Review

FOOD

Lobster spot pulls out all the stops

By Jane Slaughter

Lobster costs a claw and a leg these days, but that’s not stopping the Lobster Food Truck and Pitstop fans from enjoying lobster rolls.

TOM PERKINS

Who would have thought to

put one of dining’s pricier delicacies on a food truck? N ick Wilson and his partner and aunt, K athryn Wilson, did it in 2018. Improbably, a $35 lobster roll is their best-seller when the truck makes its weekly rounds of various gyms, a sneaker store, and a dispensary in the metro area. A t their new carry-outonly storefront in D earborn, people are ordering an $18 half-roll plus “something else,” says N ick Wilson: “We have so many ideas and people want to try a little bit of everything.”

I’m here to testify that those many ideas — the selection is far greater in the storefront than on the truck — are good ideas, if some are not in most folks’ price range. The sweet, nutty lobster seamlessly makes the transition from the tlantic waters off Maine (Wilson won’t name his purveyor, to flummo competitors . nd the Pitstop’s cheesy grits, roasted vegetables, even a hum le fried fish are superior to just about anyone’s.

There’s a reason lobster costs a claw and a leg. Prices hit record highs last summer, which the industry attributed to “supply and demand,” aka “because we can. upplies were fine, they e plained, ut more people wanted lobster — those recently returning to restaurants — or they wanted it more badly. Therefore suppliers could charge more to the restaurant owners, and they, reluctantly, to us. The N ew York Times reported some restaurants taking lo ster off their menus, to avoid patron sticker shock.

But high prices haven’t stopped hungry D etroiters, fresh from their workout at LA Fitness, from wanting a lobster roll, lobster mac and cheese, or fried egg rolls, Wilson says.

I adored my garlicky, buttery hot lobster roll, though the half-size was gone in a few bites, almost too soon to register on the taste buds. The cold roll is different, not garlicky, with mayo and a summer feel and stuffed very full. The cold roll especially lets the delicate lo ster flavor shine through. oth come with a huge mound of creditable fries, as if to make up for the sandwich’s tininess.

I liked just as much a dish called “Butter Shrimp, Fried Fish, C heesy G rits.” The shrimp are plump, the generous grits are creamy and very cheesy, no skimping there. The day I ordered, I’d just come from a weekend on Lake rie, where the fried fish were hard and tough. Wilson’s was tender; he says the

Lobster Food Truck and Pitstop

10405 Ford Rd., Dearborn 313-406-5854 thelobsterfoodtruck.com

Handicap accessible 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday Sandwiches $14-$35, tacos $15-$20, entrées $15-$27

secret is a milk-and-spices marinade.

In crabcake fettuccine, the pasta is firm, the cheese sharp, the cakes soft and spicy. R oasted vegetables — garlic, cauliflower, roccoli were a welcome surprise, crisp and firm. athryn ilson is a pescatarian and N ick is a former pescatarian, so they are not ones to treat vegetables as an afterthought. A C aesar salad with housemade croutons was normal and good.

I’ll admit I’ve never understood lobster mac and cheese. The delicate flavor of the lo ster is always overwhelmed by the cheese; it’s like “let’s sprinkle a down-home dish with gold dust ecause we can. till, the Pitstop s mac and cheese is firm and tangy, a fine dish even if all you notice of the lobster is fleeting, a couple ites of chewiness.

I was less impressed with a cornshrimp chowder, offered one Tuesday (soups rotate, with lobster bisque and clam chowder also possi le . There was little shrimp and the soup was mushy, though the flavor was fine.

The Pitstop offers specials including cra eggrolls and fish tacos Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. ther Pitstop dishes are fried lo ster bites for $15 or $40, a grilled cheese sandwich with crab and shrimp (hopefully the two together can out-compete the cheese , a asket of deep fried shrimp with wa e fries, a seafood oil bag, a fried shrimp quesadilla, seafood pasta with A lfredo, pesto or butter sauce, a sandwich with that great fried fish I raved a out, and fried seafood tacos fish, shrimp or lo ster, two for , 7, . I didn t try the tacos, since I m not a fan of flour tortillas, ut they might e the most cost effective way to get your lo ster fi .

The rick and mortar Pitstop will be switching to a summer menu and summer hours soon, 3 p.m. to midnight, and Wilson hopes his location across from the Ford D rive-In will be a plus. Smuggling lobster into a drive-in, there’s a real neck snapper.