Sources

Fisher's Island Oysters

At the risk of stating the obvious, we point out here that the Atlantic Ocean is very large. Home to much of the world’s finest seafood—Nova Scotia lobster, flounder, Nantucket Bay scallops—it covers 20-percent of the Earth’s surface, from the rich fishing waters off the coast of northeastern Canada to the Faroe Islands, down to the Cape of Good Hope across to Tierra del Fuego and back.

Block Island Sound—just a wisp of the Atlantic by comparison—separates Connecticut from Long Island and is vastly, vastly smaller. And West Harbor, a tiny island inlet in that Sound is just a fraction the size of that. But it’s only there, in this small slice of the giant Atlantic Ocean, that we source one fine little oyster.

"Perhaps more than any other food, an oyster is a reflection of exactly where it comes from. The subleties of an oyster's flavor change from one bay to the next."

They even change slightly by the month, week, or even day it's sourced. Some call this an oyster’s “merroir” (akin to a wine’s terroir).

Applying science—and a passion for quality and sustainability—the Malinowski family of Connecticut is dedicated to cultivating that nuance, that unique sense of place. With state-of-the-art suspension culture methods implemented in the active waterflow of Fishers Island’s West Harbor, they blend the spirit of Long Island fishermen with the cyclical wisdom of farmers, as they “bend” nature to create an ideal ocean-grown oyster with a flavor that can only come from one location. And with time and each generation of oyster —also known as selective spawning—they pursue greatness, creating a kind of ever evolving platonic oyster ideal.

And that’s an artisanal oyster that is bold and briny, conveying the crisp, clean salinity of its pristine environment. This is a sparklingly pure oyster for which adding cocktail sauce or mignonette might be regarded by some shellfish cognoscenti as a kind of abomination. Its texture is delightfully firm and springy. And there’s a silky suppleness to every chew. It’s a beautiful oyster, with an iconic teardrop shape and intricate fluting along the shell. It’s also a tremendously easy oyster to shuck, making it a perfect choice for those home chefs looking to hone their skills with an oyster knife and a shucking glove.

That we can call a Fishers Island oyster a local one—like so much fantastic quality seafood sourced just miles from New York—is one of the many things we love about serving the world’s finest seafood to the world’s most discerning city. Order a few dozen from Citarella today—we suggest serving them on the half shell nestled on a bed of seaweed over crushed ice as soon as they arrive at your door—and take your palate to an inspired little place where Earth meets Ocean called Fishers Island.

SHOP FISHER'S ISLAND OYSTERS