When I was in college, I lived full-time in Vermont and spent the summer months working at restaurants and an inn in downeast Maine (technically Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada). I spent most of my waking hours in Lubec, Maine—largely a community of fisherman—where I befriended the locals. Although Lubec is extremely remote (there isn’t a traffic light for 75 miles), it is home to some of the finest seafood I’ve ever eaten.

Seafood and fish became a literal food group for me during my summers in Maine. It was the freshest food available by far, and it wasn’t uncommon to head to the wharf and purchase Bay of Fundy scallops or halibut right off of the boat. On my days off, I learned about the fishing industry alongside the locals who live it every day. I waded out to the mud flats to dig clams; on extremely low tides, I picked through slimy seaweed to find even slimier “wrinkles”—technically periwinkles, a small mollusk that’s a delicacy in Africa and Asia. I even had a recreational lobster license one summer.

All of this is to say that I have very high standards when it comes to seafood. Now living in Vermont, seafood isn’t something typically on my radar. Every time I order mussels, scallops, clams or oysters at a local restaurant, I tend to be disappointed; they’re mediocre and most of the time flavorless—or even worse—fishy. So when the owner of Bluebird Tavern in Burlington, Vermont, Sue Bette, invited me to tag along to the Bluebird Tavern’s Aww Shucks Event—their sixth annual all-you-can-eat oyster extravaganza designed for true oyster fanatics—I was excited yet honestly didn’t have high hopes. How good can oysters really be in a land-locked state, right?

You can resist an oyster fanatics selfie?

Aww Shucks, Bluebird Tavern, Burlington, Vermont
When I walked into Bluebird a few minutes after 6pm alongside my friend Tim (poor Randy is allergic to shellfish, so I had to find a substitute husband for the evening), I was quickly offered a reception pour of a lovely 2010 Domaine de la Pépière, Muscadet Clisson. My kind of event! Sue welcomed everyone and turned it over to Rowan Jacobsen, a James Beard award-winning writer and an oyster expert who talked about oyster varieties and terroir, the notion that geography influences the character of food, especially oysters. Bluebird Tavern’s Chef Michael Clauss gave an overview of the four raw bars in the restaurant and introduced two oyster growers, one from Duxury, Massachusetts, and the other from Bar Harbor, Maine, who accompanied their day-old oysters to the event. In a place like Vermont where knowing your farmer and brewer is so important, it was a nice touch to meet the growers and harvesters of the oysters we were about to eat.

So, How Were the Oysters, Already?
At this point, I couldn’t want to get my hands on an oyster. I elbowed my way up to the first raw bar and waited as a Bluebird chef rapidly shucked oysters. I skipped the mignonette and tipped up a nice-sized, meaty oyster. A week later, I can still taste the salty deliciousness; by far the most flavorful bite of seafood I ever had. It sounds ridiculous, but I had no idea oysters could be so toothsome, so briny, so succulent in their natural state. No additives. Just a cold, raw oyster.

We started making our rounds to try other varieties and left Bar Harbor and Duxury for Wild Tisbury (Massachusetts), Beausoleil (New Brunswick), Kumamoto (Puget Sound, Washington) and other varieties on the east and west coasts.

I really had no idea that there were so many varieties of oysters (over 300!) or that there were so many different taste profiles in oysters—from fruity to musky to creamy, with many different shapes and sizes from tight and tiny, to big and bold that are so meaty you can barely swallow them (enter “mind-just-went-to-the-gutter” joke here). Through speaking with Rowan, I learned that there are many different kinds of oyster eaters. On that list, I happen to be the Brine Hound, craving salinity; I was in luck since Rowan and Sue both have similar tastes. A large majority of the 2,500(!) oysters brought in for the event had a distinct sea-salty deliciousness to them.

Oyster Education at Aww Shucks, Bluebird Tavern
Prior to Aww Shucks and tasting a large number of oysters within a three-hour period (I dare say I ate 30 raw), I had never thought about the art of eating oysters in the same way that I enjoy tasting wines, coffee or cheese to distinguish their unique flavor profiles. From coast to coast, I could certainly taste their subtle differences. East-coast oysters were larger and much more salty, while west-coast oysters in general tended to be creamier and fruitier, in particular the Kumamoto, which was one of my favorites of the night and often dubbed the chardonnay of oysters due to its popularity.

The oysters at the Aww Shucks event were accompanied by a nice selection of white wines and a rosé, hand-curated by Dedalus Wine in Burlington. A 2013 Magnon Corbières Rosé and a 2012 Lavantureux Chablis were my favorite, paired with the brininess of the oysters. They also paired nicely with the passed oyster dishes, including an oyster stew with croutons and bacon (creamy, salty, delicious), an oyster top with horseradish aioli and Barr Hill Vodka and oyster cakes with smoked bacon and dark maple syrup (my least favorite dish of the night due to the overwhelming sweetness of the maple). We ate our Oyster Po’Boys with a glass of Zero Gravity’s Sea Level, a highly drinkable, dry stout made with oysters. The slight saltiness of the beer made the oyster flavors in the Po’Boy pop, and of course, complemented the to-die-for fries.

So simple and delicious.

The Shuckers: Bluebird Tavern’s Chefs and Garmanches
As we were making our rounds to the different raw bars, we chatted with Bluebird’s staff who were shucking the oysters. It was super impressive to watch, especially one particular garmanche, who could shuck an oyster perfectly—sans glove—in under 10 seconds. He told me he was expecting to shuck 500 oysters during the event. At the end of the night once the crowd had thinned, he told us that the staff had limes waiting in the freezer, ready to soothe their sore hands and wrists. He also mentioned that they went through almost all of the 2,500 oysters ordered for the event. It’s seriously impressive that 75-100 oyster fanatics could savor that many oysters in one night.

The Bluebird Tavern & Bluebird BBQ, Burlington, Vermont
Now that I’ve been exposed to Bluebird Tavern (I have to admit, I hadn’t been in the restaurant on St. Paul Street in Burlington since it was the Green Room), I am looking forward to going back for dinner and also experiencing Bluebird BBQ, their sister restaurant. [A Hog Pile Sandwich (pulled pork, grilled sausage, fried mac & cheese), anyone?] I am already waiting to put Aww Shucks 7 on my calendar for next year as well. Although my seafood cravings are quite satisfied right now, this oyster fanatic needs her oyster fix at least once a year. Here’s to hoping more fresh seafood starts making its way into our loveable, land-locked state. Until then, I’ll be savoring the memory of every succulent oyster I managed to down at Aww Shucks…

What is your favorite oyster variety and place to find oysters in Vermont? Comment below!

Bluebird Tavern
86 Saint Paul Street, Burlington, VT
(802) 540-1786