3-foot-long lobster roll debuts at 317 Main in Farmingdale

Since lobster rolls hit Long Island’s big time a couple of years ago, chefs have endeavored to break out from the hot (Connecticut) and cold (Maine) packs with spicy lobster rolls, bacon-flecked lobster rolls, Cajun lobster rolls, you-name-it lobster rolls. Eric LeVine, chef-partner at 317 Main in Farmingdale, took another approach. Wanting to make a big splash, he had a big idea: Big. He's introduced a lobster roll that measures 3 feet across and contains about 3 pounds of meat.

"I was looking for that wow factor," he said. "But also something that was unique. My big inspiration was to make the lobster roll shareable — a sort of celebration."

At $135, the three-foot-lobster roll is a bargain.

LeVine already had a lobster roll on his menu — a comparatively puny one measuring 8 inches long for $32. He saw no reason to reinvent the filling, which is the soul of simplicity. To freshly cooked and shucked lobster meat, he adds just enough mayonnaise to bind it together, along with lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. No bells, no whistles, and no celery either. He wants "only the clean taste of the lobster to be the star."

The regular roll is piled into a traditional split-top brioche roll and garnished with a few sunflower sprouts. For the Big Roll, LeVine asked Lakewood Bakery, a wholesale operation in Farmingdale, to make an extra-long onion roll. He cuts it lengthwise, brushes the inside surface with butter, then grills it to soften up the interior and crisp up the exterior, which also lends a nice char to the onion bits. In goes the lobster meat, the sunflower sprouts and the behemoth is placed on a loooong wooden board alongside a border of seasoned potato chips and charred lemon halves. Three steak knives are plunged into the roll to facilitate cutting. 

LeVine figures the lobster roll feeds four to six as an entree — although eight people would not leave 317 Main hungry. Large parties, he said, can order one as a starter. During service, once people see one go by, they want one for their own table.

317 Main, 317 Main St., Farmingdale, 516-512-5317, 317mainstreet.com. Open Tuesday to Thursday noon to 8 p.m., Friday noon to 9 p.m., Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Monday.