In his most recent post for The New York Times, Southfork Kitchen owner, Bruce Buschel, details the restaurant's first attempt to keep the summer momentum going. After toying with a few ideas, they finally decided on a Sunday lobster dinner. Cheaper than their usual price fix, Mr. Buschel admits the special isn't meant to make money, but rather "keep the restaurant humming, the staff employed and the word-of-mouth awatering."
To make sure that serving lobster in the off-season fell in line with their mission of sustainability, the idea first required some research. After the leading marine expert, Blue Ocean Institute, failed to provide a definitive answer, the restaurant's chef did more reading, talked to fishermen and purveyors. He then got in touch with Carl Safina, co-founder of Blue Ocean and a respected marine biologist. The scientist didn't think the restaurant needed to worry.
After they were satisfied that the $55 dinner wouldn't irrevocably damage the lobster population, the Southfork Kitchen went ahead with the plan last Sunday. The results? After all that work, a whopping 8 people showed up: "Four of them complained about the limited menu and the other four were [the chef's] relatives."
· Hey, Where’d Everybody Go? [NY Times]
· Blue Ocean Insitute
· All Previous Southfork Kitchen Coverage [Curbed Hamptons]
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