Oysterfest!
Colleen Johnson
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Screw birthday cake, Canada - slurp down an oyster instead!
photo: Ben Welland
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Whalesbone's chef takes street food to a whole new level
On Canada Day, people everywhere will be firing up their barbecues. This year, Whalesbone's executive chef, Steve Vardy, is taking this great Canadian tradition out of the backyard and into the streets. Whalesbone Oyster House is hosting Ottawa's first annual Oysterfest: a one-day street festival that'll serve up barbecue, fresh oysters and grassroots music.Oysterfest has been more than a year-and-a-half in the making. Vardy came up with the idea back while he was still working at Beckta. Though he carved out a name for himself while he was there, after four years he was ready for something new. He somewhat recently made the switch over to Whalesbone, a gastropub known for serving high-quality fare in an approachable atmosphere.
The price of admission will also get you one of three food options: four oysters, a pulled pork sandwich or a barbecued sausage - all three can be washed down with one of several Canadian microbrews on tap. Additional oysters will also be available for a few bucks a pop.
The pulled pork sandwich (southern-styled pork that's slow-cooked over a smoky fire till it can be literally pulled apart with your hands) will be served Memphis style with coleslaw right in the sandwich. According to Vardy, serving the pulled pork this way lightens up the usually heavy flavours.
There will be at least six different oysters offered up, including sweet Malpeques from PEI and the stronger St. Simon oysters from New Brunswick. If the only oysters you've had come from a can, this
is an entirely different experience. While purists may have raw oysters with a little Tabasco or lemon, I'm looking forward to trying one with Vardy's red wine black peppercorn mignonette. The oysters served up at Whalesbone are so fresh they are literally Fed Ex-ed straight off the boat to the restaurant. The restaurant's owner and in-house oyster specialist, Josh Bishop, cultivates close relationships with fishermen on both the East and the West Coast. By cutting out the middleman, it means that the oysters take less time getting from shore to table.
Squeamish about trying oysters? "There's nothing to be afraid of," Vardy insists. He describes the flavour as having the freshness of a cucumber and the aromatics of a melon. They're cold, sweet and salty. So let your guard down and give it a shot. You'll never know if you like it if you don't give it a try.
Oysterfest is also an extension of the Monday Night Saloons that Vardy has been putting on as part of a personal project. So far he's held over a dozen of these shows in Ottawa. Canada Day acts will include the Charlie Sohmer Trio, Lonesome Paul with special guest, Lynn Miles, Gunsmoke, and the Double Pumpers, while the Aloha Room's DJ Billy will be spinning country, folk and rockabilly in between sets.
Apart from the music, the event will host two competitions: a celebrity oyster-eating competition and an oyster shucking championship. The latter will pit shucking teams against each other to see who can pry the oysters open the fastest and the cleanest. Whalesbone will be pitted up against Ottawa's Big Daddy's Crab Shack and Oyster Bar, and Toronto's Rodney's Oyster House, among others.
Oysterfest
Canada Day, 12-9 p.m.
Corner of Bank and James
(behind the James Street Feed Company)
$15 adv., $20 at the door
(613) 231-8569
I'm still trying to decide if I like oysters. They're slimy, gooey, slightly cold and are close to eating something right out of the water as you can find. Same thing with clams and anything else coming out of a shell. I do enjoy escargots but only because of the garlic butter. Oysterfest will always be a blast in Ottawa because of the many, myself included, transplanted Maritimers that live here. Shuck away Ottawa, shuck away.
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Steve Landry
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| Lucky us who can't make it to a cottage this year! |
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This is why I LOVE Ottawa! I was trying to get outta town & camp @ my friend's lake in Maberly. I was feeling sad that I might be stuck in town instead of out in cottage country. At that very moment I read about Oysterfest in the XPress. Wheeeeee! I'm happy again! Music, Beer n' Vardy @ the Q? I'm SO there!!!
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Jenn Farr
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