Mystic Fish Camp Brings Summer Camp Vibes All Year Long

Dig out your tube socks and grab your head lamp! Mystic Fish Camp, from the team behind Shipwright’s Daughter, has put another stake in the ground along the harbor. If there weren’t already enough reasons to be in love with Mystic and its evolving culinary scene, there’s now one more. Take the tradition of roadside New England fish shacks and douse it in summer camp nostalgia and you get Mystic Fish Camp.

A crowd of people dressed to the hilt in camp attire attended the August ribbon-cutting where Chef David Standridge and his wife, sommelier Kathleen Standridge, shared a dream project with the whole town. What began as an idea nearly three years ago–just as Shipwright’s Daughter was making waves in the world of fine dining– is now a reality.

With this latest endeavor, the duo’s creativity and passion for community and sustainability now drape two corners at the base of Mystic’s historic drawbridge. There’s Shipwright’s Daughter in Whaler’s Inn on one side and now Mystic Fish Camp across the street on the other. The fine and the fast dining spectrum of cuisine are now covered under David’s creative watch. Mystic Fish Camp officially opened August 25.

“A fish camp is what happens when a fisherman returns from sea,” Kathleen shared at the opening ceremony. “They set up a camp on the shore and they share the spoils of their labor, with their friends and their family and their community.”

David has built a reputation for building delicious dishes around often-overlooked catches that rarely take center stage. “We’re suckers for ugly fish,” laughs Chef David. “Bycatch like dogfish and monkfish are underdog ingredients that deserve their moment.” For example, monkfish, which is commonly referred to as the poor man’s lobster, “is a sustainable alternative to [it], and whose populations are under pressure,” he added.

Speaking of pressure, in 2023 David began working with state representatives to draft HB 6222, a bill that removes the green crab bait license requirement for chefs, allowing them to buy and serve the invasive species as food without a permit or need to register as bait dealers.

CT Representative Aundré Bumgardner was also at the opening ceremony and addressed David’s relenting determination to get this bill passed. “By turning these crabs from a threat into a resource, the law helps protect our waters while creating new opportunities for local chefs and the seafood economy,” the representative said. The bill finally passed earlier this year.

“The fish camp is a celebration where everyone is welcome, and no one leaves hungry.” —Kathleen Standridge

There’s quenchable drinks like house made lemonade, frozen iced tea, and frozen Arnold Palmers. And guests can toast their own s’mores with house made graham crackers and cinnamon marshmallows.

“We really want to make sure that we’re supporting the most endangered species in the ocean, and the small, independent fishermen,” David told the crowd at the ceremony. “So, most of the money that you spend here,” he added, “is going to go to people whose names we know, whose boats we know, and who dock here locally.”

At Mystic Fish Camp, the team is bringing a wider array of catches to a wider audience at a more approachable price point. Families can stroll in from trekking around town and feel right at home. There’s also gear for the taking like retro lunchboxes or, inside a fully customized vending machine campers can grab tube socks, hats, camp tees and shorts. And with quick counter ordering, newsprint tray liners, and camp memorabilia all over the walls, the space feels like every day is summer camp and a match of tug-a-war is just moments away. Mystic Fish Camp is thankful for its partners including CORR (Connecticut Oyster Restoration & Recycling), Greencrab.org, Eating with the Ecosystem, and Stonington Kelp Co.

Mystic Fish Camp is located at 4 East Main Street in Mystic. www.mysticfishcamp.com