National Oyster Day is Tuesday, Aug. 5.
Not good enough, says Tony Blanche, the 25-year owner of the iconic Clam Tavern in Clifton Heights.
Blanche, who also owns the Broadway Bar and Grill across from Clam Tavern, has created National Oyster Week, writes Victor Fiorillo for Philadelphia Magazine.
The seafood restaurant owner was actually unaware that Aug. 5 was National Oyster Day until a regular customer asked him what he was doing for it.
“My first thought was, oh, there’s a National Oyster Day?” Blanche said. “And my second thought was, wait, why does the oyster only get a day? It deserves a week of its own.”
So Blanche made a unilateral decision, declaring this week National Oyster Week.
Oysters are serious business for Blanche. He travels regularly to Newfield, New Jersey, to pick up as many Sweet Amalia oysters as he can. The Cape May County oysters are considered by many top chefs to be the best oysters out there.
For National Oyster Week, through Friday, the Clam Tavern and the Broadway will feature buck-a-shuck oysters. Also available?Fried oysters and chicken salad at the Clam, along with rare offerings of oyster stew and oyster shooters..
Read more about National Oyster Week in Philadelphia Magazine.
