RICHMOND, Maine – The story of how the Maine lobster got naked began, in 2001, when a guy named John Hathaway opened a little restaurant in Kennebunkport called the Sea Star Grill.
Hathaway had a simple plan for his lobster shack. His five children would run the place, he would steam the lobsters in the back – “I’m no chef, but I’m from Maine and I know how to boil water’’ – and his customers would get what he thought they wanted: the bibs and the crackers and the messy experience of shucking and eating a fresh Maine lobster.
Immediately, he discovered that his business plan had a fundamental flaw.
“The customers, especially the tourists, didn’t want the experience, they didn’t want the ritual of eating a whole lobster,’’ he said. “I was stunned.’’
Instead, they wanted what Mainers call, with some derision, “Lazy Man Lobster.’’
They didn’t want to deal with all the messy stuff; they had no interest in “earning’’ their meal. They just wanted to eat it.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Boston Globe
