{"id":126061,"date":"2019-08-13T15:35:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T19:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=126061"},"modified":"2019-08-26T16:26:49","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T20:26:49","slug":"my-maine-summer-steve-kingston-and-the-clam-shack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2019\/08\/13\/my-maine-summer-steve-kingston-and-the-clam-shack\/","title":{"rendered":"My Maine Summer: Steve Kingston ’88, the Clam Shack, and Maine’s best lobster roll"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a way, a lobster roll from the Clam Shack, an iconic summer eatery in Kennebunk owned by Steve Kingston \u201988, is just lobster meat tucked inside a bulkie roll.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s like saying an L.L.Bean boot is just leather stitched to rubber. Both deliver more than just the sum of their parts \u2014 a slice of authentic Maine itself.<\/p>\n

In the case of a Clam Shack lobster roll, it\u2019s not a slice of Maine but big, delicious bites, chunks of Maine lobster drizzled with Maine-churned butter and served on a special-order bun baked a few miles away. (Plus mayonnaise? Your choice.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole package is Maine,\u201d says Kingston.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/a>

Next door to the Clam Shack is the operation’s lobster pound and prep area, where Steve Kingston tips a basket of freshly caught lobster into a boiling kettle. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

On a humid mid-July morning, the area around Kennebunkport\u2019s Dock Square area feels like the epicenter of the Maine tourist season.<\/p>\n

At the Clam Shack, Kingston\u2019s staff, smartly branded in red caps and blue shirts, prepare to open, moving tables around and putting into position a lemonade stand, the very one Kingston once used to sell lemonade in town as a Bates sophomore.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
My Maine Summer<\/h6>\n

From Kennebunk to Katahdin, from lobsters to lakes, we offer My Maine Summer \u2014 profiles of alumni<\/a> whose work, play, and family life has a distinctive Maine-in-summer vibe.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

Helping repair one of the outdoor wooden picnic tables, Kingston has a to-do list in hand and his eyes flash about, checking his stage before the curtain goes up.<\/p>\n

(Local note: The Clam Shack, perched overlooking the Kennebunk River, is technically on the Kennebunk side of the river, while across the bridge is Kennebunkport and its touristy\/quaint Dock Square businesses. Locals call this cusp area \u201cTaint Town,\u201d as in, \u2019Taint Kennebunkport, \u2019taint Kennebunk.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Gawking and strolling, tourists wander around Taint Town with a delightful lack of purpose \u2014 except the ones who\u2019ve begun to line up outside the Clam Shack even before its 11 a.m. opening. They want their lobster roll. Or fried clams. Or boiled lobster dinner.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re on a quest, says Kingston.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A daily sight in Kennebunk on any summer day: a line of tourists waiting to place their order at the Clam Shack. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cJust by coming to Maine, a tourist is going to have lobster on their radar because it\u2019s iconic to Maine,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re in search of it. They\u2019re coming to Maine for the weather, to eat outside, and to have lobster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kingston has owned the Clam Shack since 2000, a 19-year stretch that nicely coincides with the rise of both social and food media, and the Clam Shack has become a darling of both, giving the business a worldwide reputation.<\/p>\n

His operation has appeared on innumerable food-related TV networks, plus many magazines and newspapers. Four times in recent years, Kingston\u2019s signature dish won \u201cBest Lobster Roll\u201d at the Lobster Roll Rumble in New York City (once joining another winning lobster roll with Bates connections, from Eventide, co-owned by Andrew Taylor \u201903, which won Editors\u2019 Choice).<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Yelp reviews for the Clam Shack come from everywhere, both the U.S. (e.g., Texas, Virginia, Florida, California, New Mexico, and Hawaii) and worldwide (Canada, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and France).<\/p>\n

\"Next<\/a>

Steve Kingston scoops freshly cooked lobsters from a kettle that dates to the 1930s. On a busy summer day, the Clam Shack will process 1,000 pounds of lobsters. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Indeed, Kingston is a media pro, both affable and on-message during an interview. \u201cI love talking with people who love the food,\u201d he says. In that way, \u201cI feel we\u2019re in the entertainment business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary and Lois Griswold of Wyoming, Ohio, are regulars on the Clam Shack quest. Shortly after 11 a.m., they\u2019re seated outside waiting for their order, taken by Kingston\u2019s 19-year-old daughter, Piper. Gary knows his lobster rolls. \u201cLast year when we came to Maine, I had a lobster roll every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary is asked to describe a Clam Shack lobster roll in one word. \u201cBest,\u201d he says. Then two: \u201cBest anywhere.\u201d And what makes it the best? \u201cJust look at the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

On its busiest days, the Clam Shack will process 1,000 pounds of live lobsters, which will yield enough cooked meat for around 400 rolls. The sandwich\u2019s quality begins and ends with the meat, says Kingston. \u201cWe produce great lobster meat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/a>

Steve Kingston ’88 checks in at the Clam Shack as his daughter Piper, 19, takes orders on a July morning. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

As he gives a tour, Kingston puts an authentic Maine stamp on his operation. Out back in the prep area, he scoops a batch of cooked lobsters from the kettle. It\u2019s not just any pot: It\u2019s a pot that hasn\u2019t left the building since the 1930s. \u201cAnd it\u2019s never seen chemicals.\u201d He sets down the red lobsters. \u201cSummertime in Maine!\u201d<\/p>\n

Until they\u2019re cooked, the lobsters live in a tank fed with fresh salt river water. They\u2019re cooked in salt water in the historic flame-heated pot. \u201cVery few places are doing this,\u201d he says. Don\u2019t get him started on eateries that use frozen lobster meat. \u201cThat should be against the law in Maine,\u201d he jokes.<\/p>\n

All this prep takes place behind the scenes at Kingston\u2019s next-door venue, Seafood Market. Out front, the market offers sit-down seating, beers on tap, and swag for sale. Buoys of lobstermen who\u2019ve fished for the Clam Shack hang from the ceiling, and the legs of certain stools are painted to match the buoys.<\/p>\n

Nothing wrong with dealers, he says, \u201cbut a lobster from a dealer could come from anywhere on the Maine coast.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the back of the market is the lobster pound and prep area, where cooked lobsters are hand-shucked by members of Kingston\u2019s team, mostly local high school and college kids, plus international students from countries like Kosovo and Ukraine who spend the summer in Kennebunk on J-1 visas. When the students go back to school, Kingston\u2019s crew is replenished with local retirees who\u2019ve been part of his operation for years.<\/p>\n

Once cooked and shucked, the meat is cooled. \u201cWhat we shuck this morning will go into tonight\u2019s sandwiches, and what we shuck this afternoon will go into tomorrow\u2019s sandwiches,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Kingston does not buy his lobsters from dealers. Nothing wrong with them, per se, he says, \u201cbut a lobster from a dealer could come from anywhere on the Maine coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The finished product \u2014 a lobster roll from the Clam Shack \u2014 is much more than lobster meat tucked between halves of a bulkie roll. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Instead, three local lobster boats serve the business full time. Each day, they pull up at the Kennebunk River bridge and hand-deliver big totes of lobsters to Kingston. \u201cOur lobsters are literally coming from right here,\u201d he says, gesturing downriver toward Cape Porpoise Harbor.<\/p>\n

Beside the lobsters, the rest of a Clam Shack lobster roll is local, too, the roll specially made at Reilly\u2019s Bakery in Biddeford (25 minutes away) and butter churned at Kate\u2019s, a creamery in Arundel (20 minutes away).<\/p>\n

The Clam Shack is open May to October, Mother\u2019s Day to Columbus Day. And if Kingston\u2019s brand promise is a Maine summer experience, he\u2019s single-minded in how he delivers it. \u201cI\u2019m a pretty linear thinker,\u201d he says. \u201cI know what I want.\u201d In the case of the Clam Shack, \u201cI want to serve summer all the way through the end of the shoulder season\u201d in early October.<\/p>\n

To that end, \u201cI hoard kegs of Shipyard Summer Ale,\u201d he admits, noting that craft breweries often run low on their summer selections by September. \u201cThey\u2019ll try to get you into their fall flavors.\u201d Not at the Clam Shack. Not under Kingston\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a beautiful weekend in September, it\u2019s summer. It\u2019s summer here, and we need to have a summer beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kingston is laser-focused on lobster, but he\u2019s not a noodge about it. \u201cYeah, I love lobster,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I also do a lot of entertaining in the summer\u201d which means a lot of lobster on his plate. \u201cHalfway through the summer, I\u2019m like, \u2018Will someone just go get me a steak?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Scooping cooked lobsters from the Clam Shack kettle, Steve Kingston ’88 talks about his “quintessential” product. (Jay Burns\/Bates College)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n