Kate's Fish

Cleveland Clambakes Are a Can't-Miss Fall Tradition

"At Cleveland’s century-old West Side Market I watched Tom McIntyre, the second-generation owner, go from selling about a thousand clams a week to 10,000 in September and October as customers fuel the city’s clambake tradition. He sources littlenecks, middlenecks, and topnecks from small-boat harvesters in Rhode Island and Connecticut who rake clams by hand—no bycatch, no damage to the ocean floor—and the logistics that once made chilled seafood possible via rail travel in the 1800s have become local folklore. For home cooks Kate’s sells fresh clams and rents steamers, and McIntyre’s practical tip: “Grill the chicken instead of steaming it,” because steamed chicken’s kind of weird." - Wendy Pramik