Lobster Trap-Well Beyond a Clam Shack
The indelible memories that many of us have of the Cape Cod of yore are intrinsically tied to the food we enjoyed. Racing from the beach blanket to get an order of Liam’s onion rings while taking a break from body surfing the breakers at Nauset Beach. Getting your first lesson in economics with a trip to the penny candy store where you would balance the needs of the sweet tooth with the limitations of the change in your pocket. Digging up your own steamers to return triumphantly with your haul for everyone to enjoy. Dinner out would be a special occasion, with a lobster dinner at perhaps the most venerable of all Cape Cod institutions, the clam shack. Time and tide (sometimes quite literally) have claimed many of the once popular destinations. Foresight, creativity and dogged determination have allowed evolution to take hold, and some places continue to thrive to this day, including the Lobster Trap in Bourne. Referring to the Lobster Trap as a clam shack is akin to calling Disney a cartoon company. Sure, the foundation of what they were is still there, but they’ve grown to be so much more.
Logan Clarke began the Lobster Trap as a fish market and delivered his product wholesale to restaurants across the Cape by way of his old, beaten-up Volvo station wagon in 1969. He expanded the operation by pouring a concrete patio, setting up a few picnic tables next to the market, and began selling fish and chips seasonally in 1972. The wholesale side of the business really began to take off in the late 1980s. Clarke devised a system to be able to ship live lobsters anywhere in the world, and today the operation has expanded to include three locations in Maine in addition to the headquarters in Bourne.
While the wholesale side was taking off, the clam shack was puttering along each summer season next door. As any business owner can tell you, at some point delegation needs to happen. Clarke reached this point in 1998. He contacted chef Mark Connolly at the Ridge Club in Sandwich (a wholesale customer) for help. Connolly turned to a 20-year-old college kid to lend Logan a hand. That kid, Dave Delancey, would go on to purchase the Lobster Trap from Clarke and grow it to the one-of-a-kind spot that it is today. Delancey tells the story in a way only he can in his level baritone voice:
“He (Clarke) called up the Ridge Club and told the chef Mark Connolly, ‘Hey, I got this clam shack next to my warehouse. I’m losing $10,000 a week, people wait an hour and a half for food, and I can’t go get a cup of coffee down the street without five people telling me how lousy it is. You got anybody that can help me?’ The chef looked at me and said, ‘You know the guy we buy fish from? He’s got a restaurant, and needs someone to run it. Go talk to him. You start today.’ And that’s how it started.”
Into the fire Delancey leapt. After a chaotic first summer, he returned to studying Criminal Justice at Westfield State College. He earned that degree, but the prospect of running the Lobster Trap his way led Delancey to jump into the venture with both feet. In 2002, he began to lease the property from Clarke. The two reached a deal to formally split the operation in 2005 when Delancey purchased the Lobster Trap restaurant and attached retail fish market with an arrangement to finance it over time. He explains how it’s a parting on paper only, “That’s where the separation comes in, but we’re still family. It’s the same name on each of the buildings. He’s always pushing our brand, and we’re always pushing his.” He adds with a laugh, “Most people don’t even know they’re different, and we don’t bother correcting them anymore when they say they see our trucks all over the place.”
Dave got to work on the structure of the Lobster Trap. Adding new windows, insulation and a heating system allowed Dave to push the start and end dates of each season. “Instead of opening Memorial Day, I’d open April first. Instead of closing Labor Day, I’d close Columbus Day. Then it was Halloween.”
The structure of the menu was worked on as well. “In 2003, I started to see a shift where people didn’t want to eat fried seafood all the time,” Delancey recalls. New additions back then included crab cakes, tuna tartare and grilled fish. Slowly, Asian influences began to make an appearance on the menu. While working under Connolly at the Ridge Club, he was exposed to the wonderful flavors of Asian cooking. Connolly would travel in the off -season to Japan to teach chefs how to cook American and European-style dishes. While there, Connolly picked up more than a few tricks for himself. Delancey soaked those up like a sponge, and the results are on the Lobster Trap’s menu today. In amongst the steamers, whole belly clams and lobsters, you’ll find beef thai sticks with sticky rice and seaweed and cucumber pickled salad, crab rangoons with duck sauce, and tempura asparagus with garlic ginger sauce, bean sprouts and scallions. The simply-stated entrees offer far more than their descriptions lead you to believe. The salmon, for example, sits atop a bed of bok choy and egg noodles with shiitake mushrooms, jalapeno, coconut and ginger dashi. Served in a bowl, the salmon can be a savory and satisfying meal for one, or dished out among friends as a wonderful starter. A far cry from Fryolator fare, for sure.
Overseeing the kitchen and creating the ever-changing specials (all of which fall under the “must-try” category), Dave’s younger brother Dan Delancey came on board in 2008 and is the restaurant’s executive chef. “I resisted it for about a year,” Dan remembers. “He’s my only brother, and I couldn’t risk anything coming between us.” They finally agreed to try it for a year, and the team is still at it today. Dan also trained under Connolly and considers Connolly his mentor, but their connection goes much deeper than that. “He really gave us [both brothers] direction when we were little,” Dan recalls of a time following the divorce of their parents when Connolly, a family friend and neighbor, stepped in to lend some guidance to the two impressionable youths. “He picked us up and brought us to work. He was hard on me in a good way, instilling a drive and work ethic. He really took me under his wing and molded me to who I am today.” Connolly’s still cooking these days…at the Trap. He can be found most mornings prepping the ingredients for the day. “He’s my A.M. guy, he does my parties and events,” Dan explains. Along with his brother, Dan was exposed to the Asian influences Connolly brought back from his multiple trips to Japan. “I swear he brought panko crumbs to the United States,” Dan laughs.
Dave looked to other locations for expansion, when he decided the only expansion needed was under his nose all along. In 2010, he decided to open the Lobster Trap, seven days a week, year-round. It takes time and a whole lot of gumption to build a clientele for a restaurant that’s known to everyone as a seasonal place. “There were some days we’d have six people come in,” he recalls. He goes on to explain his fiscal operating procedure back then, “I’d max out a dozen credit cards to pay the bills to get through winter. Logan would float me credit for the fish he was supplying and come May I’d be $180,000 in the hole!” He laughs. “But then, I’d start making it back. Taking care of Logan first, and then paying off the credit cards. Come Labor Day I’d be out of the red…I didn’t have any money, but I’d be out of debt.” Then the whole process would start over. “The next year, I was $120,000 in the red, and even less the following year,” he proudly exclaims.
Now, it’s not uncommon for 300 diners to pour in on a cold and rainy Tuesday in February and the patrons swell to over a thousand a day in the summer months. “We have regulars who come in two or three times a week,” Dave states. “I’d rather have you coming in three times a month than every three months.” The successful formula for such a loyal following is simple: no short cuts. “Our food costs are 45% where it should be around 32%,” he points out. With steep food costs, you might think that translates into higher prices on the menu, but you’d be wrong. There are only half a dozen items offered that are over thirty dollars. The impressive feat of this equation is that the quality does not suffer in the least. Everything (except the French fries) is made from scratch in house.
“We’re not your typical clam shack,” Dan points out. By the looks of the building and dining room, you’d be tempted to judge this book by its cover. All the traditional decor pieces are on display. Within the dark-stained barn board walls, buoys, lobster traps and harpoons can be found throughout. Diners, particularly in the bar room and on the patio, can take in the sights and scents of the incoming tide as it rushes in under the train bridge that is festooned with the sign “Lobster Trap” spelled out in nautical flags. Dave went so far as to commission a Massachusetts artist, Phil Bourque, to paint a mural with many subtle local nods covering the gable end of an unsightly storage building of the former marina across the river to add to the dining experience. With Dan at the helm of the kitchen, the atypical menu choices aren’t all Asian-based cuisine. The Lobster Reuben is a brilliant twist on the traditional deli sandwich where the lobster seamlessly replaces the corned beef. “The lobster is a neutral flavor and think about it. Brisket is brined in salt. Where do lobsters spend their lives?” Dan asks. Point taken. Perhaps you have a dinner companion who turns their nose up at seafood and wrinkles their nose at the thought of Asian entrees. Maybe the Bolognese would be to their liking. It certainly is to a great many people during the cooler months. Dan hand cuts — not grinds — the sirloin, veal, and pancetta for this Italian staple that’s as good as you’ll find in any restaurant in the North End of Boston. Dan will change up the menu with lighter fare to coincide with the warmer months, but a good portion of the menu needs to remain for fear of an uprising by his customers if their favorites disappear. The bar offerings are another area that separates the Trap, with interesting and fresh cocktail combinations and a wine list that features something for every palate and purse. Most wines are offered by the glass, and just how many “clam shacks” do you suppose have Cabernet Sauvignon choices from labels such as Caymus and Silver Oak?
The Lobster Trap can handle what would seem like an impossible number of guests thanks to a year-round staff that numbers around 70, and swells to over 100 throughout the summer season. In a line of work which can see more than its share of employee turnover, the seasonal workers return year after year, and the full-time team remains surprisingly stable. Delancey and his staff go out of their way to retain the talent they have in-house. Covering 60-80% of their employees’ healthcare costs, offering retirement plans with matching funds, paid vacations, and perhaps rarest of all, allowing staff to take two consecutive days off. “You’ve got a wedding to go to, and need to take a weekend off?” Dave muses. “That’s OK, because our Tuesdays and Wednesdays are just as busy.” With a staff this large and no discernable difference in what servers can make on any given day, swapping shifts is less of a challenge. “If we can catch them [potential workers] when they’re 16 years old, we’re able to hang on to them through their high school and college years, and they can make some good money,” he affirms. Some move onto other chapters in their lives while others grow within the organization. Jenny Norton is one such person. With her grandfather and father supplying lobsters to the Lobster Trap, she was aware of the restaurant at an early age. She began by working the counter as a young teenager. She has since grown to become the marketing and events manager and, as Dave puts it, “She’s my right hand.”
Dave remembers making that fateful decision to stay open year-round, seven days a week. “I was totally ‘ride or die’ with that plan.” The ride continues today. They don’t take reservations. There is no “call ahead” seating, and there isn’t much difference between a Wednesday and a Saturday in terms of volume. With the lengths to which he takes care of his staff — who really are more like family — and the throngs of devotees, the ride will continue for some time to come. They’ve fine-tuned a winning combination, but there is no cruise-control. Guided by his motto of “never trust a skinny chef “, Dan’s creativity will always push for more and varied dishes, and the Lobster Trap will always be more than just a clam shack. Trust him on that.
Lobster Trap
290 Shore Road, Bourne
(508) 759-7600
Lobstertrap.net
The Delancey empire has grown to include the Trading Post Lounge, less than two miles away. A major renovation had longtime fans concerned it was going to forever change the “dive bar” they had come to love. “We gutted the place, and changed out everything,” Dave says. “And we put the old look of it back on top of all the upgrades.” South Shore-style bar pizza and smash burgers are highlights of a menu that is decidedly land based. A nostalgic scallop and bacon pizza, “the Kathy” and a tuna melt are all you’ll find from the sea.
