Hog Island Oysters, Napa

My favorite oysters are, without a doubt, from the Hog Island Oyster Co, whether at the Ferry Building in San Francisco or at the Oxbow Market in Napa.  So while D and I were in Napa this weekend, we dashed over for a quick lunch. 

It’s particularly fun to sit at the bar and watch stacks of oysters being shucked, with the bustle of the market in the background.  Start with a glass of Chablis or sparkling wine – I had a great one from Domaine Carneros, filled with rollicking bubbles – and enjoy a piece of epi baguette with excellent butter while looking over the menu.

Hog Island always offers a nice variety of oysters, both East and West Coast, and a selection of salads, sandwiches (oyster po’boy!), and soups.  Of course, the fresh oysters are the stars, so to start, we ordered half a dozen each of the flagship Hog Island Sweetwaters, Stellar Bay (from British Columbia), and Naked Cowboy (Long Island Sound).

Impeccably fresh oysters, like these, are truly spectacular – sweet yet briny, tasting quintessentially of the ocean.  I couldn’t even begin to pick a favorite among the three, though they were each subtly different.  Before I knew it, they were gone.

So we ordered another round of oysters along with some clam chowder, which is a creamy, warm, bacony counterpoint to the cool salinity of the oysters.  With some more bread and another glass of wine, this proved to be the perfect lunch.

Someday I’ll get to the Hog Island farm itself, on Tomales Bay, where I hear you can learn to shuck your own oysters.  Until then…