Spotlight: Shooting Point Oysters

Currently on our winter menu, we are featuring half a dozen oysters on the half shell jazzed with a little horseradish and a champagne caviar for a contrast in texture. These oysters from the Shooting Point Oyster company dazzle the tastebuds with their fresh, clean brine, and plump meats. 

Known as the ultimate Virginia raw oyster, they are grown by Ann Arseniu and Tom Gallivan for over a decade on their farm. They are located in a remote part of of the Virginia shore on two watersheds. 

Nassawadox Salts from the lower Bayside create a salty-sweet oyster with hints of minerality. Shooting Point Salts from the Arlantic Barier Islands offer a sweet meat with a gentle brine. Both have purity, with clean finishes and there's no secret to that. This family farm uses heirloom oysters. 

Heirloom oysters, much like heirloom seeds, can be tracked back to their origin. These oysters have a lineage dating back to at least the 1880s. Unfortunately, the local population was all but destroyed over the following century due to over-fishing and disease. 

Thankfully, Shooting Point and several other oyster farms resurrected these populations of oysters. Additionally, Shooting Point participates in the regenerative practice of restoring wild populations of oysters to the Chesapeake area, placing nearly four million oysters back into this habitat every year. 

With so many reasons to support Shooting Point, perhaps the strongest is also the simplest reason: their product cannot be beat. These oysters are pure and delightful. Eat slowly and savor.