adventures in DIY oysters, no band aids necessary

This past weekend I headed over to Capitol Hill with my friend Ali to check out Barracks Row’s Culinary Education Crawl, a daylong event put on by a group of restaurants and other small businesses along 8^th St. SE, the Hill’s main drag. About a dozen spots opened up their doors and held $10-$20 classes ranging from pizza making at Matchbox to baking classes with Hello Cupcake. Very cool indeed. Ali had sent me a link for an oyster shucking class earlier in the week, and being ardent lovers of the raw bar/supporters of local business, we figured we’d thrown down our twenty bills and check it out.

The class was held at Senart’s Oyster Bar and Chop House, which neither of us had been to before. A little overeager to start shucking, we got there about 15 minutes early and warmed our butts by the fireplace, which made a very good first impression, while the class before us finished up their last few shells.

A few minutes later we took our seats at the bar and listened to Senart’s chef kindly and repeatedly explain the proper knife wielding techniques to ensure that we didn’t maim the inside of our palms. (An accident prone individual, I listened very carefully.) After a few more minutes of instruction re: finding the oyster’s notch and applying the right amount of pressure, we were left to our own devices with a pile of P.E.I.'s, free to eat whatever we could open.

Baby's first oyster

Turns out shucking oysters isn’t as hard as I had thought it would be. Maybe I’ve watched too many quick fire challenges gone wrong? My first little guy popped open with relative ease, much to my childlike satisfaction, and though there were a few tough ones, you get into a rhythm pretty quickly. Following the chef’s sage advice, “don’t rush the wiggle” Ali and I both polished off over a dozen, which we washed down with the complimentary draught beer included with our ticket. Raw shellfish and beer…the perfect afternoon or the perfect afternoon?

Throughout the course of the hour we also learned about several different types and their flavor profiles…why some are mellow and sweet while others are briny or minerally, and how the environment of the beds they grow in affects the shape and color of their shells. Knowledge. 

After the class ended we walked over to Eastern Market, one of my favorite places in the city, and ambled around the outdoor vendors, taking advantage of the unseasonably warm day (and season, really). It was an awesome way to spend a Sunday afternoon, in a part of the city I don’t get to nearly enough. I’ve lived in DC for a year and a half now, and I sometimes struggle to feel ownership of my home here. But if I could have a few more Sundays like this last one, I think it would start to come to me. 

PS, typical of my excitable personality, I'm now extremely preoccupied with the idea of having an oyster shucking/prosecco drinking party when the weather warms up a little bit. Oyster lovers only.