On a Roll

On a Roll

Behold the lobster roll. Sweet, succulent, and sinfully rich, it's the ultimate buttery icon of a Connecticut summer. Other New England states may prefer to chill out with lobster rolls created from a cool mix of lobster meat, mayonnaise, and chopped celery, but Nutmeggers like their one-of-a-kind rolls served hot, hot, hot.

The traditional Connecticut lobster roll, said to have been invented in the early 1930s at Perry's, a now-defunct seafood shack on the Boston Post Road in Milford, consists of nothing more than plump chunks of hot lobster meat and melted butter served on a butter-toasted roll. In other words: heaven on a bun. From seafood shanties along the shore to more gourmet getaways farther inland, Connecticut is fairly swimming with eateries that offer these revered rolls. Three favorites: A roll at Abbott's Lobster in the Rough (117 Pearl St., Noank. 860/536-7719. www.abbotts-lobster.com) is best enjoyed seated at a picnic table at the edge of Noank Harbor watching the boats bob by. At Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale Drive-in (1301 Boston Post Rd., Madison. 203/245-7289. www.ljfishtale.com), kids of all ages love to eat outdoors by a hand-carved Dentzel carousel with flying horses (and a whale, frog, lion, seal, and more), which the restaurant runs from early May through early October. Marnick's (10 Washington Pkwy., Stratford. 203/377-6288. www.marnicks.nv.switchboard.com), on a small beach on the Long Island Sound, is a place where you can kick off your shoes for a picnic on the sand or leave them on and enjoy a leisurely after-dinner stroll along a sea wall.