Dear Lobster Lovers, 

  

Dear Lobster Lovers,

For those of you who haven’t visited us yet, we’re thrilled to share some snapshots of new dishes from our newest outpost, Ed’s Lobster Bar Annex, on 25 Clinton Street in the Lower East Side. It’s been just over 3 weeks since we opened our doors (on the weekend of Hurricane Irene, of course!) and we’re so glad to be in the neighborhood. And after years of tight squeezing at Lafayette Street, the Annex is downright spacious: we’ve got a patio for outdoor dining, lots of raw bar counter seats, and a separate dining room–which, by the way, is perfect for hosting your large group or holiday parties!

The Annex is a lot like the original Ed’s Lobster Bar on Lafayette Street, but with an emphasis on bite-sized dishes: we’re doing Mini Lobster Rolls, Lobster Burger Sliders, Skate Sliders, Lobster Meatball Sliders, Fried Ipswich Sliders, Lobster Tacos, Shrimp Tacos, and a new favorite, Mini Lobster Thermador Pizzas–just to name a few. And we’ve got King Crab at the raw bar, plus daily crudo specials. Of course, we’ve still got our greatest hits: the Lobster Bisque and New England Clam Chowder, the Bibb and Caesar Salads, our Tuna Tartare, Pan-seared Day Boat Scallops, and, of course, Ed’s Signture Lobster Roll. We’re also featuring a brunch menu at the Annex, which brings the wonderful world of eggs, cream, and lobster together at last.   

Opening a new restaurant is no piece of cake, by the way. It’s a scrap of pasta. That’s right. I’ve been busy with a new pasta-maker, cranking, kneading, and twisting all kinds of pastas for our daily specials. Some recent favorites have been the lobster gnocci, which I made with mascarpone and lobster paste, and the mac & cheese with lobster stock mixed in with the cheese for lobster flavor that can’t be missed.Check out the pictures below for a preview of some of our delicious homemade specials, and visit our Facebook page for regular posts of specials and new dishes! We’re looking forward to seeing you soon!

Lobstah Love,

Ed McFarland

Ed’s Lobster Bar Annex | 25 Clinton Street | New York, NY 10002 | 212.777.7370  

Ed’s Lobster Bar | 222 Lafayette Street | New York, NY 10012 | 212.343.3236

Monday: Closed

Tuesday: 6pm to 11pm

Wednesday: 6pm to 11pm

Thursday: 6pm to 12am

Friday: 12pm to 2am

Saturday: 12pm to 2am

Sunday: 10:30am to 10pm

Dear Lobster Lovers,

It’s finally summer! We made it through a very rainy spring, and even survived apocalyptic forecasts. And now, as the weather warms and the sun starts to shine a bit more, we’re getting ready for my favorite season (tomato season), which, incidentally, is also everyone’s favorite season for lobster! I got my vines planted so be ready for the late summer harvest. I’m pretty excited about some new and uncommon varieties that you’ll have to come in to find out about.

Some other things we’re looking forward to (now that everyone has stopped talking about the end of the world) are an updated wine list with some great summer additions in the restaurant and an expanded menu at the kiosk (at the World Financial Center) that features a grilled tuna sandwich, a grilled soft shell crab sandwich, as well as our lobster burger–my personal favorite.

We’re hoping for a warmer and sunnier June, perfect for Lobster Rolls. We’ll also be running a special promotion for the month of June. If you come in with a lobster shaved into the back of your head, you get a free lobster roll. One per shave, per person, per month. 

A few upcoming holidays to note: the restaurant will be closed Memorial Day, May 30, and The Fourth of July, July 4th. The kiosk, which is at the World Financial Center behind the winter garden on the plaza near the marina, will remain open on both holidays from 12-5.  And let’s not forget Father’s Day, which is June 19 this year. We will be open, and if you’re not out barbecuing, come on in, with or without Dad! A heads-up for later this fall: I’ll be participating in “Meatball Madness,” the meatball contest at the New York Food and Wine Festival, September 29.  

Lots more news coming up next month. Stay tuned and stay cool!   

Lobstah Love,

Ed McFarland 

Massachusetts Lobster Fishery Invited to Participate in New “Commonwealth Quality” Program

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) has created a new branding and marketing program called “Commonwealth Quality”. The program is designed to identify locally-sourced products that are grown, harvested and processed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts using practices that are safe, sustainable and don’t harm the environment. In a January 2011 letter to Massachusetts fishermen, MDAR Commissioner Scott Soares wrote, “The seal of Commonwealth Quality is intended to tell your customers what you sometimes do not have the opportunity or time to say: that your fishing operation not only adheres to applicable federal, state, and local regulatory requirements, but it also employs practices and production standards that address food safety and environmental concerns.”

 Click Below to read the full Issue.

Lobster Institute: winter Bulletin 2011

Dear Lobster Lovers,

It’s March. Lots of important occasions to celebrate this month, beginning with the Ides of March on the 15th.   Once again this year, if you come in dressed as Julius Caesar you will receive a free Ed’s Caesar salad. March is also National Peanut Butter Month, and in honor of the peanut industry we will continue to use peanut oil to fry our french fries. Another favorite occasion is St. Patty’s day, for which we will sprinkle green chives on each of our lobster rolls.

Warm weather is approaching, and it’s time for me to start thinking about my garden. I’ve begun reviewing seed selections and possible new varieties of tomatoes — if you have a suggestion do let me know. Every year I expand my garden. Last year I planted thirty-two tomato plants and this year I plan to do forty, mostly just to compete with John who boasted thirty-three plants last year. But all joking aside, I’m excited about getting started with my garden. In other home news, my pups have grown big and Molly (the lab) is younger, but already bigger than Jameson (pit bull).

In restaurant news, we’ve been loving our razor clams specials, we’ve introduced whelks to the raw bar, and we’ve changed our daily specials slightly: on Saturdays we’re doing Lobster Cannelloni and on Sundays a classic Lobster Thermador. We’ve also bid a farewell to two of our long-time waitstaff, Louis and Nicole, who headed out west to pan for some Hollywood gold. We miss them and wish them the best! For those of you who have not heard the rumors, John and I will be expanding our presence in the World Financial Center in the next month and opening up Caravelli’s Pizzaria where we’ll be offering thin-crust pizza as well as my own Sicilian specialties. We’ll also be re-opening the Ed’s Lobster Bar kiosk at the WFC plaza in early April. We look forward to seeing lots of familiar faces down there soon. Until next month, find us, and friend us, and tweet us!

Lobstah love,

Ed McFarland

Dear Lobster Lovers,

It’s February again, and just like last year, we’re packing the month with specials to honor all the many holidays that mark an otherwise blustery and gray time of year. First of all, it’s time to revise your resolutions and to-do lists  as we celebrate National Time Management Month — not to mention Library Lovers Month, Aggressive Driving Month, Workplace Eye Safety Month, and of course those hole-y and hall-marked holidays we all look forward to. That’s right, we kick off with Groundhog Day on Wednesday the 2nd and we’re proposing a deal: if the Groundhog doesn’t see it s shadow, we’re celebrating an early spring by offering $1 oysters from 5-7 PM. (And even if he does see his shadow, we’ll still have our regular oyster happy hour from 5-7 PM!) And, as tradition and numbers dictate, midway through the month we have the 14th of February, Valentine’s Day — so while the weather might continue to deep freeze us, we’ll be heating things up here by offering half priced bottles of champagne and sparkling wine all weekend long (beginning Saturday evening the 12th through Monday the 14th).

Stay tuned for some exciting and mouth-watering news later in the month.  We can’t say more than that right now, but keep an eye on your inbox (as if you don’t already). And as usual, join us on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-the-moment information, and finally, a warning to all who are visiting Belarus (especially hunters), beware of armed foxes! True story.

Lobstah love,

Ed McFarland

Dear Lobster Lovers,
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to 2011. Thanks to all of you who took time to come in to share a meal with us while you were out shopping or caroling. We loved meeting so many of your visiting friends and family! For all of you who started dieting with the new year, it’s time to break your resolution. Let’s face it — there’s no better way to do it than with a butter-toasted roll stuffed with lobster and a steaming, creamy bowl of chowder. And especially to celebrate National “Eat Chowder at Ed’s” Month!

I’d like to introduce a new member of the family, Molly, who’s happily joined Jameson in slobbery bliss on the McFarland farm. Molly came all the way from Texas via L.A.B. Rescue Network in Connecticut. (They are a great rescue organization in the northeast for anyone in the market for a pup.)

Now that we’ve seen some daily specials make their way on to our dinner menu, look for some new daily specials to come (a few of which we’ve been trying out as specials already), including a Southern Italian-style Lobster Cannelloni and an old school classic, Lobster Thermador.

For more up to date information about what’s happening throughout the month, come into our social network and join our devotees on Facebook and Twitter. We wish everyone the a warm and delicious start to 2011 and a quick reminder to start thinking about some upcoming days in February — Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day — both of which could have a profound effect on the rest of your year. We hope to see you soon.

Lobstah Love,

Ed McFarland

Dear Lobster Lovers,

Happy holidays to all from all of us here at Ed’s Lobster Bar. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we’ve enjoyed seeing so many of you — and especially many new faces — in the past month. December’s always a fun time at Ed’s Lobster Bar. We’re looking forward to our annual staff holiday party and we will be out bowling and closed for dinner on Monday, December 20th. Additionally, we are closed December 24th, 25th, and 31st. We will be open for dinner only on January 1st.

I just returned from an excellent seafood tour of southern Italy, where I tasted everything from amberjack carpaccio to raw Mediterranean red shrimp to daurade cakes to anchovy meatballs and stuffed squid. I’ve already done some shrimp arancini as an appetizer special and am looking forward to bringing some more Italian seafood treats to the restaurant (and not just for John’s Big Night!). I’m also looking forward to doing something very outrageous. Mark your calendars and book your date: December 16-18 I’ll be decking out our lobster roll with fresh-shaved white truffle. Ridiculous? Yes. For the faint of heart? No. The best gift you can possibly give (yourself)? We think so.

While you’re busy doing holiday shopping, keep in mind our t-shirts and our gift certificates in all sizes and denominations. And while you’re relaxing and surfing the net, find us and love us on your favorite social network. We promise you’ll never miss a special. And until next time, thanks for drooling with us. Now everyone sing along, “I’m…dreaming…of a…white truffle lobster roll…”

All the best,

Ed McFarland