THE OYSTER GARDEN IS OPEN!
You can reserve after June 1, but until then, if the weather is nice just ask at the front door.
Category: Updates
NEXT UP?
OYSTER PRO 101 MARCH 5th at 7pm
We’ve paired up with Le Sommelier wine agency to offer another awesome OYSTER PRO 101 with two great wines. Join us online on Friday March 5th at 7pm.
Eamon Clark, international & 9 x Canadian Oyster Shucking Champion teaches you about the Oyster – how to shuck it, eat it & talk about it. Rodney’s has also chosen two Oyster wines to present; Bonnet-Huteau Muscadet ‘Les Guatronnieres’ AND Oliver Coste Rare (Carignan Blanc) from our friends at Le Sommelier.
This is an Oyster aficionado’s bundle and it’s a fun way to send an hour and a half. 15 Oysters (3 of each of the 5 species we eat in North America) shucked, plus another 10 unshucked Oysters & knife to hone your skills, a Pan Fried Oyster Kit and 2 bowls of Frost Oyster stew, to heat up at home. Wow! Get ready to get feel good. Each Package will do nicely for two people. $175/2 eaters
OYSTER 101 PICKUP OYSTER 101 DELIVERY
CLOSED INDOORS.
But we’re working on getting tenting coverage and (more) heat outside, so it’s a little more comfortable.
Until then, our Patio is still OPEN, if you can handle the cold. We’ve got some fire pit action, but let’s not kid – dress warmly. The bourbon will help keep you warm, but that lovely little burst of Summer we saw at the start of November – that ain’t coming back. Sigh.
Wear your masks. Stay safe. We’ll get through this together.
MARCH 28 Oyster 101
OYSTER 101@ Rodney’s with Eamon Clark the 9 x Canadian Oyster Shucking Champion AND International Oyster Opening Champion. Saturday, March 28th, 1 pm. Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Oysters, shuck like a pro, understand how to cook Oysters and enjoy a few drinks while you fill your belly and hang out with us along the West Bar. Just a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
The most Wonderful time of the year…
For us, the Fall is the best time of the year. Not just aesthetically – leaves changing colours, a little nip in the air – but because of how the Oyster reacts to the changing season. In the Spring, they are frantically growing, pushing out new shell to get bigger as the waters warm and the ice breaks up. That takes a lot of energy. Then in the Summer, the reproductive urge takes hold, as the Oyster’s thoughts turn to those of love. (Not actually “love,” of course – the Oyster is so simply organized it’s basically a plant, and it certainly doesn’t have anything as complex as a brain, let alone self-awareness and emotion – but rather the impulse to propogate the species). Reproducing certainly wears the Oyster out. Also takes a lot of energy.
But then, the Fall… The cooling waters tell the Oyster it’s time to fatten up, to pack on weight to get through the lean Winter months when the food is scarce or non-existent, and when the Oyster basically battens down the hatches to make it through to another Spring. So they become plump, opaque, with cool white Omega fats and a beautiful clean, crisp flavour. For us, this window (until basically Christmas) is the time the Oyster shows us its best. If you’re going to eat an Oyster once this year, now is the time to do it.
The Red King Crab – at the House of Shells.
KING CRAB ALERT! The Alaskan King Crab is back at the House of Shells for the next 6 weeks or so. But although they are Alaskan in species ( Paralithodes camtschaticus), the crabs today are actually coming from the Barents Sea, which is north of the Norway-Russian border. Didn’t know those two countries touched? Neither did I. But now you do. The region is called ‘Finmark,’ and it’s north of actual Finland, but is part of Norway.
Some history: the Russians introduced King Crab into this body of water in the 1960s (Murmansk Fiord, if you want to get really precise, just to the east of Finmark in Russia), and it first appeared in Norway in 1977 and has been moving west around the northern coast ever since. The Russian and Norwegian governments currently share management of the fishery.
In that ecosystem, it is an invasive (ie non-native) species, eating pretty everything else up there. A portion of the Norwegian Barents Sea king crab fishery (west of 26○ E) is “managed” as an elimination fishery (i.e., no management – kill ‘em all). World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Norway agrees with this approach, as the crab shouldn’t be there in the first place. So morally, it’s a good crab to eat.
Red King Crab are considered the finest of the King crabs that we see (the other being the “Golden,” aka “Brown” crab). Truly the best crab you will eat, and we only see them twice a year.
The crabs right now are running at $79/lb, and we aim to bring them in between 6 and 10 lbs each. Pretty steep. That’s why we encourage the eater to reserve one with us, rather than depend on fate to ensure we have one waiting once the clients are wrangled, the sitter is arranged, etc. Call Julius or Bronwen at 416-363-8105 ext 22 and tell us when you want to come down and how many guests you’ll be bringing, and we’ll make sure we tag a crab for you then next shipment we receive. That way you know it’s here when you arrive. Easier for us; more certain for you. Everyone wins. Except, of course, the crab.
THANKSGIVING
We’re going to be closing the doors this coming Sunday AND Monday for Thanksgiving celebrations, or whatever passes for Thanksgiving celebration at James’ house. We’ll be back at it again on Tuesday October 11th. For all of you, have a great long weekend, and don’t feel bad if your family gathering turns out like the one below…
CLOSED ON MONDAY AUGUST 1
We’re taking an extra day to relax at the beginning of August.
We’ll be back again shucking at 11:30 AM sharp on Tuesday the 2nd. We’ll see you then.
The 29th Annual…
…Ontario Oyster Opening and Shellfish Festival is upon us! Happening on Sunday, July 17 in the laneway beside Rodney’s (469 King St), in support of the Ecology Action Centre, we’ll see the widest food and drink lineup yet!
Tickets are here: CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS!
The usual suspects – residents of our permanent draft list Amsterdam, Steamwhistle, Kronenbourg, Okanagan Springs, Creemore, Mill Street and Neustadt joined by crew favourite Beau’s Brewing and Muskoka Brewery.
Lots of links here. Wow.
Then we’ve got Basil Hayden Bourbon, Walter’s Caesar mix pouring with Iceberg vodka, our friends at Cave Springs, Pares Balta for clams ‘n’ cava in the Oyster Garden, Nobilo Wines pouring Kiwi SB and Rodney with his own Trumpian mixture. Goldschlager, up.
Food – In addition to our own Oysters, Mussels, Shrimp and Lobster, we’ll have the Food Dudes in their truck, and Tutti Matti cooking some pig.
Music – New addition (and sometime ROH employees) Rowboat Rescue Operation join DJ Soulcial, Piece o’ the Rock and favourites Ride the Tiger to provide tunage.
Shucking – Best in the country. ‘Nuff said. Sorry, Vancouver and PEI – Champions Live Here. 40 contestants enter; one walks off with 2016 bragging rights and a trip to the nationals.
Gates at 1pm for presale tickets; 2 pm for day-of purchases. $35 in advance; $45 at the door. And if you read this far, YOU are the hero!
AODA Compliance … and the Oyster Festival!
Oyster Fest 2016 (July 17th) tickets are here: Oyster Fest Tickets!
One of the nice things that Ontario is doing is legislating access to business for people with disabilities. We have been looking for ways to make Rodney’s more accessible, and we’ve taken the following steps:
- New website (coming in about two weeks) – supports all ‘readers’ and assistive technology
- Staff training – we talk a lot anyway, so we’re always happy to help decipher our menu to those that need it.
- Bathrooms – on the same floor, so no problem to get in there if you’ve gotta go.
There’s one wrinkle, though – we are in a 112 year-old box factory, and to get to us you have to go down some stairs (our Oyster Garden aka Patio is at street level, so when it’s nice out stairs can be skipped, but otherwise it’s pretty unavoidable). We have looked into getting a lift put in, but because our building is so old, apparently we do not have to have one (Grandfather clauses). And, because there is no legal requirement, our landlord has decided not to spend the money on one. So we’re at square one there.
Our work-around is brute force – we have a large, strong crew who are more than happy to assist a chair or device down into the basement with us. We’ve done this for years, and will continue to do so. Of course, not everyone is comfortable with that solution, and to them we say we understand, and we apologize. Let us know if you have a challenge and still want to come and eat Oysters with us, and we will do whatever we can to make it as easy as possible. Phone Bronwen and Julius and we’ll set it up 416-363-8105 ext 22. Cheers!