Public Kitchen and Bar at the Hollywood Roosevelt gets all fancy this holiday season with a special menu featuring Champagne & Raw Oysters for the entire month of December. Ain’t we swank!
Ten champagnes will be offered by the glass (unless you want to get picky about it, in which case, six champagnes and four sparkling wines will be offered). Selections range from Bollinger Special Cuvee brut at $26 a glass, to a Jansz rose from Australia for $15 or Graham Beck brut from South Africa at $10 a glass. Bottles range from $125 down to $35, not much of a markup for a restaurant.
Start with the Brut paired with the more delicate oysters, and move on to the rose which is stronger and will stand up to the brinier oysters.
Five different types of oysters will be offered each night in rotation from a selection of eleven. The night’s selections are marked by adorable little red oyster shells and are identically priced. A half-dozen oysters on the half shell are only $14, 9 oysters for $20, and a dozen oysters for $28.
Oysters vary, and tastes vary, but a general rule for those new to this most glamorous of bivalves is to select the smallest ones from the coldest waters possible. Kumamotos (a Japanese variety from Oakland Bay, Washington) are small and sweet. West coast oysters tend to be sweeter than those from the Atlantic. Kusshi (from Deep Bay, BC) are creamy and mild.
If you like your oysters briny and salty, go for the Wellfleets (from Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts). If you like them big, meaty, and intensly flavored try the farmed Salt Ponds (Point Judith Pond, Rhode Island) and the famous Belon, harvested in maine, but of French heritage.
Malpeque oysters must be harvested using tongs in the shallow bay on Prince Edward Island. You can’t even hand-pick them. They are bigger and bolder than the “starter” oysters, although they are known for having a pickle-like flavor, they are still sweet and mild, woody and meaty, not wild enough to scare you away. The Raspberry Points are farmed in a national park on PEI. The off-bottom cages result in lighter flavor. They are still salty like a Malpeque, but with a clean finish.
If you have your heart set on a particular oyster, feel free to call ahead. You can also get some tips on champagne pairings (OK, OK, or sparkling wines) from the extremely knowledgable servers. 323.466.7000
