For LobsterCraft, Less Is More

GREENWICH, CT — When Mike Harden retired in 1997 from Crayola where he had spent most of his career designing and developing toys, he found himself in a little home in South Norwalk right on the beach, staring out at the boats in the water.

Looking for something to do, he put himself on the back of a lobster boat and worked there for about two years. Harden described himself as always being a "water person."

When the owner of the boat wanted out, Harden -- now known as Captain Mike -- bought everything; the boat, the equipment, the traps, the dock, and he obtained a lobster license. Catching lobsters quickly became a passion.

For a while, Harden was bringing home his fresh catch and selling to the neighborhood. However, there was a big lobster die-off in the Long Island Sound. Harden then decided at the advice of his wife to open up a gourmet food truck business called LobsterCraft, the first of its kind in the area, selling hot buttered lobster rolls on the streets of Stamford.

Harden's offerings featuring several lobster rolls and other seafood fare quickly caught on with the public. His plain hot lobster roll with melted butter — called The Coastal — has been featured on Food Network and Flavored Nation, and it was named "The Best CT Style Hot Buttered Lobster Roll in the Country" in 2018 and 2019.

Now with two food trucks, Harden only does catering, special events, corporate lunches and festivals. There are also brick-and-mortar locations now, too, with a new LobsterCraft spot that opened up several weeks ago in Greenwich.

There will also be new restaurants coming to Fairfield and West Hartford this summer, and even down in Florida to Ft. Myers and Sarasota later this year.

The Greenwich location is at 107 Greenwich Avenue, tucked away on the second floor in a nautically-splashed space.

For Harden, less is more. The menu isn't big by design.

"We pride ourselves on knowing how to handle the meat," Harden said. "We do a short menu really, really well. Some restaurants put in spices and use brioche rolls, and other people use the standard potato roll and they barely warm up the meat enough. There's three ingredients here: lobster, butter and bread."

The rolls are baked fresh every morning at 4 a.m. by a local commercial bakery, and the lobster, of course, is handled by Harden from start to finish, and he uses the most expensive butter he can find.

The Coastal Roll is the best seller. It features hot, buttered lobster, topped with a dash of a secret ingredient in a perfectly toasted bun. Harden's personal favorite is the Heat Wave, which boasts hot lobster that's dressed with serrano and habanero pepper infused butter for just the right amount of heat, all on a toasted bun.

Other roll options include the LBLT: hot buttered lobster, bacon, lettuce and tomato with fresh, crisp romaine lettuce, diced garden tomatoes, bacon, and topped with garlic aioli.

Then there's the California: lobster topped with house-made wasabi soy sauce, garnished with thinly sliced cucumber and avocado, and served on a toasted split top roll.

The Surf N Turf roll has sweet claw and knuckle lobster topped with marinated flank steak shaved over a toasted roll, and finished with garlic aioli.

The Dirty Maynard has knuckle and claw lobster meat, garnished with farm fresh onions, carrots, and celery on a bed of lettuce, dressed in seasoned mayonnaise.

There is also a lobster roll flight, to go along with lobster tacos, lobster mac and cheese, clam chowder, lobster bisque, lobster grilled cheese, and fries.

"We're always asked, can you do a shrimp roll, can you do a baked salmon roll. We have a full kitchen, we can do all that. But we're best with a short menu, and we're happy," Harden said.

LobsterCraft Greenwich also features a creative beverage program that consists of craft beer selections, select wines, Tito’s Vodka cocktails, White Claw Hard Seltzer, Hosmer Mountain craft soda, and East Coast Kombucha.

Harden chose Fairfield and West Hartford for new locations because of the food truck's success there.

"The trucks became my recon. When we got a couple of investors and they said 'let's open some stores,' I opened up the records for my truck and saw Greenwich loves us, Fairfield loves us, West Hartford loves us. Let's start there. It has become our road map. Wherever we put the truck, it either works or it doesn't work and we know right away."

LobsterCraft Fairfield will be located at 1814 Post Rd., and in West Hartford, the restaurant will be at 981A Farmington Ave. Currently, Fairfield is offering lobster rolls out of a temporary "pop-up" concession on-site while the restaurant completes construction.

Harden said when there are enough restaurants around the country, and potentially worldwide, he wants to spend more time out on the boat, where it all started for him.

"I love it. I love doing it. I love being at the front counter, but my passion is being on the boat," he said.

For more information on LobsterCraft, click here.