Oysters are on the menu at annual culinary festival featuring bivalve mollusks
Multiple venues
September 16 – October 3, $75-$125
www.oysterweek.com
“Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral?” Marcus Licinius Crassus (Sir Laurence Olivier) asks Antoninus (Tony Curtis) in Stanley Kubrick’s sword-and-sandals epic Spartacus. Fortunately, you don’t have to answer that question during New York Oyster Week, which features numerous culinary, ecologically friendly events over the course of eighteen days. The fifth anniversary of this wonderfully slimy celebration begins on September 16 with the NY Harbor Regatta & Regatta Bash on Governors Island ($125-$1,000, 2:00), hosted by Willie Geist and with commentary by Gary Jobson, live reggae music, a full oyster bar, and seafood specialties from Betony, Blue Fin, Crave Fish Bar, and other restaurants. On September 17 in Brooklyn Bridge Park ($95, 5:00), the Brooklyn Oyster Riot boasts a collection of a dozen East and West Coast oysters curated by Master Mermmelier Kevin Joseph of the OysterHood, with dishes created by chef Marc Murphy of Ditch Plains and wine and Brooklyn Brewery beer pairings, along with live music by Jan Bell and the Maybelles and oyster education from the Billion Oyster Project. This year Oyster Week debuts the Big Gay Oyster Brunch, taking place September 18 at 12 noon at Lot 45 in Bushwick ($75), with six ultrapremium oysters, ten craft beers, oyster wine, a trio of special cocktails, and DJ music. Dorlan’s Tavern & Oyster Bar will be home to Cocktail Oysters on September 21 ($75, 5:00) for a lucky fifty people, three hours of five oyster varieties and accoutrements courtesy of Joseph and chef Rob McCue, drinks from mixologist and Dorlan’s owner Jeremy Dahm, and some history about cocktail oysters. On September 23 it’s back to Lot 45 for Shellebration (6:00), consisting of a dozen oyster varieties, sustainable seafood dishes from Lot 45 and chef Behaya Samia, craft beer, cocktails, oyster wine, and more. On September 24 at the Fulton Stall Market ($85, 4:00), the inaugural Old Seaport Oyster Revival honors the rebuilding of the area with oysters, a signature seafood showcase from five old Seaport restaurants, Spirited Pearls and Accoutrement Premier by Joseph and McCue, live music from Mama Juke, and live shucking at the Shuck Truck. The Merroir + Terroir dinner on September 28 is sold out, but you can continue your oyster extravaganza on September 30 with ShuckEasy, comprising a “rare and exotic” raw bar, Spirited Pearls and Accoutrement Premier, and craft cocktails and beer at a secret location. Oyster Week comes to a close on October 1 with OystoberFest at the South Street Seaport ($85, 4:00), with a raw bar of twenty oyster varieties, the Shuck Truck, a beer garden, a cidery, a wine bar, and specialty docktails. And there’s nary a snail in sight.