Lobster riches

Yesterday, I was unexpectedly spoiled. Twice in one afternoon, I sat down to a plate of lobster. The first I ate at the Naked Oyster in Hyannis (508.7786500). Late for a lunch meeting, I asked my patient friend to order for me—anything she pleased, so long as it would fill me up.

She didn't skimp. When I arrived, a delicately halved lobster salad wrap sat leaning towards me, beckoning with a thin, creamy dressing and the crunch of young, tender greens. Its companion, a cup of fingerling potato fries and paper thin Parmesan crisps, was equally delightful against the tongue. A half a round of strawberry shortcake (made with berries from Tim Friary's Barnstable farm, Cape Cod Organics—the same I'd picked up at the market) completed the meal. It's not often you find yourself recognizing the same ingredients out to lunch as you do in your own fridge.

Come dinner, I walked into the kitchen of Mac's Shack on invitation from chef Jerome Watkins, former executive chef at South Boston Kitchen & Wine Bar (617.269.7832, 77 Dorchester St.), and a celebrated addition to the Mac's staff. He had offered to make us a meal; I told him we'd take whatever he thought best.

I watched as he took a live lobster, and in one fell swoop chopped off the claws and the tail, and split the meat down the middle. From one bug, he made two lobster specials: each a pile of saffron rice heaped with sweet corn, fresh morels, fava beans, and spring peas and topped with a tail half and lone claw. He drizzled a rich, buttery sauce over top, and I dug into my second treat of the day.

While Jerome wouldn't give up his secret to last night's dish, he makes it most nights in the Shack kitchen at 91 Commercial Street in Wellfleet (508.349.6333). Stop in any time after 4:30 for dinner; though they don't take reservations, this dish is worth the wait.