Long Island Oyster Week returns for a second year

Long Island and oysters are inseparable. We’ve got a bay named for them, and a town, Blue Point, that has become shorthand for the vaunted local bivalve. And now, back by popular demand for a second year, we’ve got an official week to shell-ebrate. From Oct. 14 to 20, 20 restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk will feature beauteous bivalves from 17 local oyster farms with raw-bar deals and special oyster dishes.

The week will kick off with a "Shucktoberfest" at The Snapper Inn in Oakdale on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. The event will feature a shucking contest among some of Long Island’s most prominent oyster growers, Keenan Boyle of Tall Muthashucka, Matt Welling of Lucky 13 Oysters and Phil Mastrangelo & Brian Tuthill of Oysterponds Shellfish Company, and there will be a talk led by oyster expert Don Ballan of Seatuck Environmental Association. All of this accompanied by a cash bar and cash raw bar.

On Oct. 16, The Snapper Inn will host Muthashucka’s Keenan Boyle. He’ll be shucking at 6 p.m. and Seatuck’s Ballan, and his colleague, Maureen Dunn, will be on the scene to talk about oysters, their life cycle and habitats. At restaurants all over Nassau and Suffolk, oyster specials and beverage pairings will abound. In addition, most eateries will be offering deals on oysters on the half shell: You’ll find $1 oysters at Aura in Island Park, Calissa in Water Mill, Juniper in Westbury, Nantuckets in Port Jefferson, Off the Hook in Freeport, Revival by Toast in Port Jefferson, Salt & Barrel in Bay Shore and The Snapper Inn in Oakdale.

Among the eateries offering $2 oysters are The Bell & Anchor in Sag Harbor, Bluepoint Brewing in Patchogue, Farm Country Kitchen in Riverhead, Foster in Sea Cliff, Lily’s in Babylon and The Wharf in Oakdale. See all the participating restaurants and what they are serving here.

The participating oyster growers include Great Gun Oyster Co., Hamptons Oyster Company, Little Ram Oyster Co., Lucky 13 Oysters, Maris Stella, Montauk Pearls, North Fork Big Oyster Co., Oysterponds Shellfish Co., Peconic Gold Oysters and Tallmuthashucka. See them all here. 

Long Island Oyster Week will also support Half Shells for Habitat, an island-wide partnership that collects waste oyster shells from restaurants for the purpose of returning them to Long Island's estuarine waters through oyster restoration and other habitat improvement projects.