Dan's Papers - September 14, 2007 - Hampton Tradition IV

One of the benefits of living in the Hamptons is our access to seafood harvested from the surrounding waters. For over 52 years, Stuart's Seafood Market has been offering the catch of the day to both local residents and local establishments. Charlotte Klein Sasso, along with husband Bruce Sasso, has been operating the family oriented Stuart's for the last 12 years. She smiled when she said, "When you buy the catch of the day it is the catch of the day. The baymen bring their fresh catch here before it is shipped to the Fulton Fish Market in New York City. We get first pick." And that is how Stuart's was established back in 1955.

Stuart Vorphal Sr. and his sons Billy and Stuart Jr. built a packing station in Amagansett to ship the freshly caught fish to the city. When locals began following the trucks to the packinghouse, they started a retail business. The rest is Hamptons history and now a tradition. Located at 41 Oak Lane (the first left turn after the light on Route 27 at Abrahams Path heading west), Stuart's is not easily seen or found by the average weekend visitor. But once you drive down the long driveway by the sign that reads "open seven days a week all year round" you walk into quite an operation. As Charlotte pointed out, "We have the capacity to hold 10,000 lbs. of lobsters alone." With fresh supplies of halibut, striped bass, bluefish, tuna, swordfish, flounder, fluke, squid, blowfish, wheatfish, blackfish, scallops, shrimp and, of course, the big lobster tank, Stuart's goes beyond offering fresh local produce, homemade chowders, Gazpacho and smoked fish paté. There is also a nice supply of little neck clams, soft shell clams, chowder clams and cherry stone clams, as well as mussels and oysters. The saying, according to the Sasso family, is "One stop at Stuart's makes every dinner special!" The Ginger Key Lime Marinade is legendary. In fact, the seafood market is run as such a family business on summer days that young, three-year-old Dante Sasso can be seen handing out cards to customers. Besides doing the retail business from the front of the market, Stuart's has several trucks to deliver fresh fish to "at least 60 local establishments, maybe 75," said Bruce Sasso.

The Sassos are veterans in the seafood industry. Before taking over Stuart's, Charlotte managed the renowned Grossman's Fish Market in Montauk where she established a reputation for picking out the best fish, paying fair prices and always exhibiting professionalism. Her husband Bruce previously owned and operated Sasso's Seafoods for more than a decade. Over the years, the two have provided fish and lobsters for The Palm Restaurant, the Lobster Roll and James Lane Café. Even with this impressive resume the Sassos run Stuart's in such a friendly courteous manner and they offer advice on the best ways to prepare the fish you are purchasing, often suggesting wines and other treats to make your fish dinner extra special. It is clear that they love what they do and they plan on eventually having their son Dante carry on the family tradition at Stuart's.

Charlotte mentioned that there is now also take-out, such as raw clambakes, cooked lobster dinners and raw bar available to go. Also included are cooked shellfish, along with the very special seafood hors d'oeuvres, homemade seafood salads and Stuart's favorite salads. There are nineteen take-out soups - that's right, nineteen different take-out soups. They also sell amazing desserts, my favorite being the Cappuccino Mousse Cake. But there also are fresh seasonal fruit pies, chocolate mud cake, carrot cake and Tiramisu.

While in Stuart's, I watched a woman buy a Stuart's t-shirt and hat for her son. Apparently when he comes to visit her from Chicago during the summer, he goes to Stuart's and makes her dinner daily.

Stuart's is worth the trouble of finding and visiting if you are not already a regular customer. If you go once you'll go back, because Stuart's is the best source for fresh, local seafood. It is part of a long Hamptons tradition of successful quality products, such as Tate's Cookies, Dreesen's Donuts and Iacono's poultry products that have been around for over 50 years. The amazing thing is that they are open year round, seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. So on a late winter Sunday afternoon you can still purchase choice fish for dinner. Their website is www.stuartseafood.com and they can be reached at (631) 267-6709.