Pender County oyster farm adds chef, wine dinners and more for seasonal restaurant
Conor and Alyssa MacNair have something unique in mind for their Pender County oyster farm. They, and other oyster farmers and harvesters in the area, have special relationships with local restaurants to serve and boost their bivalves.
But after starting N. Sea Oyster Co. in Hampstead, they’ve since added the Oyster Barn to the headquarters at 674 Old Landing Road. It’s a place where they size and process their oysters and a place to enjoy them. It’s a pick-up location for oyster orders, an event venue and an eatery.
First, it was an onsite mobile kitchen food truck and picnic tables at their space just steps away from Waters Bay. This year, they’ve recruited chef Nick Chavez, formerly in the kitchen at King Neptune and Salt Fish restaurants. He's focusing on more culinary elevation, a Sunday brunch service and events like wine dinners.
“If you go to Napa, you want to go to a vineyard,” Conor MacNair said.
And now that experts are calling North Carolina's coast a Napa Valley for oysters, the owners want to offer that same kind of food, drink and agriculture experience. These newest developments began more than eight years ago, when the MacNairs met Chavez at Wrightsville Beach Brewery, another business that believes in local oysters.
“We’ve been friends since,” Chavez said. He said his creativity is challenged by working out of the mobile kitchen, which is equipped with fryer and a grill and not much else.
In addition to house oysters, look for a seafood focused menu and daily specials. For his first brunch, Chavez served a fish fritter with a fried egg and romaine lettuce, for example.
This June, the Oyster Barn hosted its first wine dinner, with the help of local wine rep Chris Miller. Miller said he’s been working on helping the business curate a selection of oyster-friendly wines. This event paired Italian wines with a menu of seafood-focused Italian fare from Chavez, including a crab-topped burrata salad and tuna meatballs. They hope to offer more such events, perhaps on a monthly basis, in the future.
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Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at[email protected].
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: N. Sea Oyster Co. adds chef to restaurant, oyster farm in Hampstead, NC
