A Whole Lotta Shuckin’ Goin’ On
Oysters seem to be everywhere, plus the story behind Cameron's pork and clams dish.
Trends
Where to Find Good Oysters
It’s a great time to be an oyster lover in Columbus.
By Bethia Woolf
While I admit to being nostalgic for $1 oyster nights at Rigsby’s Kitchen circa 2010, I firmly believe that there has never been a better time than right now to be an oyster lover in Columbus. Never have there been so many raw bars and seafood towers available, but also the quality and variety of oysters have improved.
Here’s where you can find some of the best oysters in town:
The New Raw Bar in Town
Though a Columbus newcomer, Hank's Low Country Seafood & Raw Bar originally opened 25 years ago in Charleston, South Carolina. Hank’s typically offers three varieties of East Coast oysters and always has a selection from Virgina, which is known for larger, meatier oysters. You can order a sampler of the different oysters available or choose one variety. Chesapeake oysters are $38 a dozen, while an East Coast sampler is $44. In addition to raw oysters, Hank’s has a large variety of other preparations including oysters casino, fried oysters and its signature “chowder style” oyster stew with smoked bacon, leeks, potatoes and crackers.
The Pearl and Other CMR Spots
It’s not a surprise that The Pearl specializes in oysters. It’s right there in the name, and the restaurant’s raw bar is a prominent feature at both Central Ohio locations. The Pearl always has four types of the bivalve, with the specific varieties rotating; you can expect to see Blue Points and Chesapeake oysters. Like Hank's, this Cameron Mitchell restaurant gravitates toward East Coast varieties. Oysters on the half shell are priced $15 for three, so a dozen would set you back $60. In addition to raw oysters, The Pearl also offers N’awlins Style Baked Oysters and fried oysters.
The Pearl is certainly not the only Cameron Mitchell restaurant offering oysters these days. You’ll also find them on the menu at The Avenue Steak Tavern, The Barn at Rocky Fork Creek, Del Mar, Guild House, SoCal Kitchen + Bar, Butcher & Rose and at Mitchell’s Ocean Club, which has its own private-label oyster, Rose & Garnet, flown in from Cape Cod.
Mollusks in Markets
For value, the raw bars at both Littleton’s Market and Colo Market & Oyster Bar are good picks, with a daily selection of oysters offered at $36 a dozen. The best deal in town, however, is the half-price oyster happy hour at both of Colo’s North Market locations. From 3-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Colo offers all of its oysters half-price ($1.50 per oyster). Since Colo is both a retailer and a wholesale distributor, it offers the widest selection of oysters. This means that they have an impressive turnover, and you’ll be eating oysters that were in the ocean a day or two before. At Colo, you can usually find six types of oysters from both the East and West Coast; it sometimes carries international varieties, too.
A Shucking Good Happy Hour and Pop-Up
Barcelona in German Village is now offering an Oyster Tuesday with $2 oysters at the bar while they last. Their bar opens at 4 p.m. for happy hour.
You should also keep an eye out for The Shuck Waggon. Owner Chris Allen pops up at events around town offering shucked-to-order oysters, often collaborating with Michelada king Bert Chavez of Xolo Mixto.
Enduring Dish
Cameron’s Pork Chop & Clams
By Erin Edwards
Ask James Thompson, a longtime bartender at Cameron’s American Bistro, to name his favorite dish at the Linworth restaurant, and he won’t hesitate: It’s the Pork Chop & Clams.
Though it’s a curious combination not often seen around Columbus, the dish is an enduring one at Cameron’s, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.
The dish landed on the menu about 10 years ago, after the neighborhood restaurant underwent a much-needed renovation. The chef at the time, Jeff Lindemeyer, added Pork Chop & Clams ($39) to the menu as a riff on a popular Portuguese dish called Porco à Alentejana. It’s been on the menu ever since.
Porco à Alentejana is traditionally a stew featuring braised cubed pork shoulder, clams and cubed potatoes that’s humming with paprika. Cameron’s interpretation instead employs a thick pork chop that gets brined with honey and fresh herbs before being seared and finished in the oven.
Meanwhile, the Littleneck clams (sourced from Catanese Classic Seafood) are cooked in Chablis, chicken stock and fresh aromatics like garlic, shallots and thyme, says Cameron’s executive chef Sara Mehr. Instead of cubed potatoes, the pork and clams are paired with mashed potatoes and a lovely pan sauce—be sure to have bread on hand to sop it up—that is redolent of paprika, mustard, fennel, garlic and fresh herbs.
“It’s almost all of the management's favorite menu item,” Mehr says.
Notes
Around the Columbus Food Scene
Takoi, a contemporary Thai restaurant in Detroit (and one of Bethia and Andy’s favorite spots in the Midwest), is in town this week for a couple of 10-year-anniversary pop-up events at Cobra and Watershed Distillery. You can catch Takoi tonight at Cobra from 6-10 p.m. (no reservations needed). On Wednesday, Watershed Kitchen chef Matt Howes and Takoi’s Brad Greenhill are putting on a special dinner from 5-9 p.m. (seats are almost sold out).
Species X Beer Project founder Beau Warren announced on social media last week that his boundary-pushing brewery had permanently closed as of Oct. 3. Species X was notable for using Artificial Intelligence and gene-edited yeasts in its brewing. The Downtown industrial space at 408 N. Sixth St. has now seen two breweries come and go. Before Species X, Platform Beer famously shut down its taproom there in 2021 after its whole staff staged a walkout.