Calling All Walruses, Calling All Carpenters
If you get the reference, you know the story: Lewis Carroll’s poetic tale of the two cunning characters who lured oysters out of the sea under the guise of befriending them. Of course, the oysters met no such appealing fate.
This January and February, Taylor Shellfish Farms offers tickets to a pair of highly anticipated events: two nighttime, low tide “Walrus and Carpenter” picnics on their lantern-lit private oyster beds, to benefit the Puget Sound Restoration Fund. Lucky ticket-holders will be transported via evening “Oyster Bus” from Seattle to the mollusk-rich beach of Totten Inlet, where “the ultimate oyster-eating experience” awaits them.
Here, participants live the oyster lover’s dream of gathering and shucking their own shell-clad feast, chilled to perfection by the wintry weather. Professionals are on-hand for shucking lessons, or to provide your “catch” with makeshift oyster bars around the beds. Event dates have been carefully chosen for their unusually low tides, making the entire beach a buffet à la Lewis Carroll. With luck, moonlight’s your guide on the molluscan treasure hunt.
Totten Inlet is world-renowned for its fluted, fruit-sweet Kumamotos, salty Pacifics, inimitable Olympias and best-of-both-coasts Virginicas. And what oyster menu would be complete without complementation by the finest wines? Sip on the winners of 2012’s Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition as you gather close to the beach bonfire. The crackling blaze and a hearty bowl of Xinh Dwelley’s legendary oyster stew warm you straight to the bone.
6:30pm. January 8th and February 7th, 2013. Tickets $125 per person, proceeds benefit the Puget Sound Restoration Fund.
