Wining and Winding Down a Decades-old Tradition at the Jersey Shore

For me, visiting home is all about sharing in the traditions of my youth. Sadly, on a recent trip, I enacted one of those rituals for the last time.

For 128 years, Busch's Seafood in Sea Isle City has been a mainstay of dining excellence. Some of the waitstaff there has been serving meals since the Watergate Era, and my family has spent nearly four decades enjoying mouth-watering meals of crab casserole, broiled lobster tail and many other treats of the sea.

When summer 2010 comes to an end, Busch's will be torn down to make way for condos, so I relished the fact that I was able to get my hands (and lips) on one last delectable meal.

It was inevitable that crab fingers were going to appear on the table in a hurry, so I decided on a glass of Babich Chardonnay. Typically New Zealand Chards are less oaky and have more minerality and stone fruit than many California bottlings, so I knew it would be a good match for the sweet, succulent crab meat accompanied by a zippy mustard sauce for dipping. 

For my meal, I ordered deviled clams and crab-and another glass of the Babich. Why mess with a good pairing? The wine was equally tasty with this entree, which came complete with baked potato and the sliced apple stewed in clove and cinnamon that I will remember til I'm old and sitting on a porch swing. I even had enough leftover for one last kitschy doggy bag. 

 

 After my brother ordered one last chocolate parfait for old time's sake...

we said goodbye to this place that had played host to so many family celebrations...the sun is setting on Busch's, but certainly not on the art of sharing wine and food with those closest to my heart.

Follow my wine adventures on Twitter @vinochick75.