Les Huitres! Otherwise known as my new obsession.

I was a picky eater.  

Sadly I wasted many amazing meals as a child, and let's face it, a young adult.  How did I do this?  By ordering well-done steaks at the Four Seasons.  Eating only the chicken breast, no dark meat!  On our family trip to Italy, I would order prosciutto e melone, hold the prosciutto.  Who does that??  I refused to eat any seafood whatsoever.  

Then something started to happen.  I moved to France in college and it was just not cool to refuse to try food that was offered you.  I quickly learned that I love foie gras, liver of any kind, pate, blood sausage, mustard and pickles, steak tartare, to name a few.  So if these seemingly weird things were so delicious, what else was I missing out on?  My new policy is that I will try anything once.  This is a genius policy folks, you will find all kinds of things you love.  Truthfully the only thing I have found that I don't care for are anchovies.  I can handle them in sauces or dressings, but I can't do a whole filet.  It's just too fishy.

New things I've discovered I love - crab, lobster, raw shrimp, beets, fish (every kind), head cheese, rabbit kidneys, eggs, bone marrow, tongue, mussels, clams, and OYSTERS!

This is dedicated to my new found love of oysters and where I have found some particularly delicious ones.

State Bird Provisions, San Francisco

 Seattle Area Oysters

Kumomoto Oysters, Kumquat Mignonette

Hitchcock, Bainbridge Island

Kumamoto Oysters, Lemon Juice & Horseradish

Poppy, Seattle

 Poached Oysters

Mashiko, West Seattle

 Three types of local oysters

Emmett Watsons Oyster Bar, Pike Place Market

Shigoku, Kumamoto & Olympia Oysters

Taylor Shelfish Farms, Melrose Market Seattle

Kumamoto Oysters

Marche, Post Alley Seattle

Other amazing oyster eating locals - Walrus & the Carpenter, Boat Street Cafe, Coastal Kitchen, and Anchovies & Olives (great oyster happy hour)

Bay Area Oysters

I cannot more highly recommend visiting the Tomales Bay Oyster Company if you are in the Bay area or plan to visit.  The place is an absolute riot and it's a special experience.  You pack a picnic, bottle (or two) of wine, pick up some cheese and charcuterie at the near by Cowgirl Creamery and head over.  There you set up camp at a picnic table on the inlet and buy your oysters.  It's quite the party atmosphere with gypsy music blaring, people drinking wine and shucking their many many oysters.  To me, it's paradise.  

Tomales Bay Oyster Co.

Marin County, CA

Kumamoto Oyster - fresh from the inlet

Mignonettes & Cowgirl Creamery Cheese

Tomales Bay Oyster Co.

Favorite All-Time Oyster

Oyster on the half shell with kohlrabi and chilli oil

State Bird Provision, San Francisco

 EAT OYSTERS!