Just in time for the warmer weather, we’re excited to announce the next NY Oyster Lovers Meetup will be held at Littleneck, Brooklyn’s most charming New England-style raw bar and seafood shack! We’ll be meeting on Monday, June 3rd at 6:30 pm at 288 3rd Ave in Gowanus, just a few blocks from the R and F trains. The folks behind Littleneck may be new to the restaurant industry, but their enthusiasm shines in their simple yet elegant food. In their first year, Littleneck was lauded by the NY Times and Time Out for top notch clam and lobster rolls. Just for us, they’ve put together the following all-oyster menu:

Raw Bar: approx. half dozen oysters per person with mignonette, granita, smoke, etc.

Dessert (tbd)

This dinner will be $45 plus tax and tip. If you order any drinks or other menu items a la carte, please settle those with the server on your own. (Note that Littleneck is cash only.) Our group is capped at 15, so if you’re interested in joining the fun, sign up today before we’re out of space! Note: refunds will not be issued for this event, so please be confident that you can make it.

RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Oyster-Lovers/events/119517372

See you there!

Photo: TimeOut NY

For Shell & Sake, we selected 6 sakes of varying weights and profiles, and paired them with all manner of creamy, fruity, briny and mushroomy oysters. Nellie Wu from W&T Seafood and Yasu Suzuki from SakaMai led the tasting with background information on oysters and sake, their producers and geography. While the West Coast oysters, particularly the native Japanese Kumamoto, were easier to pair with sakes, the East Coast oysters often presented a nice sweet and salty contrast with the sakes.

After a full evening of sipping and slurping, we all headed out armed with new knowledge and eager to discover more sakes and oysters. Click through for more photos below:

“Sake does not get into fights with food.” –Japanese proverb

Psst, your sommelier is hiding something from you–while white wines are great, one of the best pairing choices for oysters and seafood is Japanese sake. That’s why we’re on a mission to let the world know oysters and sake play so well together.

Join W&T Seafood and SakaMai for a unique oyster and sake pairing event at NYC’s first dedicated sake lounge (157 Ludlow St at Stanton) on Monday, May 6th at 6:30 pm. In a casual, approachable setting, we’ll explore a wide range of sakes (some with unusual yeasts and filtering techniques) and taste a diverse selection of oysters from the East and West Coasts, from creamy to briny to metallic. Yasuyuki Suzuki from SakaMai and Nellie Wu from W&T Seafood will guide you through each pairing, while sharing the faces, places and stories behind each sake and oyster. Bring your questions!

Tickets cost $75 and include one dozen oysters (2 each of 6 different types) paired with 6 sakes. Space is limited, so be sure to purchase your ticket sooner rather than later. Note that you must be 21 to attend.

RSVP Today: http://shellsake.bpt.me

Love food and want to learn more about the political, economic and social drivers behind our food system? Check out this weekend’s Just Food Conference, a gathering of farmers, activists, community organizers, chefs, food producers and students who want to know more about the hands behind their plates. It will be taking place March 29–30 at the Food & Finance High School (525 West 50th St). We are thrilled to be facilitating a workshop at this year’s conference about distribution and the logistics behind transporting our food from producers to you. The workshop description is below:

From Farm to Plate: The Role of Distribution in the Food System

How does your food go from farm to table? What are some of the logistical limitations we encounter when trying to feed a growing society, and how do we work around them? Meet some local players in food distribution and purchasing to find out the answers to these questions and discuss how to build low impact and sustainable networks.

Speakers: Nellie Wu, W&T Seafood; Mark Jaffe, The Fresh Connection; Julia Sullivan, Haven’s Kitchen

If you’d like to join us, we’ll be leading an interactive discussion on Friday 3/29, 2:30–3:45 pm. See you there!

Another March, another Boston Seafood Show. Last week, the W&T Seafood team traveled to Beantown once again to learn new industry developments, meet old friends and of course, eat absurd amounts of seafood. It’s the country’s largest gathering of seafood industry folks, many of whom don’t see each other in person during the year, so the conference is always one part business, one part family reunion.

This year, conference seminars touched on many old topics, like branding strategies and traceability mechanisms, while exploring newer ones as well, such as Fishery Improvement Projects funded and lead by private businesses. Keynote speaker Soren Kaplan also presented a fast-paced, interactive workshop on innovation, which even included Pop Rocks for audience members!

Like previous years, the trade show floor was swarming with activity. It seemed like there was a greater international presence than last year, with a larger contingent of booths from Asia, where much of our seafood is farmed and processed. Shellfish farmers were not as prominent or numerous as last year, perhaps because many growers already have sufficient order volumes and are at production capacity.

For more photos, click through the jump.

We’re familiar with gray littleneck clams and brown striped Manila clams, but these dainty black and cream Asian hardshell clams (Meretrix lyrata) have a contemporary vibe to them.

You’ve tried steamed mussels and baked mussels, but what about smoked mussels? They’re great as hors d’oeuvres.

In lieu of coarse salt or shaved ice, this raw bar display makes use of an ice block, customized with carved dips to hold oysters. Plus, it has colorful neon lights underneath to further jazz things up.

At the Cherrystone Aqua Farms stall, speed shuckers worked to keep up with the appetites of the crowd. Shucker David Leck was twisting off shells at a speedy clip, though the pace was probably not too stressful for him. After all, he was the winner of last year’s shucking contest at the Boston Seafood Show.

Upon closer inspection of Leck’s arm, we noticed that he has a tattoo of an oyster. And not just any oyster, the rare Olympia oyster of Washington!

Tiny baby clams, which will some day become full-sized adult clams, perfect for chowder or the frying pan

You’ve seen ice cubes, crushed ice, and ice spheres, but have you seen flake ice? This flake ice machine creates very thin slivers of ice, and allows you to pack seafood with less damage to the product.

With the latest studies suggesting that about a third of our seafood is mislabeled, traceability was of high concern at the Seafood Show. We liked these boxes for Chilean sea bass, which included QR codes to get more information about the product’s origins.

Finally, there comes a time when you must come face to face with a Very Large Fish. That is all.

On a chilly March morning, a mass of over 100 people jostled into a beige room for a zoning meeting of the NYC City Council. When it became clear that the room and additional overflow room would not be enough, the meeting was moved across the street to the upper chambers of City Hall. There, crowds packed into the aisles and balconies, sharing copies of a Bittman editorial and waving posters emblazoned with the iconic Fulton Fish Market and the plea, “Save Our Seaport!”

We at W&T Seafood are long-time supporters of Robert LaValva and the New Amsterdam Market, and believe in his vision for a year-round public wholesale & retail food market in the historic Fulton Fish Market buildings. In an area that has long been depressed and suffered unprecedented damages from Hurricane Sandy, we believe that New Amsterdam Market is an economically and environmentally robust business model that should be expanded as a permanent anchor for the South Seaport neighborhood.

Yesterday, a zoning hearing was held to discuss the future of South Seaport’s development. Hot on the docket was the future of Pier 17, located adjacent to the New Amsterdam Market site and leased by Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC). They operate a shopping mall on the pier and plan to tear down and rebuild the mall, with construction beginning on June 30th. While they have not announced any plans yet for the neighboring Fulton Fish Market site, HHC does have the option to develop or reconstruct the site, which would push out the New Amsterdam Market. This has raised many questions from community residents and tenants, and the tension was palpable as City Council members grilled representatives from HHC and NYCEDC, which leases the property to HHC.

Council member Margaret Chin expressed concern that long-time tenants would be pushed out by rent increases and forced to relocate. “What kind of rent are you looking to charge?” asked Chin. Christopher Curry, representative of HHC replied, “As much as we can get. I’m not trying to be funny.” Chin said that she spoke to a dog grooming business who had been told that they would not be able to afford the rent increases after the mall was rebuilt. Curry dismissed her questions and said, “Our leasing people are talking to our tenants, and some tenants will be coming back to our project and some won’t.” After the discussion was closed, chairman Mark Weprin joked, “Thank you, Ms. Chin. Don’t get her mad, I’ve seen it and it’s not pretty.”

After the presentation by HHC, LaValva spoke on behalf of New Amsterdam Market. He highlighted the market’s successes (bringing over 50 local vendors and 50,000 customers each year to South Seaport) and drove home the importance of today’s meeting for the market. “Some people will try to tell you that the proposal has nothing to do with the fish market site. I’m here to tell you this is not the case…If we wait until these plans are proposed, it will be too late.”

There is a pressing need for alternative distribution methods for small and independent food producers in New York City. New Amsterdam Market has proven its success as a distribution outlet for consumers, and we hope to see it grow to serve restaurants and retailers as well. The market creates substantial economic flows for businesses, supports job creation and keeps dollars circulating in our local economy. And for the long term success of the market, it needs to be housed in a permanent indoor space, where it will continue growing and attracting businesses, residents and visitors.

While it cannot be quantified, it is no less important to mention the social value of New Amsterdam Market. The market inspires a vibrant and welcoming community, where questions flow freely and education sparks new ideas and innovation. As vendors at the market, we overhear and contribute to passionate conversations among strangers. Shoppers are not passive consumers, but co-producers, taking an active interest and role in the production of their food. That atmosphere is well-worth preserving and fostering in our urban society.

Yesterday’s hearing did not lead to any conclusive votes, and the city will likely hold additional hearings in the next month. If you’d like to support New Amsterdam Market by taking action, visit the site to find out how you can make your opinion heard: http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/

“Has everyone had Pop Rocks before?” Explosive packets of watermelon and raspberry candy sailed through the air. “That was the first time I personally experienced a breakthrough. I mean, I didn’t know candy could do that! That’s what innovation is—it challenges our assumptions about what we think is possible.”

At this year’s Boston Seafood Show, best-selling author Soren Kaplan presented the keynote address on innovation. Now, innovation can be a nebulous subject. What exactly is it and how do you create a company culture that fosters innovation? There have never been more articles, books and resources on the topic; last year, the word “innovation” was mentioned 33,528 times in quarterly and annual reports. So that means we’ve figured it out, right? Not quite. Kaplan pointed to some recent casualties of disruptive innovation: Borders, Blackberry, Blockbuster, Britannica. “What’s the lesson from these companies? They didn’t change, so they got stuck. Also, don’t start your company with the letter B,” quipped Kaplan.

At its core, innovation is about creating positive surprises. The same way that Pop Rocks expanded your idea of what candy can do, iPhones created an entirely new concept for cell phones and Netflix reinvented our process for movie rental. We love pleasant surprises and are wired to embrace products and services that provide us with them. On the other hand, businesses generally do NOT like surprises, and actively work to prevent or circumvent change. “Think about those B companies,” said Kaplan. “You could miss opportunities right in front of your face. Surprises are part of the journey of creating breakthroughs. So how do you do it?“

With LEAPS. The first step is to listen. It’s counterintuitive, but you should start by listening to yourself, not the market. “Target never did any market research,” said Kaplan. “No one told them they needed to be the leader of cheap chic, or to partner with Philippe Starck. They lead the market from that position and everyone followed.” Sometimes customers may not know what they want; it’s your job to imagine the possibilities.

Next, you need to explore. Go out and connect to customers to validate your idea. Even better, learn about the perspective of your customer’s customer. Kaplan explained, “If you’re a supplier selling to a wholesaler, take some time to learn about what retailers and restaurants want. If you’re a wholesaler, explore the needs of consumers and diners.”

Kimberly-Clark is the manufacturer for several big household brands: Huggies diapers, Kleenex, Kotex, Scott toilet paper. Mothers comprise a significant part of their target audience, so they decided to explore the needs of moms to gain a better understanding of them. After speaking to the radio host of Mom Talk, they learned something surprising—there are 6 million “mompreneurs” in the US, or mothers who are designing and inventing solutions to parenting problems. What resulted was a brand new program called Huggies MomInspired. Moms with existing businesses can submit their idea for a chance to receive $15,000 in grant money from Kimberly-Clark. The only string is that if the mom ever decides to sell or liquidate the business, Kimberly-Clark has the first right of refusal. In a nutshell, Kimberly-Clark has created a robust R&D program while supporting this entrepreneurial parenting community and promoting their brands.

The next step is to act. Taking small simple steps is better than outlining a rigid plan, where deviating from the plan would be considered failure. Instead, you can figure out the prototype as you go along and adjust as necessary. When Four Seasons launched their website in the 90s, they put up a simple site with lots of photos of their properties and a phone number. At the time, Four Seasons was a luxury business brand, one that wasn’t geared towards leisure travelers. After the website launch, the company noticed a spike in customers calling about vacations, and a Wall Street Journal article was published, lauding the Four Seasons site for being “like we’re already on vacation.” The result? Four Seasons quickly pivoted to become Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and moved their site global in multiple languages. Rather than fighting, they looked at these unexpected surprises as pointers for future directions.

After acting, you must persist. Bold innovation will undoubtedly entail failure. The question is how you react to failure and whether you let it lead to increased pessimism and bad decisions. When Gatorade first began making energy pouches, the pouches leaked. Rather than looking for someone to fire, they worked even harder to get a better replacement out to the market, establishing them firmly in the market compared to the competition.

Finally, seize opportunities; make the journey part of the surprising destination. Early in the history of Easy Eats, Chuck Templeton tried to pitch his reservation service to famed NYC restauranteur Danny Meyer. Meyer shot him down, saying that his restaurants were full every night, why would he need a reservation service? “For a lot of people, that would feel like a huge failure,” said Kaplan. “But Chuck thought, what doesn’t Danny know? He realized all restauranteurs don’t know who is sitting at their tables.” The end result was Open Table, an electronic reservation book with customer relationship management tools for restaurants. Though it is not obvious to diners, these back-end tools are what gives Open Table the edge over their competition.

How have you created innovation at your company or in your life? What techniques do you use to remain open-minded and humble when encountering surprises?

With its vaulted ceilings, horseshoe counters and classic seafood menu, the Grand Central Oyster Bar has certainly earned its place as the quintessential oyster restaurant in the city, where you can sip, slurp and watch the bustling crowds until the last train home.

It’s a must-see for every ostreaphile, so join us at this most elegant of New York’s culinary landmarks. We’ll be meeting for dinner on Monday, March 25 at 6:30 pm at the Oyster Bar, located inside the train terminal at 89 E. 42nd St (and Vanderbilt).

Executive Chef Sandy Ingber has created the following menu for our group and it promises to be an exciting time. Plus, Grand Central Terminal is currently celebrating their centennial anniversary, so be sure to take a peek at the historical exhibits and art installations in Vanderbilt Hall.

Bloody Mary Oyster Shooter

Oysters on the Half Shell: 3 East Coast, 3 West Coast

Pan Seared Maine Extra Large Sea Scallops with Scotch Poached Bluepoint Oysters
Yukon Gold Potato & Steamed Vegetables

The price for this dinner is $50 plus tax and tip. If you order any drinks or other menu items a la carte, please settle those with the server on your own. Our group is capped at 18, but if there is enough demand, we may be able to get more spots. Note: refunds will not be issued for this event, so please be confident that you can make it.

RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Oyster-Lovers/events/107599132/

See you there!

Why do mussels get fatter in winter months? How come some mussels are light orange and some dark? Can mussels move or do they stay put after settling on a piling? We learned the answers to these questions and more, when Michael Mussig and Michael Ferguson from Canadian Cove stopped by the office. Canadian Cove is the premier Prince Edward Island mussel grower, and the Mikes dropped in to chat about mussels, the farming process, and to cook up some samples for us to try.

As it turns out, you can start your own adventure in mussel farming with nothing more than a frayed rope. In late spring, mussels naturally begin spawning as water temperatures rise. To catch the mussel larvae, farmers put long collector lines in the water. This can be as simple as an old rope held afloat by buoys. The mussels float in the water until they settle down on the rope’s surface.

By fall, the mussels have grown to about half the length of your thumb, and are ready to be collected for socking. No, this has nothing to do with punching the mussels! It actually refers to the long mesh tubes that the mussels will placed inside, somewhat akin to a sock. The mussels are roughly sorted into similar sizes before being placed in the socks. This helps maintain uniform shell sizes because the smaller mussels aren’t competing against their larger brothers. Then the mussels are stuffed into the sock, the same way you would fill a sausage casing. Though the mussels are on the inside of the sock now, over the next few months, they will gradually move to the outside of the sock in their continuing quest for food and nutrients. That’s right, mussels can move through their “beards” or byssal threads, which are sticky filaments secreted to help the mussel cling to objects. By attaching a thread to an anchor, then shortening the thread, a mussel can slowly move toward an object.

As the mussels move outwards, the sock will collapse into a thin rope in the center of the mussel column. Canadian Cove spaces their mussel lines out further than usual so that the mussels grow quickly and uniformly. Since the mussels are cultivated on ropes rather than on the ocean bottom, they have clean, unmuddied flavors and a firm texture that is free of grit. The waters surrounding Prince Edward Island are some of the cleanest in the world, and you can certainly taste it in these robust mussel meats.

Photo: Canadian Cove

After about two years in the water, the mussels are harvested. Around this time of the year, mussels are at their peak, becoming sweeter and plumper as they prepare for winter. But what happens if there’s ice on the water? Knowing that some oyster farmers close up shop when the water freezes over, we asked how Canadian Cove kept up with the year-round demand for mussels. It turns out that they have a number of open water leases that are deep enough that they don’t freeze in winter, and in some areas they have divers who can ice harvest.

Once the mussels have been harvested, they are gently washed, graded and debearded. You may have heard that debearding shortens the shelf life of mussels. This is generally true if you yank the mussel’s beard out, but modern processing equipment pinches off the beards rather than pulling them out forcefully, so the mussel remains healthy and untraumatized. The mussels are stored for a short period in saltwater storage tanks with air bubbled through them, which gives them a chance to recuperate from being harvested. Then these ambassadors for PEI are packed into bags and eventually make their way to a steaming pot near you.

When you purchase mussels, the shells should look moist and they should not smell strongly fishy or unpleasant. After you bring them home, they should be stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator, covered by a damp towel. Canadian Cove’s mussels are pot ready, so all you need to do prior to cooking is to give them a quick rinse. If there are any open mussels, give them a tap on the shell and throw out any mussels that do not close.

If you’ve ever inspected a pot of mussels before, you may have noticed that some are a creamy shade of light orange, while others are a more vibrant dark orange. The color difference is how you can tell female from male mussels: the females are more colorful, “like women with make-up,” quipped Mussig.

We enjoyed the mussels steamed with a splash of white wine, a knob of butter, some Thai sweet chili sauce, and a sprinkle of cilantro and red onion. However, they would have been delicious with many other accoutrements, or even just steamed alone without any additional ingredients. For inspiration, you can check out our recipe for creamy mussels with blue cheese, or simply look around your kitchen tonight and see what catches your eye.

If you’d like to purchase PEI mussels from W&T Seafood, just give us a call!

Then, we’ll dig into dinner at L&W Oyster Co., a new oyster bar and seafood restaurant from the team behind Almond. Chef Jason Weiner and manager Antonio Rappazzo have been hard at work on the following menu, which I can’t wait to try!

Assortment of East & West Coast Oysters

Brussels Sprouts Two Ways
in the style of Caesar salad, smoked & grilled oysters

Nantucket Bay Scallop Hash
inspired by oysters Rockefeller

Family-Style Entrees:

Housemade Cavatelli
shrimp, sausage

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

The price for this dinner is $45 plus tax and tip. If you order any drinks or other menu items a la carte, please settle those with the server on your own. Our group is capped at 12, so if you’re interested in joining the fun, sign up today before we’re out of space! Note: refunds will not be issued for this event, so please be confident that you can make it.

RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Oyster-Lovers/events/103146132/

See you there!