Tanners Boathouse: The Mountainside Seafood Shack

Driving by Tannersville, yard indicators beckon you to come back for a lobster roll. A seafood shack in Tannersville? Tasty crustaceans and summery seafood fare is probably not the very first thing that involves thoughts if you consider the Catskills, however restaurateur Ryan Chadwick is on a mission to vary that with Tanner’s Boathouse.

The Boathouse, opened in 2021, is simply one of many newest in a string of hospitality undertakings for the entrepreneurially stressed Chadwick, who has owned sizzling canine stands in Aspen, nightclubs in New York Metropolis, and eating places in Nantucket and Montauk. “I simply wish to take a bit little bit of every thing from the resort cities I spend time in and herald a little bit of the various things that I do properly,” Chadwick says. “It’s about what the city wants and what sort of enterprise it may assist.”

To his eyes, the empty municipal constructing on the sting of Lake Rip Van Winkle (simply off Fundamental Road) was ripe for reinvention. “I negotiated a deal for leasing the boathouse from the village and I made a decision to perform a little seafood shack on the water,” Chadwick says. “I believed individuals would crave seafood up right here—I do know I do. However I did not know if there could be sufficient enterprise.” By the tip of his first full summer time in 2022, he had offered over 1,800 lobster rolls. Fears allayed.

The seafood idea wasn’t a random alternative for Chadwick, who grew up in Maine, the nephew of a lobsterman. The red-and-white exterior of the Boathouse smacks of summer time trip spots on the Atlantic coast, however it’s surprisingly at house among the many hills of Greene County. As a result of, properly, who doesn’t love a laidback ordering window the place money is exchanged for loaded sizzling canine ($4), cups of clam chowder ($7), fish and chips ($19), and fried shrimp platters ($20)? The signature lobster roll, a product of market worth hikes, is a hefty $39 this 12 months and comes both sizzling with melted butter or chilly with mayo.

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“I’ve one thing on the menu that checks everybody’s bins,” Chadwick says. “There’s been a number of locals too, which is very nice. There was extra of a way of group down there [last summer]. On Saturdays, we had reside music and the locals and folks from the nation golf equipment would come down. I actually loved it. I wished a real hangout spot for everybody.”

Out entrance, scarf your seafood down at picnic tables beneath blue-and-white striped umbrellas whereas the children run round. If frutti di mare ain’t your factor, there’s additionally a fried buttermilk rooster sandwich, served with chipotle mayo, lettuce, and tomato ($14); a vegan quinoa bowl served with seasonal veg and coconut curry ($16); and a chilly corn salad with cucumber, tomato, avocado, basil, and citrus dressing ($15). Child-friendly choices embody a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich ($6), mac and cheese ($7), and rooster fingers with fries ($13).

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At Tanners Boathouse you’ll be able to lease kayaks, canoes, inside tubes, stand-up paddleboards, and bikes by the hour.

The meals isn’t the one attraction Chadwick has cooked as much as carry individuals to the lakefront—and maintain them there. Although the identify the “Boathouse” preexisted his seafood shack idea, there have been no boats to again it up underneath the earlier tenant, who ran a small bistro promoting sandwiches and low. “It was lovely however underutilized—I figured canoes and kayaks and paddleboards would activate the lake and get individuals to remain there longer,” he says. So he purchased 10 boats and began renting them by the hour. “That did rather well and introduced much more individuals down there,” Chadwick says. This 12 months, he’s added inside tubes and bikes to the checklist of rental choices.

On the drinks entrance, Tanner’s Boathouse affords a $5 PBR, native craft beer, arduous kombucha, wine by the glass ($11) or bottle ($42), or a handful of summery cocktails ($10-$14), together with margarita—basic or spicy watermelon, Aperol spritz, blueberry (vodka) lemonade, and a paloma. With the lake itself, a playground for the children to run round, a full bar for the grown-ups, and reside music on Saturdays from 2-5pm, Chadwick has managed to make the lakefront fairly the idyllic vacation spot for a summer time afternoon.

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That’s not all he has been as much as. Chadwick’s acquired glamping websites and has restored a crumbling home previously inhabited by bears to create a short-term rental; this previous winter he opened drive-through espresso and doughnut spot Fred’s; and final summer time he inaugurated the Kaaterskill Trolley Firm. “I grew up in Maine, in a coastal city that had little trolleys that may go up and down Route 1,” he says. “I wished to carry one thing like that up right here to get between the climbing points of interest and waterfalls. It additionally stops on the native companies on the town. It’s good for connectivity and branding functions for the group.” The old-school trolleys, which have been purchased in Maine and shipped to the mountains, add each to the picturesqueness and accessibility of the world.

Of his serial entrepreneurship, Chadwick says with a rueful snort, “It’s type of a curse, sadly. My spouse would in all probability want that I didn’t get entangled in all these companies, however I felt that the city wants stuff like this up there.”

Tanners Boathouse is open Wednesdays by Sundays, Memorial Day Weekend by Columbus Day.