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Looks like private-label oysters continue to be a thing. Hank’s Oyster Bar‘s Jamie Leeds and Pearl Dive Oyster Palace‘s Jeff Black already have signature bivalves, harvested and named just for them. Now, P.J. Clarke’s has partnered with War Shore Oyster Company to grow some of its own.
The “cocktail sized” oysters are grown in the lower Eastern Shore of Virginia and finished in the waters around the Assateague Island National Seashore. They have a “robust brininess with a clean, mild, and sweet finish,” according to a press release.
P.J. Clarke’s has not yet named the oysters; diners will get to decide what they’re called. If you stop by the restaurant anytime between now and Tuesday, you can submit your name suggestions. The winner will get a two-hour party for them and 49 friends with unlimited DC Brau and oysters.
The K Street NW restaurant will introduce the signature oyster and announce the winning name at its patio opening party on April 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. Every Tuesday throughout the summer from 2:45 to 7 p.m., there will be a happy hour with 50 cent oysters and $3.50 DC Brau.
But will these oysters have the same cachet as other signature oysters? In a September Y&H column about the private label oyster trend, Rappahannock River Oysters co-owner Travis Croxton, who grew specialty shellfish for Black and McCormick & Schmick’s, saw the copycats coming. “There always are, which is fine,” he said. “But the more people that have a signature, the less sexy it is.”
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Photo courtesy P.J. Clarke’s
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