View in Oakdale reopens as 'pop-up lobster shack'
The lobster roll is just one of many items available for takeout, curbside or dockside pickup at the newly reopened View in Oakdale. Credit: Jennifer Cantin
A “pop-up lobster shack” — that’s how Mark Lessing described the new takeout, curbside and, yes, dockside pickup offerings at View, which has reopened in Oakdale. The Great South Bay spot, among the last of Lessing’s Hospitality Group’s eateries to spring back to life, boasts a “menu both simple and seafood-centric.”
“My cousin has been sending me videos of all the cars driving past the place and parking there with other people’s takeout,” laughed the group’s executive vice president. “I’m like, I don’t want them eating someone else’s food!”
Accordingly, the take-away menu features such classics as baked clams ($11), oysters Rockefeller ($15) and popcorn shrimp ($12), a robust slate of “hand helds” — to include a lobster roll ($26) and fish sliders ($15) — and such seafaring potables as rum punch ($12), sangria ($11) and something called a Fire Islander, a potent brew of mango vodka, coconut rum, pomegranate liqueur and more ($12). All cocktails are also available quart-size for $30.
And then there are View’s “boat kits,” dockside provisions that might contain anything from 32-ounce servings of Manhattan clam chowder ($19) to a 12-pack of DIY tacos ($56).
Noting the dearth of other entertainment options these days, Lessing hopes that View’s offerings will “provide a kind of respite and a little sense of normalcy” during a summer that promises to be different for all of us, View included. How many upscale, harborside restaurants housed on the grounds of a former Vanderbilt estate have ever proudly described themselves as shacks?
View is at 3 Consuelo Pl. in Oakdale, 631-589-2694, viewoakdale.com. The lobster shack is open for takeout and pickup from noon to 9 p.m. through Memorial Day. Normal summer hours will be Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 9 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday.
Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.
