Restaurateur Max Mackissock is a master of understatement: “People like lobster rolls,” he said Thursday during a preview of his new fast-casual spot, Maine Shack, which opens to the public on Tuesday, July 30.
Well, duh.
They (meaning me) also like lobster pie, lobster mac and cheese, whole belly clams, fried haddock (a North Atlantic fish), shrimp, scallops, steamers and clam chowder. And, if Denverites don’t know what a Fluffernutter is, they need to find out.
Folks adverse to seafood (gasp!) can nosh on North Shore roast beef sandwiches (hot or cold, $11), Boston Baked Beans (like mom used to make, with salt pork, molasses and brown sugar, for $4), or a Le Big Max burger ($10).
But, ah, the seafood: The Lobster Grilled Cheese ($16) has a blend of cheddar and goat cheeses, chunks of lobster on buttered and toasted bread, and is served with a tangy tomato jam seasoned with juniper and allspice. And the lobster rolls ($20-$34) are a slice of seafood heaven: buttery chunks of fresh lobster meat (tails, knuckles and claws) served four different ways, from Naked to the Lobsterado, on toasted and buttered hot dog buns.
Mackissock said steamers will be a special item.
RELATED: New England seafood restaurant Maine Shack to open in LoHi — finally
Chef Craig Dixon is a fan of the clam dip and ketel chips ($7), calling it “a perfect start to a fast-casual” meal. Another staple: the clam chowder, which is $7 a cup, $9 a bowl.
The lobster pie is based on a recipe from partner Drew Ryan’s mother, with lobster chunks, lobster stock, a sherry cream sauce, tarragon and buttery Ritz crackers on top. (Seriously, OMG.) Dixon calls it a “little bowl of rich goodness.” Our only complaint: How small the serving is it is, for a steep $15.
“The items are really aggressively priced,” Mackissock said. “People are getting a good value.”
“You’d pay $18 to $22 for a lobster roll in Boston,” Dixon added.
There is a limited selection of beer and wine, but it includes both New England and Colorado selections. There will also be a few batch cocktails.
The cozy spot on Central Street in LoHi across from the Highland Arch Bridge is decorated with barn boards that Ryan brought back from Maine; seven lobster trap chandeliers; a wall mural of a lighthouse in Portland; a Monhegan Island channel marker; a baseball jersey from the Portland Sea Dogs (a AA affiliation of the Boston Red Sox); lobster paper towel holders made by Maine State prison inmates, and more. “Maine Cabin Masters” from DIY Network plays on a couple of TV screens.
Its upstairs features padded bench seating and long picnic tables. From up there, you can see a saying painted on the wall, taken from DiMillo’s On The Water, a floating restaurant in Portland: “May you have fair winds and following seas.”
The team behind the New England coastal restaurant is made up of Mackissock, Katie O’Shea and Juan Padro of Denver Culinary Creative Group (Señor Bear and Bar Dough), which partnered with music entrepreneur Ryan, Dixon and Fiddler’s Green GM John Caprio.
And these folks know their seafood: Ryan is from Cobbossee Lake, Maine; Caprio is from Boston; Mackissock is from New Hampshire; and longtime Denver chef Dixon (Honor Society, Bar Dough) is from Saugus, Mass.
“The recipes are similar to what you’d get at a New England seafood restaurant, but refined,” Dixon said. “We also have the basic stuff, with great ingredients, great execution. We need to live up to the quality of the seafood.”
“It doesn’t wow you when it’s mediocre.”
“Some woman hugged me last week when I told her we would be serving whole belly clams,” Caprio said on Thursday.
Ryan told WCSH-TV in Maine: “I want the people (who come) to fall in love with Maine from a distance and want to actually jump on plane and go to Maine.”
Or, at least, come back for another lobster roll.
Maine Shack, 1535 Central St., Denver. Opens Tuesday, July 30. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily; maineshack.com.
