Between Billy Bertha's baking experience, Clint Bennett's dedication to clamming, and Kimberly Esperian's business acuity, Bennett Shellfish in Montauk has made a name for itself, in part thanks to one of its delicacies: clam pie.
It is a sacred recipe that the late Albert Trages entrusted to Ms. Esperian. Folks here may remember that simple but iconic "clam pies" sign on Montauk Highway -- yes, this is that pie, and a photo of that sign now hangs on a wall in the cozy but bright Bennett shop. (The original is hanging in a Wainscott restaurant.) Mr. Trages died 11 years ago.
Mr. Bertha, who for many years was the pastry chef at the Gurney's bakery, has added a twist to the recipe. Trained in the traditions of French cooking, he puts his signature pastry dough around a thick pie filling that resembles New England clam chowder. It's where Bonac meets Boulogne-sur-Mer meets Boston.
"Baking has been very good to me, but it's not easy. . . . As an award-winning chef, who knew I'd be cooking clam pies?" Mr. Bertha mused last Thursday afternoon.
After Gurney's closed its bakery operation, Mr. Bertha was involved in the opening of the Red Horse Market in East Hampton. Folks here will also know Ms. Esperian's name from the Gurney's bakery, which is where she and Mr. Bertha were not just coworkers but also great friends. Ms. Esperian marketed Mr. Bertha's pies near and far, earning space on the shelves of big-chain grocery stores and smaller markets alike, before the bakery closed nearly seven years ago. Bennett Shellfish opened about seven years ago, nestled in a small, shingled building on Second House Road. Ms. Esperian and Mr. Bennett, who are engaged, live in the same building as the shop.
God has funny ways of working," Ms. Esperian said. "He knows what he's doing, for sure."
Two non-Bonackers who tasted the pie over the weekend agreed it was delicious -- a 10 out of 10, would do again. Eating it felt like a new way to bite into local history and further appreciate the region's long tradition of shellfishing, exactly the way it should be.
They followed Ms. Esperian's instructions exactly, pulling a hot, golden-crusted clam pie out of the 400-degree oven after 40 minutes. (You should've been there to smell it while it was baking!) An egg-and-milk wash was a requirement ahead of baking. Before digging in, the impatient taste-testers had to let it set for 20 minutes, as instructed. One of them later took the small last slice to his mother, an excellent cook in her own right, whose own excitement was palpable. The clam pies retail for around $40 and come frozen.
Bennett Shellfish isn't just a hub for clams and scallops. It also sells fish like tuna, cod, and fluke, expertly handled in a sparkling-clean kitchen. Here one can find Nana's Pickles (made by the Star staffer Jane Bimson), East End Cowboy's barbecue sauce, and Salt Hampton's line of cooking salts. The shop also sells desserts -- including a killer carrot cake and chocolate truffle cake -- and a wide assortment of local stuff like Nauti-Gal soaps, the East Hampton Town Trustees' "Save a Fish, End Balloon Pollution" mugs, and the book "A Speck in the Sea" by John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski, two commercial fishermen who are true sons of the water, much like Mr. Bennett himself.
Mr. Bennett is a 14th-generation resident of East Hampton Town, a descendant of the kind of baymen who are slowly going extinct amid the pressures of development, social evolution, and climate change. Billy Joel reportedly wrote his song "Downeaster Alexa" based on Mr. Bennett's family's story. And despite tough shellfishing conditions these days, Mr. Bennett is out there seven days a week. Salt water is in his blood.
"We're a dying breed from what it was 15 years ago," he said. "We've lost 50 to 60 percent of our baymen. Those were the guys who got it. . . . People don't hear about baymen anymore -- what we do and how we do it."
The clam pie recipe, he said, is "the old-school way of doing it. That's what makes it what it is. . . . In this day and age, people don't understand what a clam pie is."
