New England on a tropical Island? Yep, Sanibel has it!

Tropical , colorful Sanibel would appear at first glance to have no connection to New England.

But the connection is there naturally with the love and natural inclination to enjoy the sea and all it offers.

And several Sanibel restaurants have long boasted the connection with the selections on the menus. 

But now there is one restaurant that draws even more upon that connection in the wonderful offerings it provides for diners.
 
The Clam Shack opened in September  in the former Greenhouse Grill space on Sanibel, an island better known for grouper and mahi than haddock and Ipswich clams. A sister restaurant to the 10-year-old Clam Bake in south Fort Myers, The Clam Shack completely fills in the New England-seafood leanings  on Sanibel.

Run by Mark Thomas, a classically trained chef, and his wife-slash-front-of-house-manager Laurie, The Clam Shack serves lobster rolls, stuffed quahogs, clam cakes, and two kinds of chowder. There’s the creamy New England-style chowder most are accustomed to, and the broth-based Rhode Island chowder Mark grew up eating in West Warwick.   That’s where he first went clamming with his father, where he first learned to stuff fist-sized quahogs with breadcrumbs and chorizo (or chourico as it’s known in Mark’s predominantly Portuguese former hometown), and where he first appreciated the crisp, puffy wonders of a perfectly fried clam cake.

Recently observed, Mark Thomas ducked into The Clam Shack’s tiny kitchen. He pulled open the oven door unleashing a plume of steam.
The pies were ready. “These are strawberry-rhubarb,” he said, smiling and setting the bubbling pastries onto the lone snippet of clear counter. “I don’t know anyone else here doing strawberry-rhubarb pies like this — just us.”Doing things differently is The Clam Shack way.

“This was really going back to our roots,” Mark said of The Clam Shack’s simple menu. “We’re serving those items we loved eating at all the little clam shacks and fry shacks back home.”
 
The Thomases split their time between the restaurant in south Fort Myers and this one on Sanibel. Their daughter Cara LaSalle has assumed the helm at The Clam Bake. Mark’s brother Paul Thomas drives in from Fort Lauderdale to lend a hand at The Clam Shack from Thursday to Sunday.

“If it weren’t for our amazing family and staff, we’d never be able to do this,” Laurie smiled. “We’ve found a good thing out here, it really feels like home.”