Maker's Spotlight: Island Creek Oysters

Island Creek was founded in the early 1990’s by Skip Bennett in Duxbury, MA. Skip is the son of a lobsterman and longed to work on the water, ultimately introducing oyster farming to Duxbury which is an Eden for growing delicious shellfish. Since those beginnings, Island Creek has grown to become one of the most recognizable commercial oyster operations in the country. The farm supplies oysters to Michelin-starred restaurants from New York to San Francisco, maintains a robust retail operation for direct-to-consumer sales, runs a few hospitality locations in New England, and just opened a craft conservas-style cannery in New Bedford, MA. 

As oyster purists, they believe a raw oyster is one the best things a human on planet earth can eat. Their condiment of choice to dress up an oyster is a bright, peppery mignonette. After finding it difficult to source a delicious, shelf-stable, high quality mignonette to offer their customers, they knew they needed to get creative. The idea of a dry mignonette was born - a spice blend that would make it easy to whip together a quick mignonette. 

The shared roots of working hand-in-hand with chefs and restaurants made the decision to reach out to Spicewalla an easy one. Industry people just get it. Chefs were Island Creek’s first adopters, advocates, and customers when they first got their start. An appreciation for the hand-crafted, high quality approach to producing our own products reflected the approach they take on our farm. They knew Spicewalla would be able to make their wild dry-sauce-dreams come true. This peppery, shallot, tangy blend can be stirred right into your favorite vinegar and served on top of oysters! It doesn’t even need to marinate. So simple, so delicious and one of a kind! You won’t find anything else like it in the oyster/raw bar/seafood world.

You can purchase fresh oysters to be delivered at your door as well as incredible merch on their website.  If you’re really lucky you can dine at their amazing Raw Bars in Portland, ME and Duxbury, MA. 

They are gearing up for the launch of their cannery in New Bedford, MA which is a historic fishing port. Being able to access beautiful, local seafood and preserve it at peak quality in the style of European conservas, and creating greater access to affordable protein is what motives them and we love them for it!