Seattle just got a little more spoiled in the Great Ingredients & Great Food category. Taylor Shellfish Farms has been an institution in these parts for over 100 years farming oysters, clams, mussels and the famed native Northwest geoduck.

Retail store 1521 Melrose Ave, Seattle, WA

Supplying restaurants with award winning shellfish and selling directly to consumers through local farmer’s markets has been their modus operandi to date, but with yesterday’s full-on oysterrrific bash they celebrated the grand opening of their retail shop. Taylor Shellfish Farms is the newest addition to the hip Melrose Market.

Taylor Shellfish Farms grilled oysters

As if live bands and demos of oyster shucking, crab cracking, and geoduck cleaning weren’t enough, they generously supplied the masses with complementary grilled oysters, curried mussels, chowder, and other tasty treats all day.

The fastest oyster shucker I've ever seen!

The shop sells live Dungeness crab, spot prawns, geoduck, clams, mussels, and a full range of oysters. They also offer a selection of frozen seafood, smoked salmon and smoked clams, chowder by the bowl, books on oyster and seafood cookery, along with a few select hand tools for wrestling the tasty bits from shells. I was most intrigued by the Crab Cracking Tool. A gadget designed for cracking a crab shell without crushing the meat in the process. I heard rave reviews, but didn’t manage to see a demo myself.

Taylor Shellfish Farms oysters

Staffed with a very knowledgeable and friendly crew the store is airy, bright and very inviting. The bistro tables next to the window are a perfect perch for relaxing with a bowl of chowder and slurping down oysters on the spot, which they will shuck and set on ice for you.

Taylor Shellfish Farm Crew

It was pure chance that I spotted a tweet sent out by Jon Rowley (@oysterwine) about the oyster and wine tasting he was hosting at Taylor Shellfish Farms just after the grand opening celebrations concluded. I was reading his message and reaching for the “reply” button simultaneously! Amazingly I was one of the first ten responses and landed a spot at the table.

Taylor Shellfish Farms Pacific Oysters

Jon Rowley has hosted the Oyster Wine Competition for the past 17 years. As a restaurant consultant he realized when it came to oysters, he was  repeatedly recommending European wines. With so many celebrated wineries on the West coast, it just made sense to find some beautiful domestic wines to pair with oysters.

The Oyster Wine Competition is held each year in April. Ten winning wines are selected from among 100 entries by a panel of food and wine experts. Jon explained that a successful oyster and wine pairing is all about the oyster rather than the wine.

Contrary to standard wine tasting technique, he instructed us to eat an oyster before smelling or tasting the wine. Chewing it well to let the flavor fully expand across our palate and then smell and taste the wine. The mark of a good oyster wine is one that leaves your palate quickly and cleanly so you are ready for the next oyster. Jon pointed out that it’s all about the next oyster, the wine shouldn’t impede that next bite. I wholeheartedly agree and I’ll have another oyster if you don’t mind.

We slurped and sipped our way through the ten Oyster Wine Competition award winning selections for 2011 and came to a nearly unanimous consensus on our top three favorites.

Van Duzer Vineyards 2010 Estate Pinot Gris (Oregon)

Brassfield Estate Winery 2009 Sauvignon Blanc (California)

King Estate Winery Signature Colletion 2009 Pinot Gris (Oregon)

A special thank you to Jon Rowley and Taylor Shellfish Farm for generously hosting this tasting (at no charge!) and giving those of us that were fortunate enough to attend a delightful eye opening and palate expanding experience.

If you are going to be visiting Seattle from out of town, it is worth the short walk from downtown up to Melrose Market to experience some of the best oysters in the world. If you aren’t going to be in town, just click over to their site and order up a feast from their online store. You’ll miss out on the walk, but I’m sure you’ll get over it.

Local folks, you owe it to yourself to stop by their shop and indulge in this Northwest treasure. If you are looking for a full-immersion oyster experience consider going on one of the Walrus & Carpenter picnics this winter. Here’s a peek at just how much fun that is!

Mrs. Cook’s is a Seattle gem. Comfortably nestled in the heart of University Village Shopping Center, Mrs. Cook’s has been fueling the inner chefs of Seattleites and visitors since 1976 when Carol Bromel first opened her shop.

As someone who loves to cook, just walking in a kitchen store makes my heart race. Filled with beautiful things that inspire my favorite hobby, how could it not be exciting? Mrs. Cook’s has all the elements that make a great kitchen shop with quality lines of pots and pans, cutlery, dishes, crystal, linens and gadgets. Shelves filled with products from industry leaders assures you will find what you need, but among all of these familiar brands and products are countless beautiful, unique, clever, and delightful finds that define the independent identity of Mrs. Cook’s, making it such a fun place to shop.

About a year and a half ago I had the opportunity to work at Mrs. Cook’s through the holiday season as an internship of sorts. Starting TableFare I felt it was really important to understand the retail kitchenware business, and how better to do that than work on the floor during the holiday season? It was an immensely valuable experience, and even during the height of holiday craziness, it was a lot of fun.

Look, that’s SpiceCare on the shelf!

Carol and her two long-time managers, Amy and Nancy, work as a dynamic team to ensure the store is always stocked with inspiring items to keep customers cooking, entertaining, and generally enjoying time spent in the kitchen. Though even with all the right merchandise a store is only as good as the overall shopping experience. It’s unusual in a retail setting, but the Mrs. Cook’s staff have been working together for years and have developed a deep knowledge of the products they sell, take time to get to know their customers, and make it a goal to provide great service which sometimes means advising a customer against buying an item that really isn’t what that person needs. It’s fun to shop in a store where the staff enjoys what they do, and they do it well; it makes for a great shopping experience.

Mrs. Cook’s is the first kitchen store to stock SpiceCare, so in my opinion this makes them the best kitchen store ever! True to their dedication to good service and product knowledge, I was given the opportunity to train their staff on SpiceCare this week.  They are now SpiceCare experts and ready to help you get your spice collection organized; truthfully I feel good knowing they will only sell you our product if it really is the best solution for you. Stop by and visit their store in University Village or online. You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook too.