table talk / By Bob Doran

Oyster Heaven

(June 19, 2008)  Where do good oysters go when it’s their time? If they’re lucky, they meet their end on the Arcata Plaza on Oyster Festival weekend, which, in case you were not paying attention, was last Saturday. There they are sacrificed on the altar of oystermania and consumed in mass quantities by a huge happy crowd lubricated with corn plastic cups full of microbrew and wine served in commemorative stemware.

Me? I skipped the beer and wine and plunged right into the day’s main attraction. My first stop was the Blue Lake Casino booth, where I met Chef Jim Stidson, who fairly recently took over from Jean-Louis Hamiche. While the Oyster Fest is a great place to catch up on restaurant news and gossip, I already knew that Jean-Louis had left behind a long career working for Humboldt’s finest restaurants to become a Humboldt County Jail corrections officer. The Blue Lake crew was grilling oysters brought in from Oregon, serving them two ways, either with a wonderfully zingy sweet/hot chili-pineapple relish (five different chilies, including habaneros) or as something they called “Oyster Saltimbocca,” a grilled bivalve with prosciutto, garlic, lemon sage and lemon juice. Good stuff. Not wanting to fill up too soon, I skipped their oyster chowder served in a bread bowl.

GALLERY >

Down the way Chef Peter Jones and his Folie Douce team were cooking up a prizewinner from years past that Peter deemed “the old reliable.” Local Kumamoto oysters are grilled and topped with a splash of sesame oil, a dollop of wasabi and some homemade plum sauce. The sauces are not applied willy-nilly; squeeze bottles are employed to run side-by-side lines of green and purple, just the right amount to provide a subtle mix of sweet and wasabi-hot complimenting that slip-sliding taste of the sea only possessed by an oyster. It was easy to see how they’d taken home first in the past, and why there was a long line out front.

True to form, the longest line of the day was at Smokin’ Moses’, where the dreadlocked Lee “Moses” Orlikoff commanded a ragtag bunch of shuckers, jivers and grillers (including legendary local fry cook Steve “Fluffy” Crivelli), and not enough servers (as always, beautiful women). Before the day was over they’d sell 5,000 oysters. Mo’s secret is his patented barbecue sauce (available at all local stores) and no, I can’t tell you exactly what’s in it, although the label may give you guidance.

A few booths down Red Lion Chef Rob Layne was mixing seafoods, topping grilled oysters with wild Alaskan salmon tartar dressed with a slightly tangy sherry vinaigrette. Very good.

On the corner by the Hotel Arcata, I found the young crew from Tomo led by Chef Josh Hand. Taking advantage of the proximity of Arcata’s most popular sushi joint, they had a runner bringing in hotel pans filled with shrimp and oyster tempura that Josh used to fashion hand rolls. The method: Lay down a sheet of nori mounded with rice, lay on an oyster (previously dipped in tempura and fried) and some green onion, sprinkle with sesame seeds, add a bit of flying fish roe and a splash of “spicy ginger citrus” sauce, and roll into a cone. Josh, whose arms are festooned with Japanese tattoos, explained that the citrus is a mix of lemon, lime and orange to simulate yuzu, an Asian fruit that’s hard to come by in the States.

On the opposite corner I found Sweet Mama Janisse of Bless My Soul serving up fried oysters of a different sort: Southern-style. Hers were dipped in corn flour, dusted with a mix of Old Bay Seasoning and granulated garlic, deep-fried, then served with a choice of spicy sweet sauces: mango/chipotle or fiery habanero/peach. Added bonus, a bowl of black beans and rice. The bad news: I was too late for crayfish, which she’d brought in from the Sacramento River area. (She promised she’ll have them at her Eureka restaurant as long as they are in season.)

Chef Ed Zamarripa from Samurai was grilling oysters and topping them with his top secret “Kaki Dynamite Sauce.” He explained that despite decent sales, he’s often lost money at the Oyster Fest due to overtime for his employees. This time out he offered his services for a volunteer-run booth benefiting the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association crew team. (His daughter is a member.) Among the other volunteers: Second District Supe candidate Clif Clendenen. (His daughter is a crew team member, too.)

1 2 3 NEXT PAGE >SHARE