oysters

Treat Yourself To Oysters for #NationalOysterDay (or any day) in Raleigh & Wake Forest NC!

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Sunday,August 5th is one of my favorite food holidays because it is National Oyster Day! The seafoodie in me loves to eat these beauties from the sea. Whether you like them raw on the half shell, roasted, charbroiled, topped off with cheese or fried in a po boy sandwich, there are so many places to enjoy fresh oysters in the Triangle. Here are some of my favorite places to enjoy oysters in Raleigh & Wake Forest!

18 Seaboard

NC oysters from Core Sound topped with pimento cheese and proscuitto

18 Seaboard, the brainchild of Chef Smith and his wife Laura,winner 2018 Best of Downtown restaurant for a business meeting, is best known for its locally sourced seafood dishes. Here is where I made my first stop to celebrate National Oyster Day!

Pair the oysters with a glass of Rosé or 18 Seaboard’s Prosecco cocktail

Chef Jason Smith, who was recently featured in the IndyWeek top 100 dishes, gets his oysters fresh from Locals Seafood and serves Core Sounders topped them with pimento cheese brulee +prosciutto +crystal cane syrup ! They are raw but torched at the end to melt the cheese just a little. You get 5 to an order, but you may want more after tasting the hot sauce sugar syrup. It is literally the icing on the oyster!

Chef-Proprietor Jason Smith was recently featured in Indy Week! 18 Seaboard serves delicious local NC seafood dishes!

18 Seaboard

18 Seaboard Ave
Raleigh, NC 27604

Whiskey Kitchen

Oysters, fried to perfection at Whiskey Kitchen

Whiskey Kitchen..winner of 2018 best of Downtown Bar Food, known for best outside patio and an all around great vibe. I recently was here enjoying a girls night out and the fried oysters were such a memorable bite!

The Drink Menu is extensive at Whiskey Kitchen. No matter the celebration, they have plenty of libations!

During the day, Whiskey Kitchen still has a great atmosphere but it is more kid friendly and even dog friendly on the patio. If you are a fan of day drinking, head to Whiskey Kitchen for the best place to enjoy fried oysters on the patio for and pair is with prosecco, a glass of wine, a Bloody Mary, beer or just ask Johnny to make something special!

Whiskey Kitchen

201 W Martin St
Raleigh, NC 27601

bu*ku Wake Forest

If you read my review of bu•ku Wake Forest, then you know I could never say nada to their

Ostras Asadas!

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grilled local oysters topped with apple mignonette, rocoto butter, and chimichurri. Enjoy as a starter before dinner…

….at the bar with a cocktail (I recommend The Secret Garden)….

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or out on the patio with a nice glass of white wine.

These oysters are on their menu everyday so I can celebrate my love for oysters anytime and so can you!

bu*ku Wake Forest

1228 Heritage Links Dr suite 100 Wake Forest, NC 27587

National Oyster Day may be coming to an end but lucky for us we have quite a few restaurants here in Raleigh that serve up these delicacies from the sea. Hummingbird features Chef Coleen Speaks’ oyster dishes (she does an amazing oyster po’boy, along with smoked marinated oysters and charbroiled oysters), as well as Mandolin, who offers delicious local NC oysters on the half shell with Chef Sean Fowler’s house-made sauces. Another restaurant in Wake Forest that I have enjoyed is Shuckers. Remember, The World Is Your Oyster, go out there and enjoy!

Photo Courtesy of Mandolin

Do you like oysters? Did you celebrate National Oyster Day? If so, leave your favorite oyster spot below!

Event Recap|Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival @drinkeatrelax @theyardsdc #oysters #beer #fun

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Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC | Photo Credit: SobeSavvy.com

Hi, my name is Leslie and I am a seafood lover. Considering I was born in Maryland and lived there for 23 years of my life, seafood from the Chesapeake Bay is most likely in my DNA! So when I heard about the Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival, I knew this was going to be a shucking good time!

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC -Capitol Riverfront/The Yards DC

It all went down on October 21, 2017 from noon-6pm at the Capitol Riverfront, next to Nationals Stadium at The Yards Park in Washington,DC . It was the perfect day..sunny skies, high 70s..for an outdoor festival filled with seafood and libations. There were over 30 wines, beers, and spirits to sample along with over 15 types of oysters. The motto of the day was SHUCK. SLURP. REPEAT..oh and watch out for the Angry Mermaid!

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC “Shuck,Slurp,Repeat” ..and 1 Angry Mermaid

FOOD

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC | Oysters served Raw, Grilled, Steamed

Whether you like oysters raw, grilled, or steamed (or if you are like me and enjoy them in all ways), then this festival is for you! Some of the world’s best shuckers were there handling the 1000’s of bivalves with care at this All You Care To Taste event. If oysters are not your thing, there were food truck options, restaurant samplings and other types of seafood such as mussels, clams, shrimp and lobster*(if you were one of the lucky ones to get some). 

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival | New England Clambake, Charleston Seafood Boil & Lobster Steam

Per the Oyster listing, these were served at the festival:

Double T’s ● Shore Things ● War Shore Oyster ● Battle Creek Oyster ● Rocky Shores ● Tatamaguche ● Malpeques ● Fire lakes ● Caribous ● Blues points ● Delaware Bays ● Shooting points ● Bullseye’s ● Salt ponds ● Well fleets ● Duxburys ● Naked cowboys ● Sugar shacks ● Arrow heads ● Caraquets

If I had to choose one (which is a blasphemy to a seafoodie like me) the Blue Points were my favorite served raw. There was a condiment station with lemons, cocktail sauce and horseradish to add to the taste of those briny beauties. The Grilled Oysters with Goat Cheese +BBQ and Garlic +Parmesean were also amazing! I hope to recreate those at home to serve sooner than later.

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival | Freshly shucked Blue Points and Oysters from the grill

DRINK

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC | Souvenir Glass

Upon arrival, VIPs and General Admission guests received a Souvenir Glass to taste over 30 Beers, Spirits and Wines.  That’s right, the event is not all just beer. Included with the ticket price was access to the wine pavilion, where attendees could enjoy pairing with Champagne, Chablis, Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc and many more!

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival | Wines,Spirits,Beers

 FUN

Friends enjoying the Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival

If you have ever been to a Drink Eat Relax event or festival then you know their goal is to provide a fun, value -oriented experience that wows you and is worthy of your valuable weekend time. I can say after attending this one, between the games, music, drinks and flavorful seafood, I left feeling like the world was my oyster! 

If you saw my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook , I shared more photos from this fun event!  You can also click below to see the following: 

Watch “2017 Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival” on YouTube

Fun Times at Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival

Be sure to follow Drink Eat Relax on Facebook , Twitter , Snapchat, Instagram and drinkeatrelax.com to find out where their next event on the East Coast (from NYC to Tampa) will be! You don’t want to miss it!

#FoodieFriday spotlight on @LocalsSeafood! From Boat to Table #NCseafood @ChadwickCreek oysters and more!

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This Past Sunday, my family and I headed down to the famous Raleigh Farmers Market. This is where fresh food in any category can be found. We were there specifically for fresh seafood.

North Carolina is blessed in many way. One way in particular is geography. We have mountains and we have beaches. The Atlantic is literally at our doorstep in the Eastern part of the State. In these waters, some of the freshest seafood in the world thrives here. Lucky for us, Locals Seafood Company http://localsseafood.com/ just happens to provide this bounty to the public.

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Locals Seafood has a presence at the Triangle’s biggest weekend Farmers Markets. They can be found at farmers markets in Chapel Hill, Western Wake and of course in Raleigh. When we arrived there were a few enthusiastic customers ahead of us. Some of whom advised me that Locals Seafood is the ONLY place they buy their fresh seafood.

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Locals’ menu constantly fluctuates with what is in season and available. This guarantees only the freshest regional seafood is available for their loyal customers.

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Scallops, Sea Bass, oysters ,flounder and soft shell crabs were just a few items for sale at the market on Sunday.

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We decided to get some soft Shell Crabs and make a soft shell crab Po Boy. Lightly fried in a mix of olive and vegetable oil…Semi Soft bread from our local baker worked well. We built it with dry cole slaw and Remoulade Dressing. Yum !

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On Sunday, Locals had two types of fresh raw oysters available: Wild Oysters and Chadwick Creek oysters, which is located on the NC Inner Banks. We got a 1/2 dozen each and made them two ways.

First up were Raw Oysters w/lemon and a classic mignonette. As the pictures can attest, these were highly anticipated !

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The second recipe we decided on was Oysters Rockefeller. Oven Baked w/Spinach, bacon and grated parmigiano- reggiano cheese until golden brown.

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Last but definitely not least were what to do with our fresh flounder filet. How about Flounder Almondine?

Light egg batter and salt/pepper dusted flour dip and pan fried in Olive oil . We finished it with parsley flakes w/a side of asparagus tips. GREAT seafood sampler dinner from Locals Seafood. It just doesn’t get any fresher or any more local than this. Stop by one of the markets in Raleigh, Chapel Hill or West Wake this weekend and get buy your own fresh catch !

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