Vegetarian Vegan Tasting Menu Restaurant Oyster Oyster Opens in Shaw

Oyster Oyster has been many issues since Estadio proprietor Max Kuller and ex-Hazel chef Rob Rubba began on the restaurant challenge three years in the past. It began as an bold, hotly anticipated imaginative and prescient: a conscious, sustainable, vegetable-focused fine-dining restaurant in Shaw run by two die-hard “oyster-tarians” (vegetarians who eat oysters as a result of they’re non-sentient, assist clear water, and enhance the surroundings). However then it was pressured to close down simply because the crew was putting ultimate orders from native farmers and coaching employees on skin-contact wines for a March debut final yr. Within the yr since, the house has been pop-up bagel store, an open-air storage for small pizza events, and a takeout operation for farm dinners. Company had been by no means seated within the eating room. Most lately, Rubba served an abbreviated menu outdoor earlier than closing down the restaurant solely for a number of weeks of recuperation.

Now, Oyster Oyster—whose title refers back to the bivalve and mushroom—is lastly opening because the restaurant it was designed to be. Reservations are stay for the “official” opening on Thursday, June 17. Diners will discover a zen-like tasting room with simply 28 seats—no takeout, no out of doors seating—and multi-course menus that may tweaked to be oyster-tarian, vegetarian, or vegan ($70 per individual). Wine director Sarah Horvitz can pair the plant-based menus with sustainable natural, and biodynamic beers, wines, and ciders for a further $55.

Even when Rubba was making mid-pandemic bagels and schmears, the restaurant’s dedication to native components and hyper seasonality by no means wavered. Even workhorses of the kitchen like butter, flour, and oil are sourced overwhelmingly from the Mid-Atlantic, and don’t stray from the Jap Seaboard. Tasting menus are described as “micro-seasonal,” capturing vegetation at completely different elements of their progress cycle and showcasing fleeting components. Every little thing, from kombucha to tofu and bread, is made in-house.

“It makes our palate extra reflective,” says Kuller. “I’m an enormous fan of this French literary group, Oulipo—they put restrictions on their artistic writing to generate extra fascinating writing. We’re making an attempt to do one thing that’s sustainable and native, however by doing it, it makes the delicacies extra sincere. The palate the chef is utilizing tells a narrative of this place.”

The one non-local factor would be the place from which the restaurant drew inspiration. The lauded (and now closed) Relae restaurant in Copenhagen, a cutting-edge New Nordic spot based by Noma alums, helped form the imaginative and prescient for Oyster Oyster. “I used to be impressed by their cooking and dedication to sustainability,” says Rubba. “If they might make wonderful meals within the winter there, we should always be capable of make scrumptious meals through the delicate winter within the Mid-Atlantic.”

However first: bountiful heat climate. The opening menu, dubbed “solstice,” will embody six programs and bread service (menu lengths will differ by time of yr). Dishes may embody “a examine in peas” from Root & Marrow farm in Lovettsville, Virginia with new potatoes, peanuts, and sugar kelp, or poached kohlrabi with summer season squash, chanterelle mushrooms, and contemporary cheese. Horvitz may match dishes with Virginia ciders or brilliant, food-friendly wines that lean delicate or savory.

“Every little thing is popping up proper now—contemporary growths of younger, tender greens which can be driving the vibrancy of delicacies. There’s lots of vitality in what we’re doing proper now,” says Rubba.

The intimate eating room with floor-to-ceiling home windows is designed by Griz Dwight (behind the look of Estadio and La Famosa, amongst others). Lots of the touches are salvaged and/or sustainable, akin to mushroom boards alongside the partitions, reclaimed skateboard decks on the bar, and bits of tile that Kuller picked up strolling alongside seashores in Italy (sounds pretty, proper?). Later this summer season, the crew plans to open their adjoining “Oyster Storage” as a laidback counterpoint to the tasting room, the place patrons can get native drafts, gin cocktails, and play on classic pinball machines.

Oyster Oyster is presently open Tuesday by Saturday for 2 seatings an evening, 5 to eight:30 PM.

1440 Eighth St., NW

Meals Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the eating and consuming scene in her native DC. Previous to becoming a member of Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia College’s MFA program in New York, and held numerous cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.