What a slacker I’ve been! The only excuse I can offer is that I’ve been doing little eating out or even creative cooking in the interest of shedding a few pre-wedding pounds (only about a week to go!). However, I did make it out to Jax beach for a little relaxation a few weekends ago, and in order to sate an odd lobster roll craving of mine, decided to stop by A La Carte, a catering company and “gourmet shop.” The cute little building just off A1A/3rd St. looks like it was picked up from a New England coast and plunked here on the Florida coast.

A La Carte

Their “Authentic New England Style Lunch” served Friday-Tuesday features items such as fried clams, a Haddock sandwich, a “clam cake” sandwich, and the aforementioned Maine lobster roll.

Lobster Roll + Cape Cod Chips

Despite my less than stellar photo (good news: I recently invested in a fabulous Droid phone with a kickass camera…on-the-go photos should get much better) and the trappings of a to-go box, you can see the plentiful portion of lobster overflowing what was basically a sawed-off & toasted hot dog bun (which I understand is traditional. The roll was super simple: a ton of lobster, a little mayo, and maybe a little S&P. I loved it.

On my visit there were only two people working the slightly chintzy (in a beach shack sort of way) shop: a lovely lady taking orders and hollering them to the back, and the friendly cook who was taking orders and shuttling everything out. The cashier showed me to a room off the main dining room where I could pick my drink from their cooler, which also contained whoopie pies and specialty beverages from New England. Can’t wait to get back to try a whoopie pie with my next lobster roll!

Aside from the event catering and New England lunch, A La Carte also offers prepared gourmet dinners to go every day but Wednesday. They are “fresh frozen and ready to bake” and tend to the style of comfort food classics.

www.alacarte-jax.com