BONUS MEAL: Durgin-Park Restaurant, Boston

Enjoy this Bonus Meal. I return to Lima next month, and your regular Octopus, Duck and Stuffed Pepper programming will resume.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Back on a Saturday in 1977, Big Phil asked me if I wanted to go to Dinner with him. “Sure,” I replied.

He told me to get in the car. Not noticing that it was only Noon, I hopped in, and he drove us from Brooklyn all the way to Boston, where we had Dinner at Durgin-Park Restaurant. Here's a picture from the internet:

The whole thing was super overwhelming. I was in Boston, the place was classically cool, the old, grumpy waitresses were a riot, the restaurant had a big sign that said: ‘We were here before you were born,’ and the food was very impressive, especially to a 17-year-old. We had one dish, where they removed all the meat out of a Lobster, sautéed it in Butter, and brought it to us on a plate. OMG, it was wonderful. As were the fresh Shellfish and the Prime Rib. It was so good, we got a hotel room, slept in Boston, and went back for Lunch before heading back home. Overall, one of my greatest Phil-related memories.

Over the next couple of years, my friends and I made the drive for Dinner on occasion, and then my life took a turn that didn’t include me popping over to Massachusetts for Dinner.

Flash forward to 2018. A few months ago, I get an email from Elvis Costello (I’m in his fan club lol) announcing an upcoming tour. It included a Saturday show in Boston. The Hurricanes had a road game, and Boston still has Durgin-Park, so I bought the tickets and used points for the plane ticket.

My longest-tenured friend, Shelley, lives in Boston with his wife, Sarah. He’s a fan, so we had a plan.

We set out for the restaurant before the show. Shelley didn’t exactly try to talk me out of it, but he was afraid that I traveled 1,200 miles to eat in a tourist trap. Also, I wasn’t sure that the reality could live up to the memories that I had bubbling around for the last 35 years. Luckily, they did.

A couple of things have changed there, one being that they no longer had a Raw Bar on the first floor. I wanted to stop there for our Pre-Appetizers. Go figure, things aren’t EXACTLY the same after three decades. We go up to the dining room.

 

Where nothing has changed. We’re seated, and the greeted by Barbara, who did a good act of being surly. We broke through that shell by the end of the meal… she’s a sweetheart.

We ordered our Appetizers: Cherrystone Clams on the half shell and the Oyster Stew for me, and a Shrimp Cocktail for Shelley.

 

 

The Clams were the best that I have had in, well, I don’t know how long. Fresh, cold, and tasted just like the ocean. Just wonderful. Then Barbara brought the Oyster Stew.

I don’t think that I have ever had Oyster Stew before; 58 years wasted. Creamy, Buttery, and – how do I say it – Seafood-y. I just used ‘wonderful’ to describe the Clams. But OK, this was wonderful, too. Maybe more wonderful. Shelly said his Shrimp Cocktail was excellent.

 

When it was time to complete our orders, I found out that something else had changed since the ‘80s. Barbara confirmed that they ‘used to’ offer the Sautéed Lobster Meat, but that hasn’t been an option ‘forever.’ Well, at least it really did exist and wasn’t a figment of my imagination.

Undaunted, we persevered on. For our Main Courses, we ‘split’ the Broiled Seafood Platter and the Prime Rib Medium Rare. And a side of their Boston Baked Beans.

 

 

 

When I say ‘split,’ I am giving Shelley a lot of credit. Mostly, he watched me chew and giggle.

Last thing first: I think these are The Beans that Made Boston Famous. 'Nuff said. The Broiled Seafood was Excellent. There was a delicious piece of Cod, a perfectly-cooked piece of Salmon, A Bunch of large Scallops, and two Jumbo, lightly-stuffed, Shrimp. And it was all swimming in Butter. Absolutely great.

The Prime Rib was very good, but it was Prime Rib. It’s a specialty of theirs, and they sell a lot of it, based on the humongous hunks of meat that they had on display. But after all that other stuff, it took a back seat.

That was it. Barbara was unsuccessful at selling us Coffee or Dessert. I promised to return to the restaurant before she retired, and we went off into the night to enjoy the concert.

Sometimes, reality doesn’t live up to the memories that have built up and multiplied over the years. Luckily for me, this was not the case here. If you’ve got a kid, put it in the car and take him or her to Dinner at Durgin-Park. They’ll remember it forever.