bit of celery salt and a touch of butter allowing the wonderful, fresh lobster flavor to shine through.

If an ethereal and reasonably priced lobster roll wasn't enough, Luke is also big on sustainability. Here's what he says: "If your first bite brings to mind an old lobster boat steaming through the morning fog off of Vinalhaven Island, it’s because that’s exactly what happened just hours before."

You gotta love that.

I was thinking after inhaling my roll that I would like something sweet. As of yet Luke's doesn't offer any desserts, though I thought that the perfect little sweet might be a nice, organic, wild, Maine, blueberry crumble bar. Maybe with the option of some fresh whipped cream?

It just so happens that my friends at Intervale Farms in Cherryfield, Maine grow the tastiest, organic blueberries in the world! So Luke if your looking for some blueberries...

So whether you're hankering for some Maine seafood, a crazy good lobster roll, or maybe just missing Maine, Luke's is the place for you!

93 E. 7th Street, New York, NY

212.387.8487

Hours:
Sunday - 11 am - Midnight
Monday - 11 am - Midnight
Tuesday - 11 am - Midnight
Wednesday - 11 am - Midnight
Thursday - 11 am - 1 am
Friday - 11 am - 2 am
Saturday - 11 am - 2 am