Sparkling Rosé Blueberry Mignonette
A summer sauce to serve with oysters or scallops. Recipe by 1846 Inn & Tavern, West Dover.
1846 Inn & Tavern, West Dover
SHUCKING AWESOME!
In the oyster shucking classes run at the 1846 Inn & Tavern at West Dover Inn, Donny Richard, the bar manager and lover of all things oysters, thinks you should eat these mollusks naked. That’s right. Naked. Just the oyster. No cocktail sauce. In fact, Donny says they “lead off the class by saying, ‘You’re going to find out in the next hour if you like oysters or you like cocktail sauce.’”
The 1846 Inn & Tavern runs up to six oyster-shucking classes annually, attracting approximately 20 to 30 oyster lovers and oyster-curious folks per class to pry open the shells and suck down what’s inside.
Oysters are experiencing a Renaissance right now, and Donny says, “I think it’s the lore of the sea. They’re romanticized in a certain way in addition to being a bit of a delicacy.” Maybe that’s one reason the restaurant serves 2,000 to 2,500 oysters most weeks.
Marcella Guida, restaurant manager and sommelier, likens oysters to wine. Each oyster, she says, “tells the same type of story of where it’s from.” Wine enthusiasts know the term terroir, which means the specific qualities imparted on the wine from the ground where the grapes grow. Oyster lovers use the term merroir to describe the qualities imparted on the oyster from the waters where they lived. An oyster’s merroir is one of the reasons the experience of Puget Sound oysters is different from that of Prince Edward Island oysters.
The 1846 Inn & Tavern brings the world of oysters to southern Vermont.
All the accoutrements for the oyster shucking class
If the diners don’t wish to make shucking a spectator sport, they can have their oysters delivered to their table.
OYSTERS, BEERS, AND OUTDOORS
A chalkboard greets diners as they enter the restaurant, displaying the five or six oysters available that day. In contrast, the 70-inch television offers a different list: the vast variety of craft beers for which the restaurant is also known. The display lists at least 30 brewed in Vermont and New England.
Craft beer attracts many people to all parts of Vermont, but southern Vermont attracts a different type of summer lover than those visiting Burlington or spending time on a lake. Folks here may enjoy the golden season by hiking or golfing and then stopping by the 1846 Inn & Tavern for lunch or dinner. If the group is a foursome, they can claim the raw bar’s stools and watch the oysters being shucked by any one of the staff, all of whom know the proper techniques, the importance of preserving the liquor (the liquid inside the shell), and keeping the meat intact.
If the diners don’t wish to make shucking a spectator sport, they can have their oysters delivered to their table. Perhaps they’ll disregard Donny’s advice and choose the wicked wasabi oysters, served with the spicy condiment and pickled ginger. Or perhaps they’ll have other items from the raw bar, including crab cocktail, shrimp cocktail, salmon crudo, or bluefish pâté. And if raw doesn’t grab them, they can try any of the seafood dishes, which in the summer, are predominately New England–focused. And if those don’t grab the diner, plenty of non-seafood options exist, including the best burger in southern Vermont, according to owner Phil Gilpin.
Those who have taken the oyster shucking class five times and pass a short exam are inducted into the Oyster Society, an elite group with just a handful of members and always willing to induct more people who enjoy the gems of the wide world of oysters in small-town Vermont.
GREEN MOUNTAIN OYSTERS
You might expect the availability and knowledge of oysters offered by the 1846 Inn & Tavern at eateries in Washington State or Cape Cod, not nestled in the Green Mountains. Donny says their oyster experience is possible because of their relationship with Earth & Sea in Manchester. “I can be a pain in the neck when it comes to oysters,” Donny says, “because I’m calling them asking for oysters that I know are going to be hard to get. And they have to call around to different distributors to meet my requests.” But they always come through.
With so many varieties of oysters and so much to learn, taking one oyster-shucking class may feel akin to taking a tablespoon of water from the ocean. Faithful oyster lovers know this and repeat the class often. Those who have taken the class five times and pass a short exam are inducted into the Oyster Society, an elite group with just a handful of members and always willing to induct more people who enjoy the gems of the wide world of oysters in small-town Vermont.
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