Grinders, soup and magical açaí bowls — all at Montauk Market

April 19, 2023 11:13 am • Last Updated: April 20, 2023 9:29 am

By Rick Koster
Day Arts/Features writer

An Açaí Bowl from Montauk Market in New London (Rick Koster/The Day)
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For the entirety of our 25-plus years in New London, we’ve lived on Lower Boulevard in a part of town where change is slow. Well, relatively slow.

Downtown, on Bank Street, for example, it seems as though there’s always some restaurant or club opening (or closing). And, wow, it’s hopping over in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, which some people remember was taken from homeowners in a late ’90s eminent domain case that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

That’s where associate justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, proposed to use the area for development of an ethics center and a deepwater dock for a mega yacht owned by someone named Harlan Crow. A visionary!

Anyway, in our part of the city, the only consistent change has been in the tiny storefront at 6 Lower Boulevard. It’s part of a larger building that includes residential apartments and a successful hair salon. The tenants at #6, though, have been consistently short term — as though the space was haunted, or maybe the owner stubbornly offers one-time-only leasing contracts lasting four months.

Thinking about it, my wife Eileen and I can’t remember all the businesses that have passed through ol’ #6. There was a Fox’s Pizza Den franchise. A convenience store. An astronaut recruitment center. Another convenience store. A gun range/ballet school …

The latest tenant, though, is Susan Tierney, who’s opened Montauk Market, a true neighborhood spot providing exceptional grinders, soups, breakfast items, fresh Ashlawn Farms coffee, quick-hit necessities, a cooler full of prepared meals from Ivy’s Gourmet and Tony D’s, and much more.

If Tierney’s name is familiar, well, she and her brother, Tom Eshenfelder, own Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock, and she has also served as a member of the New London School Board. Tierney and her family also live in the neighborhood — meaning she and her staff of family and friends are known and invested in the area.

For the lazy at heart, or those who just appreciate good stuff at reasonable prices, prepared quickly and in friendly fashion — or both — Montauk Market is a welcome arrival in our part of the world.

A wealthier man than me would regularly start the day with a Montauk Market Açaí Bowl ($12.50 with a choice of three toppings). The base component of the bowl is a frozen and sweetened puree of the purplish, titular berry, which comes from a palm tree found in Brazil. There are 15 different toppings to choose from, including several fruits, nuts, peanut butter, chocolate chips and drizzled honey.

I liked my selections of raspberries, coconut shreds and dried mango, each of which is neatly striped across the açaí jam. This is one of those delicious concoctions that tastes so good that it can’t be healthy — and yet it is.

An egg sandwich with ham and Swiss, on a Giulianno’s hard roll, was more than filling and tasty for a reasonable $4.75. Smoothies ($8.50) are also on the menu. You can get strawberry-banana, mango, three-berry and PB&J (peanut or almond butter, strawberries and raspberries), and chocolate or vanilla protein can be added for $2.

In a region full of terrific grinders, it’s fair enough to say Montauk Market crafts some very fine versions ($10 and $14). Your choice of loaves — crispy or soft — and cheese — provolone, American, Swiss and chedar). Options include turkey, ham, genoa, salami, Italian, tuna, roast beef, chicken salad and veggie (the latter with provolone, lettuce, tomato and oil with a wealth of add-on choices).

By now, I’ve tried most of the grinder possibilities — including a fantastic creation with smoke-spangled pulled pork in a playful sauce — and would (and probably will) eat all of them again. But I love the chicken salad and its formula utilizing large, juicy chunks of breast meat with just enough mayo to bind it all together. Also excellent is the roast beef, which is lean and is nestled in a heap below crisp lettuce and cold, fresh tomato slices. Ask for a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and, if you’re the sort, diced black olives and horseradish. Yes!

Among the daily soup specials ($5 small, $12 quart) are chowders — there IS the Scott’s Lobster folks connection, after all — a rich and restorative take on chicken noodle, and a superb tomato bisque that’s thick and has a tangy sweetness and an compelling spice we couldn’t pin down.

It’s also worth noting that the reliably fine options from the kitchens at Tony D’s and Ivy’s are plentiful and can certainly save time in tasty fashion if you need a more substantive dinner option.

Oh, and always browse the counters and shelves on the store’s perimeter. There’s local folk art, calendars and books, Salt & Twine dried meats, dessert toppings from Fat Toad Farms, sauces and dressings from Terrapin Ridge Farms, gourmet selections from Hepp’s Salt Company, and much more.

Already, folks stop and chat in neighborly fashion with staff and each other as they drop by for morning coffee, and the idea that Montauk Market will become a neighborhood hub during summer and long after is comforting.