Genius on the half-shell

Get the shuck out with Island Creek Oysters

By KIRSTEN AMANN

del.ico.us | digg it! | reddit!

print | email | 0 Comments

Shore Gregory, director of business development for Island Creek Oysters, is on the phone when we arrive at their Duxbury headquarters. One can't help but overhear: The call's with someone from Per Se in New York. Gregory greets us with a nonchalant fist-pound as he wraps things up with the Michelin-starred client. They sound like personal friends.

Pair this easiness with some of the most sought-after bivalves in the country, and you get Island Creek Oysters. The business started in 1992, when founder Skip Bennett's quahog crop was decimated by a mysterious parasite; undeterred, he turned his attention to farming Crassostrea virginica, aka Eastern oysters. As Gregory tells the tale, Island Creek employees crowd into the air-conditioned office looking to escape the sweltering heat, giving the nerve center of the company a clubhouse feel.

We adjourn to the warehouse. Island Creek will harvest 100,000 oysters by week's end, but the garage-like space is tiny—I've seen bigger walk-ins in restaurants. "All of the product leaves our facilities within 12 to 24 hours," Gregory explains. Shaggy-haired delivery driver CJ is about to leave with a full truck. Next stop: the world.

Next stop for us: placid Duxbury Bay.

Gregory shows us the baby oysters first, prying open a trap door in the pier to reveal "upwellers," underwater cages housing millions of living, growing minis. A constant stream of water pumps through the device, supplying a smorgasbord of algae, plankton and other tidal nutrients. He scoops out a handful of the creatures, each the size of a sesame seed, with shells already formed. I transfer a dozen to my palm, pinching them like salt: In 12 to 18 months, this will be an appetizer.

"Oyster farming really is farming," Gregory remarks as we step onto the boat. He adds that oysters are as sensitive to climate and their governing water as grapes are to soil. "Instead of terroir," he explains, "we call it merroir." This near-perfect chunk of bay produces oysters that are big, fat and slightly sweet.

Island Creek's cooperative consists of 12 independent farmers leasing sections of the bay from the state. Between the piers and the oyster beds bobs a "house" built on a dock. Here, three college-age summer staff members inspect shells for Island Creek quality (namely, about 3 inches long with a deep cup). Orange oyster-filled buckets are piled high around them. I poke at one brimming with rejects and ask why its contents didn't make the cut.

"This one has a crack," staffer Katie explains. "This one is covered in snail eggs, and this one's cup is deformed." About 50 percent of the oysters pulled in this morning will be rejected. But Katie is quick to clarify, "If we put them back, they can heal ... and re-grow!" There is hope for the rejects.

Skip Bennett meets us on the dock. He wants to check his lobster traps before touring us around the bay. "I think I got one!" he exclaims before shoving off to check. "Skip loves lobster," Gregory shrugs. One would expect nothing less from the son of a lobsterman.

Our boat picks up speed as we curve around the bay. Blue water forms elegant arcs behind us. In the distance, sky and sea blend, bisected by a thin strip of hazy horizon.

"Nothin' yet," grins wader-clad Bennett as we reconvene at the oyster beds. Thigh-deep in water, he couldn't look more at home. The engine is off as he drags our boat behind him on a tour of the water à la Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. First we meet "teenager oysters," mature enough to be alone in the bay, but not yet grown up. Their unassuming shells litter the ocean floor, so jagged and casual you'd hardly know they were fancy.

Bennett is our ambassador to the bay, introducing a helmet-like horseshoe crab, a quahog, several farmers and their side harvests of yapping scallops and butter clams. He appears on a first-name basis with his own dear crop, commenting on their progress as he lobs them high in the air at Gregory. "Glad to see this guy is healing nicely," he says of a reject on the mend. How, again, did he differentiate him from the millions?

Soon we drift to the bay's most fruitful section. Bennett picks up oyster after oyster, murmuring on repeat, "Look at this one? Isn't it beautiful?" He's so impressed that he calls Gregory over to look, with fitting response—"Wow."

The oyster bed is silly with shells. Even the pros can't be nonchalant about the abundance. "How long until they're ready?" I ask. "September," Bennett says. Then, looking over at Gregory, "You'd better get busy, son."

Island Creek Oysters [296 Parks St., Duxbury. 781.934.2028. islandcreekoysters.com]

AVAILABLE LOCALLY AT:

B&G Oysters [550 Tremont St., Boston. 617.423.0550. bandgoysters.com]

East Coast Grill [1271 Cambridge St., Inman Sq., Cambridge. 617.491.6568. eastcoastgrill.net]

Great Bay [500 Comm. Ave., Hotel Commonwealth, Kenmore Sq., Boston. 617.532.5300. gbayrestaurant.com]

<b>

Grill 23 [161 Berkeley St., Boston. 617.542.2255. grill23.com]

Harvest [44 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 617.868.2255. harvestcambridge.com]

KO Prime [90 Tremont St., Nine Zero Hotel, Boston. 617.772.0202. koprimeboston.com]

L'Espalier [30 Gloucester St., Boston. 617.262.3023. lespalier.com]

Lineage [242 Harvard St., Coolidge Corner, Brookline. 617.232.0065. lineagerestaurant.com]

Toro [1704 Washington St., South End, Boston. 617.536.4300. toro-restaurant.com]