| Issue #30, October 20, 2006 |
Claudio’s Restaurant
111 Main Street
Greenport
631-477-0627
Word association games have always intrigued people. So try this one, ‘Greenport restaurant.’ I know what you are thinking. You are thinking Claudio’s, and then Claudio’s will likely elicit Lobsters. When you consider that Claudio’s is the oldest same family owned restaurant in the United States and that they can serve upwards of 500 pounds of lobsters over a weekend – and that is just in the main restaurant without counting in their equally popular Clam Bar and Crabby Jerry’s, the connections become very obvious.
Since a Portuguese fisherman named Manuel Claudio opened his tavern here in Greenport in 1870, generations of the Claudio family have nurtured this venerable institution with its magnificent mahogany bar, itself a relic from the Bowery Hotel in the 1880s. Bill Jr. and Janice Claudio, Kathy Claudio, Betsy Claudio Tuthill and Jerry Tuthill are the fourth generation that are now running this major complex of businesses. The main dining room looks out to sea and provides an ever-changing vista, as the seasons and time of day change. This is a wonderful time to experience the North Fork, the delights of Greenport and the dining experience at Claudio’s, before the restaurant closes at the end of November until its reopening in the first week of April ready for the new season.
The menu at Claudio’s comprises traditional dishes that have been on the menu for many years, together with dishes created by the triumvirate of chefs, Brian Kavanagh, Andy Kuna and Chris Labriola to complement and extend these offerings. As we sat and talked with Bill Claudio, he explained their philosophy, “We chose quality people, find out what they are good at and derive the menu from this.”
Freshness is imperative in a restaurant firmly founded on fish and shellfish and, as an example, apart from the locally caught fish, their crabmeat is shipped directly to them from Maryland and they insist on the crab meat being triple picked over to ensure the optimum quality. Their renowned crab cakes contain a minimum of 80% crabmeat.
We began with a plate of their equally renowned local oysters that were everything oysters should be, plump succulent, delicate but where the sea is always at the back of the long taste. For me they needed no dipping sauce, just a squeeze of lemon. With them we drank an excellent Babich Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and a very different but equally drinkable Black Swan Australian Chardonnay. Before I came to live on Long Island I had never heard of steamers and I now believe them to be the most under appreciated shellfish, possibly because they are not the most visually appealing. We love them and these local treats were exceptionally good. Again, they were so fresh tasting and the garlicky dipping broth was great.
Claudio’s is also famed for their soups and chowders and this year won six first places at the Greenport Maritime Festival. We chose the lobster bisque, made to an original recipe and it had excellent velvety texture and was full of lobster fragrance without being at all heavy or cloying.
Their country salad is filled with blue cheese, apples, oranges and almonds and deserves a more exotic name to befit its complexity – it was crisp, tasty and very palate cleansing and is highly recommended.
For our main courses we, with great difficulty, kept away from the very tempting lobsters but chose instead one of the daily specials, broiled herb crusted local striped bass filet. This, at the risk of being repetitious, was incredibly fresh and the herb crusting was sufficient without losing, any of the natural delicate flavor of the striped bass. As a contrast dish, we chose the Claudio’s chicken, a very substantial serving of chicken breast topped with a medley of artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and feta cheese and served with a mound of tasty garlic mashed potatoes.
We did mange to taste the extreme berry pie, a blend of raspberries, blueberries and cranberries with an oatmeal crumb toping that was a fitting end. We had this with a cup of strong espresso coffee. It was a very enjoyable meal, made even more so by hearing some of Bill’s fascinating and funny stories derived from years of being in the restaurant business.
Claudio’s restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Soups and appetizers range from $6 to $16; Main courses from $19 to 39 (lobsters are priced by the pound). Wines by the glass are $7 to 8 and by the bottle start from $18.
Claudio’s is one of Long Island’s true institutions and should be enjoyed as such. They serve very good food at very sensible prices and hopefully the 136-year-old tradition will continue for future generations to enjoy.
– Roy Bradbrook
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