National Oyster Day, The Bristol Lounge, Boston

Despite all the rain and humidity and rather "icky" afternoon weather yesterday, last night turned out to be a simply wonderful evening!  Last week I had let you guys all know about a great event happening at The Bristol Lounge located in The Four Seasons hotel right in downtown Boston celebrating National Oyster Day.  Since oysters are a delicacy that I just haven't mastered yet- I was excited to head over to the event last night and give it a try! Since the evening celebrated Oysters with additional specials on my favorite delicacy- bubbly wine- I knew I could round up some ladies to head over with me.  So the lovely Katie, Lauren, Jill and I all started off on an Oyster adventure.

Somehow, in the years I have lived in Boston, I have failed to ever visit the Bristol Lounge.  The space is gorgeous!  Elegant and refined, but with an ever welcoming staff who immediately make you feel right at home despite sophisticated settings.  I enjoyed a lovely glass of sparkling rose as I waited for the other ladies to join me, and was entertained the beautiful piano music that was gently being played at a gorgeous grand piano.  I love places like this- they are beautiful and utterly relaxing.

A bit tentative before my "mastery"

As the others in my party arrived, we secured a table for ourselves and finally delved into the oyster part of the evening.  Now, I have had oysters in other forms before, even raw, but have never shot one straight from the shell and with my own ingredient accompaniments.  So when they arrived, Lauren who was our "aficionado" for the evening, showed us the proper way to ensure that the oyster meat was free from the shell, and then advised on her favorite condiments- fresh lemon juice and cocktail sauce.  The Bristol Lounge had spruced up their cocktail sauce with a little jalapeno so I knew I had to try that.  I ended up with a combination of lemon juice, cocktail, Tabasco, and a little of the vinegar with shallots.  Sounds like a lot right?  Yeah, it is- I was nervous and killing time- I admit it.  I was pretending to be calm, cool and collected.  I wasn't.  As you may have guessed, I'm big into textures and texture variation.  I love how different ingredients can make a dish completely different bite to bite- so to swallow this little guy whole- well it worried me.  

I stared down the oyster, channeled Adam Richmond on Man V Food eating 180 oysters in a sitting, tipped it back and swallowed.  I was very, very pleasantly surprised.  Much of the sea water brine was still contained in the shell and had a lovely salt water taste to it that I some how had managed to just enhance with the other additions.  The oyster was smooth and easy to manage, and the accompany sauces had a pleasant heat to them.  We had decided just to do one each, as a tester, but I regretted that decision after wards, as I wanted to try a few more with different combinations.  However I know soon there will be many more opportunities, and I am excited for those!

I had a really lovely time at The Bristol Lounge, and can't wait to return again for more visits.  Their food menu looked delicious with the stars of the appetizer menu appearing to be the highly recommended French Fry Trip, and their Kettle chips with a cheese fondu sounded amazing as well.  I will be back Bristol Lounge, and I believe I will partake in a few more Oysters!