Steamed, white wine
Wide pot, shallot and garlic in butter, a splash of dry white wine, lemon, chili flake. Add the clams, lid on, four to six minutes until they open. Any that have not opened by eight minutes, discard. The broth is for bread.
Shellfish
Littleneck clams.
Live littlenecks and cherrystones, kept on crushed ice at the counter.
I From the counter
About the clams.
Littlenecks, an inch and a half to two inches across, are the standard for raw, steamed and pasta. Cherrystones, two to three inches, go into chowder and onto the grill.
Sold by the dozen or by the pound. We keep them alive in the case until pickup — tap the shell and it should close.
At a glance
SpeciesHard-shell, Mercenaria mercenaria
SizesLittleneck · cherrystone · chowder in season
Life on ice48 hours in the fridge, unopened, closed shell
Cooking notes
How we’d cook it.
On the half-shell, raw
Only littlenecks, only the freshest batch. Shuck over a bowl to catch the liquor. Serve on crushed ice with lemon, cocktail sauce and mignonette. Six per person as a starter.
Grilled with butter
Live clams on a hot grate, lid down. They open in two to three minutes. Off the grill, top with compound butter — parsley, garlic, lemon zest — and let it melt into the shell. Eat straight from the fire.
More from the case
While you are here.
Hold one for me
Call the counter.
Call ahead for special cuts, dry-aged selections, whole-animal items and holiday standing orders. We will have the order waiting with your name on it — that is the counter conversation behind every cut.