Hog Island Oyster Co @ Napa

I love oysters! I get excited whenever I find a new place to get my hands on these beautiful bivalves.

Located in Oxbow Public Market is Hog Island Oyster Co. Hog Island Oyster Company is the San Francisco oyster bar, full-service bar, restaurant, and retail outlet for the Tomales Bay oyster farm of the same name. Hog Island is an island roughly 2 acres (0.8 ha) in size located approximately 5 mi (8 km) south of the entrance to Tomales Bay in the West Marin area of Marin County, California. And in this Bay, the Hog Island Oyster Co. farmed their oysters.

In 1983, Hog Island began farming oysters in the tiny hamlet of Marshall on scenic coast Highway One just about a two hours north of San Francisco. Today, the company grows and sells over 3 million oysters a year. Hog Island shellfish are grown using a refined technique from France. All shellfish is sorted by hand and put into a state-of-the-art seawater tank system using an ultraviolet sterilizer to purify the seawater. Close monitoring provides extra assurances of safety and quality.

To be a full-fledged ostreaphile (an oyster lover) you can’t just pound Kumamotos or Belons all the time. You need to explore the full range of styles and varieties. Different oysters, after all, work best as beer accompaniments, culinary stars, or exotic curiosities.

So clockwise from the lemon, we have

Hog Island Sweetwater (Pacific), Tomales Bay, CA

A rich, and as the name suggests, sweet-tasting Pacific Oyster with a slightly smoky finish. Plump meat sits in a beautifully shaped, deep-cupped, fluted shell that is the result of rack and bag farming techniques.

Chelsea Gems (Pacific), Eld Inlet, WA

Chelsea Gem Oysters are a Pacific Northwest oyster from the eastern shores of Eld Inlet which is part of the South Puget Sound oyster appellation in Washington State. They originally were a rack & bag farmed oyster but in recent years owner John Lentz developed the first tide tumbling bags for cultivation. Chelsea Gem oysters have a creamy texture with a sweet flavour, mild brininess, and a cucumber finish.

Cold Creek (Pacific), Hood Canal, WA

One of the only fjords in the United States, Hood Canal is a long, skinny tongue of oyster nirvana tucked inside Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Pacific oysters love it here. They grow wild everywhere, and on farms throughout its length. With ideal, hard-packed gravel bars formed wherever the countless rivers of the Olympic Peninsula pour into Hood Canal, this is the home of the intertidal beach oyster. Grown near Dabob Bay, the upper end of Hood Canal, these Cold Creek oysters take on a good brine.

Eagle Egg (Pacific) Useless Inlet, British Columbia

Grown in the narrow shallows of the Useless Inlet, BC, this inlet is accessed via the Imperial Eagle Channel, with the entrance often surrounded by 60′ high waves. Huge plankton blooms in the inlet provide food for the oysters
early in the season. Oysters are tray grown and transferred to the beach to harden. 800-year-old cedar trees hang over the water, enhancing the flavour of the oysters. Plump meat, with a nice briny flavor to start and notes of ripe
melon to finish.

Effingham Inlet (Pacific), Effingham Inlet, B.C.

Located in a cold, pristine deep water fjord, carved out centuries ago by glaciers, Effingham oysters are some of the very best oysters in the world. They provide a unique, sweet and sea-salty flavour and buttery finish with deep, beautifully colorued cup.

West Passage (Atlantic), Narragansett Bay, RI

The Narragansett Bay forms New England’s largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. West Passage oysters are surface-grown, meaning they are constantly being tumbled by wind and waves and have access to the most nutrient-rich part of the water column. A clean, bright, buttery flavour and deep, round cups distinguish these oysters from others.

Hog Island Kumamoto (Kumamoto), Humboldt Bay, CA

Kumamotos are an Eastern Pacific oyster originating from the Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Cultivated on the West Coast since the late 1940s, these oysters take an average of two to three years to reach market size at, 1-1.5 inches. Each tiny shell packs in big flavor: Buttery, succulent meat with a lingering essence of cucumber and melon.

And all these oysters for breakfast. You can check their websites for the specials today.

Hog Island Oyster Co (Oxbow Public Market)
610 1st St Suite 22, Napa, CA 94559, United States
Tel : +1 707-251-8113

Visited Oct 2023

@hogislandoysterco #HogIslandOysterCo #Oysters #Oysterfarming