Made an overnight stop May 1st in Richmond, Virginia—on my South-to-North yearly migration—for the sole purpose of checking out Rappahannock, the farm-to-table restaurant serving (what else?) Rappahannock River Oysters.
Virginia native and fellow oyster lover Dabney Oakley joined my driving pal and chief navigator Sterling Mulbry and me at the table. In fact, Dabney is the person who told me about this restaurant—via Facebook—and this was our first live in-person meeting. (One of many I hope. Take that, you FB naysayers…!)
On the menu that eve: four varieties of oysters, all farmed in Virginia. Our informative waiter, Craig, explained the geography of the oysters on our plate, from those most inland to nearest to the sea. Basically, the further inland from the waters of the bay the oysters are farmed, the less salty they are. Clockwise from lower right, in above photo:
First up: Rappahannock River Oysters. “Tiny little things,” say my notes. These deep cupped bivalves were farmed in Topping, the most inland of the bunch. Sweet, very mild with just the slightest hint of salt, they’d make a good “beginner oyster,” sure to please a cautious palate.
Second: Stingrays, grown in Ware Neck in the pristine waters of Mobjack Bay. A balance of sweet and briny, with a crisp finish, these were my faves and I ordered more.
Third: York River Oysters, farmed in—take a wild guess—the York River, a tributary off Chesapeake Bay. Moderate salt with a sweet finish. No complaints.
Fourth: Olde Salts. Grown off the coast of Chincoteague Island. (Rappahannock peeps: Do you really need that last “e” on old?) These were said to be the briniest—usually my faves—and they were indeed tasty with a clean finish, though not nearly as salty as those on Olde Cape Cod.
First up: Rappahannock River Oysters. “Tiny little things,” say my notes. These deep cupped bivalves were farmed in Topping, the most inland of the bunch. Sweet, very mild with just the slightest hint of salt, they’d make a good “beginner oyster,” sure to please a cautious palate.
Second: Stingrays, grown in Ware Neck in the pristine waters of Mobjack Bay. A balance of sweet and briny, with a crisp finish, these were my faves and I ordered more.
Third: York River Oysters, farmed in—take a wild guess—the York River, a tributary off Chesapeake Bay. Moderate salt with a sweet finish. No complaints.
Fourth: Olde Salts. Grown off the coast of Chincoteague Island. (Rappahannock peeps: Do you really need that last “e” on old?) These were said to be the briniest—usually my faves—and they were indeed tasty with a clean finish, though not nearly as salty as those on Olde Cape Cod.
Salty or not, my heart that eve belonged to the Stingrays. (Named after the Bay oyster's chief predator.) In fact, one of the Stingrays in my second batch had significant sized babies growing on the shell, large enough for me to whip out my trusty oyster knife, designed by Canadian oyster shucking champ and Toronto restaurateur Patrick McMurray, and slurp a couple of bonus bivalves.
Rappahannock River Oysters is a family affair, owned by cousins Ryan and Travis Croxton whose great-grandfather, James Arthur Croxton, Jr., started the company in 1899. They have two other venues I’d like to make a detour to: The Rappahannock Oyster Bar in Washington, D.C., and Merroir, a “tasting room,” on the banks of the Rappahannock River overlooking where they grow their oysters in Topping.
So many oysters, so little time!
RAPPAHANNOCK, 320 East Grace St., Richmond, VA, 804-545-0565
RAPPAHANNOCK, 320 East Grace St., Richmond, VA, 804-545-0565
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