New England Clambakes

[intro music]

Katlyn Graham:  Hello, I’m Katlyn Graham, here with Steve Woodman, the Co‑CEO and Owner at Woodman’s. Welcome, Steve!

Steve Woodman:  Glad to be here, Katlyn.

Katlyn:  Thanks for joining us! Today we are discussing New England clambakes, an area of your expertise. You’ve been doing it for a hundred years now. [laughs] What do I need to host a clambake, Steve?

Steve:  Well, what you need to do is invite people.

Katlyn:  [laughs] There you go!

Steve:  A party is always more fun with more people around. You invite the people, you have a spot for them. Or if you don’t have a spot that we can go to and do the clambake, we have sites on our facility that you can come and we can do the clambake there for you.

Other than that, we do everything for you. We get all the food, all the paper products, the labor, the help. If you want to have a bar set up, we can do that. Tables, tents, whatever, we can do it all for you.

You just have the idea of having a clambake, you invite the people you want there, and we’ll do the rest for you.

Katlyn:  Now, you mentioned the site. What kind of a space do you need to have a clambake?

Steve:  Well, if it’s a small clambake, just a birthday party, or something to that effect, it can be a backyard. We can come to your house, cook outside, use your kitchen if you need something being done in the kitchen.

It depends on your menu and what you want, we can come to your house. If it’s a larger corporate party, where you have a thousand people or more, we can come to your office.

We can go to a site where you can rent out that they can hold that many people. We can go wherever you want to go.

Katlyn:  A lot of choices where you can have a clambake. It doesn’t have to be on a beach or anything?

Steve:  No it doesn’t.

Katlyn:  Obviously clams are essential at the clambake, I’m guessing. What else is essential at a clambake, for food?

Steve:  Well, the basics are, of course, the clams but you also have clam chowder can go with that. You have your lobster, your corn on the cob. Some people don’t want something other than besides seafood. You can do chicken, you can do steak, you can do our baby back ribs which are also awesome. [laughs]

Katlyn:  Oh, I bet.

Steve:  People love our baby back ribs and whatever else, hors d’oeuvres or anything that you want to go with and can come up with that.

Katlyn:  Every clambake needs the clams but it sounds like the rest of it is really individualized.

Steve:  That’s right. It’s your choice. Whatever you like, whatever you want to have on there, we can do it for you.

Katlyn:  Nice. How should I set up for a clambake?

Steve:  How you setup is get in the frame of mind of having a good time.

[laughter]

Katlyn:  There you go. That sounds easy enough.

Steve:  Because like I said, the girls in the office that when you call, they’ll answer all the questions that you need to know. They’ll set up the worksheets, and so forth. We’ll put it together. We’ll organize it. We’ll put the right staff on there, that need to cook the certain items that you want. We’ll come to your site, and put it together, and set up our serving tables.

We’re there for your guests to have a great time.

Katlyn:  You can really relax, and let you guys do the work.

Steve:  That’s right.

Katlyn:  Now, all of this, the corn and the mussels, where do you find all‑‑are they from local areas? Where do these food products come from?

Steve:  It depends on the time of year. This time of year, we’re not going to get local corn, and so we go where the corn is growing, and we get that in. During the summertime, when most people are thinking clambake, and it’s warm, and it’s nice, in July, or August or whatever, we have local farms that we get our corn from.

Clams are dug right down the river from where we are, a couple miles away from where we are. If we need more clams than what the river can provide, we’ll get clams in from Maine, or someplace else, that they’ll come down to.

We have contacts everywhere. Our lobstermen that are local, but then again, we have contacts in Maine that we can bring in the quantities of lobster down.

When they’re catching up there, we may not be catching here. Every seafood, and so forth, has their season. Wherever they’re plentiful, wherever we can get good quality seafood, that’s where we get it.

Katlyn:  I see, so sometimes it’s Massachusetts lobster, sometimes it’s Maine depending on…

Steve:  That’s right.

Katlyn:  What do you think it is about clambakes that people love them so much? What is it?

Steve:  Just think of when you say clambake. What comes to your mind? It’s usually summertime. The sun is out. You’re having fun, a lot of times, maybe at the beach, or whatever.

It just brings memories of having a good time, and being together with friends and family. When you put all those ingredients together, it just paints this picture in your mind of having a good time, being with family, being with friends, and just that warm feeling.

Katlyn:  A good time for all.

Steve:  Yes.

Katlyn:  What’s your number one tip for a clambake, Steve?

Steve:  Number one tip? I’ve already said it. Put yourself in the frame of mind of having a good time, because we do the work for you.

Katlyn:  Great, so everyone can relax. Well, thank you so much, Steve, for explaining all of this about clambakes. You’ve been extremely informative. I want to go have a clambake.

Steve:  They are fun.

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