Last summer
my family and I made a pilgrimage to New England—we started in Boston and drove up
the coast through New Hampshire and finally into Maine. It was glorious and we spent the week consuming our body weight in
lobster. From JFK's booth at the Old
Union Oyster House in Boston to the Portland Main Lobster Company we devoured lobster
rolls, steamed lobster, lobster BLTs, lobster mac-n-cheese and lobster fries. I still pull up those pictures occasionally to reminisce and I think to myself "if only this food could be closer to home."
Well like an answered prayer, my dreams have come true. Up 85 in Duluth on Steve Reynolds Boulevard, just west of the exit sits a small restaurant that packs all of New England into about 2000 square feet: Steami's.
Steve Park was born and raised in Georgia and always loved the food here. But when he married his wife, Mimi, and went to New England for the first time, he tried a lobster roll and fell in love with it. He told me he always thought it was unfortunate that we didn't have this kind of deliciousness back home, so he decided to open his own lobster shack! Hence Steami's not only refers to the steaming of lobster, but it's a hybrid of their names---Steve and Mimi.
Their lobster is flown in via UPS overnight shipping 3 times a week in order to ensure freshness. Steve flew to Maine and connected with a distributor with the quality of lobster that "wouldn't tarnish the reputation of a lobster roll." Next, he sourced the bread from Engelmens bread local in Norcross. As imperative that the lobster meat in a lobster roll be exquisite, the bread must be the precise ratio of soft, buttery and sturdy enough to hold the precious claw and tail meat.
The verdict: perfection. Steami's offers Maine lobster rolls (cold with mayo), Connecticut lobster rolls (warm with butter), shrimp rolls, crab rolls (order the holy triumvirate of one lobster, one crab, and one shrimp!), lobster mac-n-cheese, lobster bisque, lobster fries, lobster and shrimp grilled cheese... I tried every single one of these and they were pitch-perfect renditions of the glory that I had in New England last summer.
No question, right now Steami's has my blue ribbon for lobster rolls in the ATL. If you've never tried this delicacy or have nostalgia for one, try Steami's and you'll portal to a seaside New England town instantly.
