The Jolly Oyster Market, Bringing Fresh Shellfish to Torrance
The Jolly Oyster is a beloved oyster shack in Ventura, where many Angelenos have taken a day trip to get fresh oysters and have a picnic in the park where the shack is located. They have all natural oyster farms based in Baja in Mexico. If Ventura seems too far for you, though, don't worry, since The Jolly Oyster just opened a market in Torrance! As with everything in Torrance, it's in a strip mall. Hanging on the walls are photos of their oyster farms in Baja. I really enjoyed listening to the story of how they got started and what they do. If you're interested, you should check out the documentary video.
Jolly Oyster has three different sauces you can put on your shellfish, but there's no cocktail sauce because that overpowers the oysters! There's a vinaigrette made with beets, a spicy one with garlic and thai chili, and a brown rice vinegar with cucumber.
At their market, you can find three different types of oysters: Kumamoto, Pacific Oysters, and the namesake Jolly oysters, which are a cross of the Kumamotos and the Pacifics. The Jollies were our favorite!
Granted I haven't really bought a lot of oysters at markets or grocery stores before, but you won't be disappointed with the quality and freshness of the osyters here.
The owner, Mark Reynolds, showed us how to shuck oysters. He makes it look so easy, but it took us a while to just shuck one oyster. Practice makes perfect? They also sell shucking knives if you want to have a go at it.
Mark Reynolds, owner of Jolly Oyster |
While we were there we saw a couple discussing their wedding with Mark - so, yes, you can have Jolly Oyster cater oysters for your private parties. Oyster and champagne reception? Sounds like an amazing wedding. Don't forget to invite me.
0 comments:
Post a Comment