Cooking at 2042 Main Road

The Spread

The 2042 Main Road summer dinner is lobster, steak, corn, kale salad, and a pitcher of sangria. That's it. Nothing complicated. Everything local. Everything fresh. You set it all out on the table, everyone sits down, and nobody checks their phone for an hour. That's the goal.

Lobster

The house has a large metal lobster pot for boiling. There's a lobster pit at the dock where you can keep live lobsters in the water if you buy them earlier in the day. Buy from the dock or from Westport Lobster on Main Road. See Where to Buy below.

Fill the pot. Salt the water generously. Bring it to a rolling boil. Drop lobsters in headfirst. One-pound lobster: 8 minutes. One and a quarter pounds: 10 minutes. One and a half pounds: 12 minutes. They're done when the shell is bright red and the antenna pulls off easily.

Don't overcook them. That's the only rule.

Corn

Pick up corn at Orr's Farm on Adamsville Road. Ask for a mesh bag. That's what you drop in the lobster pit. Or pick some up at Lees Market.

The local move: put the corn in a mesh bag and drop it in the lobster pit at the dock. The pit sits in the river. On an incoming tide, the salt water does the work. Soak it alongside the lobsters before the meal. Thirty minutes, then grill or boil. The salt water changes everything.

If the tide isn't right, a bucket of river water works too.

Steak

The kitchen has a gas stove. There's a grill outside. Keep it simple. Good cut, salt, pepper, screaming hot. Let the quality do the work. Nobody at this table needs a marinade.

The Kitchen

Updated kitchen with everything you need. Gas stove, full cookware, serving platters for the spread. You're not roughing it. You're cooking in a real kitchen in a house that's been feeding people for generations.

Where to Buy

Lobster Off the Boats

Two fishermen sell lobster right off their boats at the Westport Point dock. Goose (Mikey Emond, The Goose) is on the main pier. Ben Leuvelink (Hard Labor) is on the far right side. Cash only, usually afternoons in season. Between the two of them, someone's usually there. Buy from whoever's in. You can't get lobster any fresher than this.

One thing: do NOT drive down to the pier. The fishermen will let you know about it. Park on the side of the street and walk down, or find a real parking spot. Parking is tight at the Point. Best move is to have someone drop you off.

Westport Lobster

Main Road at the corner of Adamsville Road, across from The Social Club. Lobster and local catch. On the way to Lees Market.

Westport Sea Farms

For oysters, walk down to Westport Sea Farms at the bottom of Main Road. The oyster bar. Right on the water.

Lees Market

Your provisions stop. Groceries, basics, everything you need for the week.

Gooseberry Natural Foods

1037 Main Road. Natural and specialty foods. Good for ingredients you won't find at the regular grocery.

Farm Stands

Adamsville Road and the back roads. Seasonal. The corn and tomatoes in August are worth the trip alone.

Davoll's General Store

South Dartmouth. Not a provisions run. Worth the longer drive if you want good coffee and to explore South Dartmouth. Historic general store.