Locke-Ober Restaurant’s Lobster Savannah

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Lobster Savannah Image Used Under Creative Commons License From foodrepublic.com

My Citizens, allow me to share the first of seven recipes celebrating the ‘week of legendary closed restaurant recipes’ with a classic straight from Beantown – the mighty city of Boston! 😀

As noted on maine-lylobster.com:

Yankee Magazine have unarchived an article from 1940, titled “Really Good Eating Places,” which lists the top New England dining establishments of the day.  One of the 31 restaurants on that list is the venerable Locke-Ober.   Though sadly now closed, Locke-Ober was know as one of the grandest restaurants in Boston (and perhaps the United States) during the 137 years it was in business.  And one of the most classic dishes you could get while dining at Locke-Ober was their Baked Lobster Savannah.

I have had both the privilege of dining Locke-Ober before it folded and of knowing one of the restaurant’s most prominent managers. This man used to summer in Cutler.  He was our neighbor and became a friend of the family.  I remember so fondly the wonderful stories he told me of the celebrities he rubbed shoulders with while managing the restaurant – JFK was a regular and they renamed their lobster stew in his honor. I was lucky enough to have this former manager of Lock-Ober’s prepare the Lock-Ober Lobster Savannah recipe for me him prepare me on several occasions.

While sadly you can no longer experience Locke-Ober’s Baked Lobster Savannah in the understated elegance of this historic restaurant, you can try to make it yourself with the below recipe, which comes via the New York Times.

Further noted on foodrepublic.com:

Boston is renowned for its diversity of culinary options, with food from every ethnicity you can name. Mike’s City Diner, run by Lebanese Jay Hajj, is a must-visit when you’re in town. His fusion of New England classics with elements from his native Beirut is a big crowd-pleaser, and his new cookbook is packed with phenomenal recipes. Try this Lobster Savannah from one of Boston’s most iconic dining establishments, and treat that shellfish right. 

Lobster is New England’s signature seafood, the one most people associate with Boston and the region in general. I never ate lobster until arriving in Boston, where almost every restaurant serves it in some capacity — whether the casual seafood shanty lobster roll or rich and decadent fine-dining lobster Savannah.

Lobster Savannah was the signature recipe of the former Locke-Ober restaurant in Boston’s Downtown Crossing, for over 100 years the city’s most famous dining landmark. About 35 years after arriving in Boston as a boy from Lebanon, some business partners and I purchased the famous Locke-Ober building on Winter Place.

As we walked around the site of the late, great restaurant, I came upon a big folder full of Locke-Ober recipes — including this recipe for its signature lobster Savannah!
We eventually auctioned off much of the equipment, art and furniture left in the building, and before long Locke-Ober was replaced by Yvonne’s, a modern supper club that pays tribute to the legacy of the space and has since become a new Boston dining landmark. But I held on to that pile of Locke-Ober recipes for myself — a bit of Boston culinary history right here in my hands.

Reprinted with permission from Beirut To Boston

Citizens, this is a classic baked lobster dish that I can assure you has stood the test of time (decades, in fact!) and deserves a place at your table if you have any love whatsoever for rich, delicious crustacean!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

Locke-Ober Restaurant’s Lobster Savannah

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★★★★★

4.1 from 7 reviews

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Ingredients

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• 4 2-pound lobsters, cooked and cooled
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 12 large white mushrooms, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• ½ red bell pepper, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• ¼ cup brandy
• ½ cup cream sherry
• 2 cups heavy cream
• Pinch of paprika
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of half a lemon, or to taste
• ¼ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

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Instructions

1. Remove lobster claws and knuckles, crack them open and reserve meat. Using heavy kitchen shears, cut a long 1 ½ inch- wide rectangle out of the top of each lobster body, extending from about 2 inches behind eyes to about 1 inch from tail. Keeping body in one piece, carefully pry meat from tail, and set aside. Remove any meat from body cavity, as well as the green tomalley (liver), and set aside. Rinse lobster bodies and reserve.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut lobster meat into 1-inch chunks, and set aside in a bowl with tomalley. Place a large sauté pan over high heat, and melt butter. Add mushrooms, and stir until mushrooms begin to release their juices, 1 to 2 minutes. Add shallots and red pepper, and stir until liquid has vaporated and vegetables begin to brown.
3. Remove pan from heat, and add brandy and sherry. Carefully touch a lighted match to mixture to flame it. When flames subside, place pan over medium-high heat. Add heavy cream, paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Add lobster meat and tomalley to pan, and stir. Add lemon juice, and adjust seasonings to taste. Allow sauce to simmer until lobster is heated and sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Place reserved lobster bodies in a large baking pan. Place equal portions of lobster mixture in cavities of
5. bodies, and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Bake until cheese is lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

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