Mine Oyster celebrates its fifth year

Tue, 08/02/2016 - 8:00am

Elena and Ralph Smith opened the doors to their restaurant, The World is Mine Oyster, in 2012.

It has now passed its five -year anniversary, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.

Along with Mine Oyster, the Smiths own and run two other restaurants in town with partners Mark and Karin Guerin. The Boathouse Bistro,  now in its ninth year, is right up the street from Mine Oyster, and Cod's Head, now in its second year, is right across the harbor. The Guerins can usually be found at Boathouse Bistro — known for its tapas — where Mark is the manager and wine aficionado and Karin is the chef. Mark said it has been a great year so far. “We’re up over last year and last year was a record year,” he said. “Right now I’m cautiously optimistic.”

As the name implies, The World is Mine Oyster serves oysters. Most of them are locally farmed, and a favorite is the Glidden Point Select, grown in the Damariscotta River, but there’s a wide range of oysters available at the restaurant, from Southport, the Bar Harbor area and Prince Edward Island to Puget Sound in Washington State.

But the restaurant serves much more than oysters.

Basically a seafood house, it features something that nobody else in town has — a wood-fired grill. Ralph said it gives a different flavor to the local seafood — wood-fired grilled haddock, swordfish and salmon — and prime and U.S.D.A. choice steaks,  all cooked over oak embers.

There's also a varied choice of fried seafoods, soups and salads, sandwiches, burgers and vegetarian and vegan choices.

If three full service bars weren’t enough, this year a large new bar was added on the second floor overlooking the harbor. It’s an ideal spot for a bar, with an almost constant breeze coming in through the three open sliding glass doors, two of which were added this year.

Ralph said people always hung out in that particular corner anyway, and now there's a bar with stools there. “It was a great addition,” he said. A mural of an ocean scene painted by artist Glenn Chadbourne covers a large wall next to the new bar, giving it the attention it deserves. “That guy's a magician,” Ralph said.

There's also a new sushi bar upstairs, overseen by Chef Taka, with a wide variety of raw seafoods, like octopus, scallops, tuna, salmon and clams.

Ralph said they might have thought twice about the name of the restaurant because a lot of people think oysters are the only thing on the menu. “But I like the name, and we're pretty well established now,” he said. “People know it's more than an oyster bar.”

The actual oyster bar in Mine Oyster is downstairs just inside the door. It’s a nice cozy spot for a more intimate meal.

Both Smiths love raw oysters. “Either you love them or you don't,” Ralph said.

“I absolutely love oysters, but I haven't always,” Elena said. “It was like an introduction to wine for me. You learn the terroir, the land that they come from, and then you slowly make your way through them and start to taste the differences between them.

“It's better to start with the smaller ones, like the Glidden Point Petits,” she said. “With a glass of champagne or a bloody mary they go down very easily.”

The World is Mine Oyster serves cooked oysters, too: A buffalo fried oyster, a deep-fried, panko coated Glidden Point Select oyster, tossed in a hot sauce and served in the shell with blue cheese. And oysters Rockefeller — a baked oyster with creamed spinach, flambéed with a licorice liqueur. “That gives you that New Orleans punch,” Ralph said.

Smith said he sells far more raw oysters than cooked. “Ten to one,” he said. “On a good day in July or August we'll go through 4,000 oysters in a day. On average we'll do 1,200 to 1,500 a day.”

The World is Mine Oyster is a nightclub as well as a restaurant, with some form of entertainment seven days a week. There's live music almost every night, Trivia on Monday nights, and a comedy night every Thursday from 9 to 1.

On July 29, Ruth Kimball and Ernest Foote were at Boathouse Bistro for lunch. They were in town for a week, from Hopkinton, New Hampshire. They had eaten at The World is Mine Oyster three times, because they love raw oysters. “I’m not an oyster expert, but those are by far the best I’ve ever had,” Foote said. “They were incredible.”

Elena said the name The World is Mine Oyster was derived from a quote from Shakespeare's “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

Falstaff said, “I will not lend thee a penny.” Pistol pulls his sword and retorts, “Why, then the world's mine oyster. Which I with sword will open.”

As for oysters being labeled an aphrodisiac, Elena likes that theory. “I think it's a wonderful myth and it should be perpetuated.”

The World is Mine Oyster is located at 16 Wharf Street, Pier 1. Call 207-633-6616.

Boathouse Bistro is located at 12 By-Way. Call 207-633-0400.