Lobster to go? N.S. establishment keeps tradition alive despite pandemic
After 84 years of dining in, the Shore Club is serving lobster suppers via no-contact pickup
Nova Scotians with a hankering for a lobster supper can still get their fix, but they'll have to take it with them.
The Shore Club in Hubbards, N.S., has been hosting lobster suppers since 1936. But after 84 years, the restaurant is offering their no-contact meals for pickup during COVID-19 instead of the in-house dining experience.
Third-generation owner Rhys Harnish said lobster supper takeout is now happening just once a week, on Sundays, instead of the customary five days a week.
"Lobsters right now are in their absolute prime," he said. "They're just so full and hard-shelled, they're beautiful, beautiful lobsters."
Sunday marked the end of the lobster season from the Halifax area to Yarmouth area, Harnish said.
Lobsters served next weekend will likely be from Cape Breton or Prince Edward Island.
Cracked up, or not
To minimize how much Harnish and his staff handle the food before packing it for pickup, he made an instructional video to guide people through cracking their cooked lobsters once they bring them home.
Staff at the Shore Club will still crack the lobster if requested, Harnish said, but most people prefer to do it themselves.
This year, Harnish said they sold about 300 takeout lobster suppers on Mother's Day, but orders have since slowed to about 100 each Sunday.
Adapting to COVID-19
Before the pandemic, there were up to 15 people working on a busy night. Harnish said they're now down to about four or five on weekends.
Lobster suppers typically include a buffet component, Harnish said. That might be salads or mussels.
"We have to look at ways to change all that because buffets I don't think are in vogue right now," he said.
Like other restaurants making changes to maintain physical distancing, tables will be spaced two metres apart inside, and some will likely set up outside as well.
As for entertainment, Harnish said he hopes to bring in solo musicians to give them a chance to perform when work is scarce.
"[We're] known as the last dance hall in Nova Scotia. We've had live entertainment on stage every summer Saturday night since 1946," he said. "This just brought all that to a halt."
But Harnish said he's "lucky" to have been in business for so long, because the mortgage is paid and there aren't a lot of high overhead costs.
"We can sort of handle a slower year and still survive," he said.
Takeaway lobster suppers will continue into June, but Harnish hopes to reopen the club a few days a week by early July.