Food, Fuel, Lobsters, Drinks: Elevated lobster shacky at Haring’s Noank

Noank is a little village in the town of Groton,, situated near the point where the Mystic River reaches Block Island Sound. The water is ocean fresh and surprisingly clear. Unsurprisingly it is a classic New England coastal town with a rich heritage of fishing, lobstering, and boatbuilding. In fact, the area is listed as a Historic District in the National Registry of Historic Places.

There’s a well-known spot in Noank, most recently known as Ford’s Lobsters, which has a rich heritage that mirrors Noank’s own. It was originally founded in 1931 by Al and Cornelia (known as Neil) Haring who came from New York and began life as a dock for dinghy rentals with oars, bait, tackle, and ice. It was called simply, Haring’s Marine. Ever resourceful, they eventually added motors to their dinghies, so they began to offer a small fuel dock for the boating community as well. Neil in particular was quite a force of nature, a tall woman who favored overalls and hair tucked into a conductors cap.

She ran the fuel dock with a strong hand and profanity laced directions. Especially the “No Smoking” rule which she was known to enforce by simply cutting off the boat’s ropes and setting it adrift!

Along the way they hired a young man named Orion Ford to help out (pronounced Or-ee-on according to locals. They're very specific about that, as he presumably was). Orion was a lobster man, so he began selling live lobsters on the dock. When Al and Neil Haring passed in the mid 60’s and mid 70’s respectively, Orion became the new owner. He renamed the location Ford’s Lobsters at Haring’s Marine, and he continued the operation until he retired in 2005. Kris and Kerrie Nyman took over after he retired and in 2010 transformed the location by offering Connecticut style lobster rolls from a hot dog cart. By 2011 the town council approved the creation of a full restaurant on the site and the evolution was complete. Almost.

Today, Dan Meiser and his 85th Day Food Community have assumed the mantle of leading this iconic location, in an iconic village, into a new era. They began with honoring the full heritage of the dock’s history by renaming it Haring’s Noank. And bringing it all together by offering not only food, lobsters, and drinks, but yes, fuel, ice, and dockage services. They have other plans too.

the Haring's Local Beef Smash Burger

85th Day is an esteemed partner in the surrounding community, employing over 185 people across its four well known restaurants in nearby Mystic and Stone Acres Farm in Stonington. Honoring the community and expanding their connections is what they do best, after exemplary food and service of course. Their motto is “Our food tells a story” and they’ve certainly found one here.

Dan recalls, “We were given the opportunity by the property owners, the Halsey family. They're an old school Noank family, salt of the Earth people, just absolutely fantastic. They've been here for generations, and they've owned that property for generations. They reached out to us last fall and informed us that the space was available, and they'd love to have us as their new tenant. It didn’t take us long to say, YES!”

85th Day spent a boatload, pun intended, of money on fixing up the property, but the feel of it, the flow of it, the buildings, the vintage buildings, the lobster shack, the dock building, the restaurant, they're all the same. There’s a brand new kitchen in there, but the footprint is exactly the same. They’ve also upgraded the outdoor seating area, the docks, and the fuel pumps.

Head Chef and partner Chris Varnasse notes that, ”When people ask me, ‘Oh, how do you describe Harings?’, I say, It's elevated clam shacky! This is the first time that we've really leaned into that coastal, New England clam shack vibe and I love it.”

The team is well rounded out with Managing Partner, Nick Georgetti, and of course Dan. Amazingly, Chris is also the Executive Chef at Engine Room and for the catering side of the company. Chris has been alongside Dan from the beginning, opening Oyster Club in 2011. Chris says, “I've known him for 13 years, at this point, he is a part of my family.”

When it came time to create the menu Chris wanted to honor the heritage but also put an 85th Day spin on it. Chris says, “I'm a New England guy, so obviously I have my favorites. I put a little spin on them but tried to keep it true to our New England roots, and also true to what was being done down here before.” Rest assured you will find lobster rolls, a fried fish platter, clam platters, stuffies, hush puppies, and other favorites.

Clockwise from top left: Chef Chris & Managing Partner Nick; A delicious spread featuring the Haring's burger, whole broiled local squid, stuffed summer flounder, and snow crab legs; buoys on the shack; Chris with fresh lobsters; and adding lemon to the must-have lobster roll

On our recent visit we appreciated the traditional interpretations, but also liked many new items including a lobster BLT, fresh oysters from nearby Penny Island, whole broiled local squid, smoked bluefish Caesar, and interestingly, “bisquets” & gravy. The latter is lobster served over Courtney’s cheddar bay biscuits with Chris’ unique lobster bisque, sherry and herbs. And, of course, the lobster roll was outstanding.

"I'm super happy with the menu,” Chris says, “I think, for the most part, people love it, and we are doing something down here that's a little bit different. I think it's obvious that we really care about the food, the service, the ambiance. We feel passionately about the industry, we have all these restaurants, and people, like me, my sous chefs, Dan, and Nick, we're career restauranteurs. This is what we do. This is what we're passionate about. This is our lives.”

The inside dining room resembles a ship captain’s quarters full of seafaring images and coastal memorabilia. Dan notes, “I love summer in New England. I love the idea of eating a lobster roll down on that dock. But if we're being honest, what I can't wait for is to tuck into that dining room on a cold, wintry day and sit down at a corner table for dinner with a hot bowl of chowder and drink wine with friends. That to me is going to be the really special New England experience. It's so intimate. It's the smallest, cutest dining room I've ever been a part of.”

The team was perplexed by some local attitudes. They were seen almost like outsiders, yet Noank is just three miles from Mystic. It’s basically the same community. Dan and his team are completely local and completely focused on their community. Dan explains, “As we grow our businesses, we'll continue to grow those businesses within the same communities that we work, where we live, where our kids go to school, and where we pay taxes. And I think that's important to note. This is our backyard. We're locals, too.”

Local is key to their success. They lean into the history because it's their history. They lean into the local economy because it's their economy. They buy lobsters from Matty Madeira in Stonington because Matty is a friend and in fact he and Chris have known each other since elementary school. Those are the kind of connections that Dan and his team cherish.

Another really cool connection they have on the property is a partnership with the Mystic Seaport to run the docks. This includes fueling operations and docking assistance. Their site says, “Join us by land or sea. Walkers, bikers, boaters welcome.” Mystic Seaport staff run the docks while boaters can eat on their boats, do takeout, or be served dockside. The Seaport relationship goes even further.

A smiling Will at the kitchen window (note the Keith Haring-no relation!-print at lower left)

The Mystic Seaport is a pillar of Connecticut's tourism economy, it is the premier maritime museum in the United States. They have the largest boat collection of any museum in the United States. It's literally the global home of the art of wooden shipbuilding. People come from all over to study wooden boats and being a shipwright.

There is a boat in the Seaport collection, the fishing vessel Star. The FV Star was built in Noank. Interestingly, the FV Star is powered by a Lathrop diesel engine that was manufactured inside of the 85th Day restaurant, Engine Room, in Mystic. The Engine Room was the former home of the Lathrop Marine Engine company from 1899 until just before World War II. Talk about local connections!

Dan notes, “She's an absolutely legendary boat. There's a very well-known fishing captain from Noank, Jack Wilbur, who ran the Star. And that boat has seen a lot of giant blue fin tuna and swordfish come over the side of that boat. She's fully restored, fully operational, one of the most beautiful wood fishing boats you've ever seen. She's one of the prizes of the Seaport collection, and they have docked her at Harings all summer so our guests can admire her while they eat their lobster roll.”

Noank has always been fishermen, lobstermen, shipwrights, sail makers, and boat builders of all shapes and sizes. The notion that Noank is a sleepy residential community is a myth. It's always been a working, waterfront town. It’s located on the mouth of the Mystic River overlooking some of the most storied fishing grounds in New England.

Hush puppies with lemon-chive butter

Of course, Dan and team hope to expand that legacy by having a working fish market on-site. Dan expounds, “The idea of having a fish market with commercial rod-and-reel tuna fishermen and commercial rod-and-reel fluke guys, a place where they can land their boats and bring their catch in where we can literally put it on a dolly and wheel a 200-pound swordfish across the dock while people are eating their lobster rolls and bring it into the fish market. Right next door to us is also the Noank Oyster Co-op, our friend Jim Markow, who owns Mystic Oysters. He and his guys are out there harvesting oysters every single day, and we know our guests love that connection.

In order for that to happen, it's going to require some flexibility and partnership with the village to allow some modifications to the buildings and to the property. But Dan is hopeful, “That's the stuff that dreams are made of. I want that so bad. It's authentic. It's the real deal. We're hoping that the folks in town will get behind that because I think that would be a really cool way to continue to lean into the history of Noank and the property and the next evolution of what Neil and Al Haring started doing back in the '30s”.

Given that Harings is open all year, there are also plans for year round events in the fall and especially around Christmas time. They plan on doing some fun stuff down on the dock, getting a really big Christmas tree that's lit up down on the dock for the whole holiday season, wreath making classes, and lobster buoy painting classes with local Noank artists where people come in and have a dinner and everybody gets a blank, white lobster buoy to decorate.

Being a part of their community and honoring the heritage of that community is what Dan and his team are all about. Haring’s Noank is a prime example of that mission. Trust us dear readers, you will savor the experience.

• Harings Noank is located at 15 Riverview Avenue in Noank.
  Visit www.haringsnoank.com