The Tides Inn Angry Oysters
Fresh Rappahannock oysters, lightly roasted and tossed in a butter-based hot sauce, laid on a bed of marinated cabbage slaw and served with traditional watermelon rind relish.
Every cook knows that necessity is the mother of great culinary inventions. Recently Tides Inn executive chef TV Flynn and general manager Gordon Slatford found themselves faced with a challenge that required a bit of creativity and innovation. The result is a new creation that is quickly becoming a trademark dish at the Irvington resort’s restaurants.
Slatford explains, “In October 2013 Irvington hosted the inaugural Virginia Wine & Oyster Classic. Dozens of the finest chefs in Virginia were asked to create a special oyster dish to serve at the event.” He and Flynn put on their thinking caps and came up with an oyster appetizer extraordinaire. Fresh Rappahannock oysters were lightly roasted and tossed in a butter-based hot sauce that Flynn had used during his years working in New Orleans. The oysters were laid on a bed of marinated cabbage slaw and served with traditional watermelon rind relish.
“People at the Virginia Wine & Oyster Classic loved the new dish —and so did the judges, who named it winner in the best dish competition,” Slatford says proudly.
Word of the new oyster concoction spread through the local community, and many customers at the Tides Inn restaurants started asking for the dish. “People wanted it as an appetizer or simply as a side dish to enjoy while having drinks with friends,” Slatford says.
The Tides Inn staff knew that these were no ordinary oysters. The new dish needed a name, Slatford says, ”So during the long, cold winter we tossed about some ideas and came up with just the right moniker: Angry Oysters. It’s an apt name to describe an extraordinarily tasty dish.”
Success breeds its own special variety of challenges, though. “Many of our guests raved about the new dish. We soon found, though, that not everyone could take the heat. So for those customers we’ve created a toned-down version we call Mildly Annoyed Oysters,” Slatford explains with a chuckle.
The popularity of Angry Oysters and its gentler cousin has been so great that the Tides Inn has created a potpourri of clothing products and accessories that diners can purchase and wear with pride.
The two new oyster appetizers are one of many fine dishes at the Tides Inn that feature local fare. “We have always taken great pride in creating menus that remain true to the traditions of farm-to-table and tide-to-table, and these new dishes reflect our commitment to showcase the bounty of the Northern Neck,” Slatford says.
This article appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of the Local Scoop Magazine, pg. 19.
