A local oyster empire extends its reach north today with the opening of a new retail space in Portland, Maine’s Munjoy Hill neighborhood. The Shop debuts at 123 Washington Ave. Thursday, offering a place for visitors to purchase oysters and accoutrements to sample there or prepare at home.
The Shop joins the Duxbury-based Island Creek Oysters family, which includes two Island Creek Oyster Bar restaurants in Boston and Burlington and two Row 34 restaurants in Boston and Portsmouth, NH. The oyster farm supplies oysters and clams to restaurants and customers across the country and organizes oyster festivals, as previously reported.
The retail section of The Shop features items like tinned fish (sardines, squid, clams, octopus, and mussels) and caviar, along with a variety of local oysters, with availability depending on the season, such as Little Island oysters from the Bagaduce River in Maine and a Mookie Blues variety from Damariscotta. The space itself includes seating for 58 people, both inside and outside on a seasonal patio, and items available for purchase in The Shop can be consumed on site, alongside traditional oyster accompaniments. There will also be a rotating selection of champagne and wine to enjoy in-house, along with beer.
The Shop’s general manager, Kit Paschal, previously worked at Portland’s now-closed Roustabout and Boston’s Eastern Standard. The Shop is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
