Another year, another thousand oysters shucked away. Oysterfest 2012 came and went way too fast. Daniel Notkin, the founder and organizing super hero, really outdid himself this year. Last year was a grand success, but this time it surpassed all of our expectations. We started the day early to set up our Notable media wall very strategically amongst the big guns – the Hype Energy Drink booth spearheaded by Montreal poster boy Josh Silver, and the Philemon central bar, where many of us were getting happily buzzed thanks to our beloved cocktail mix masters.
A quick break was taken at local brunch diner, and one of the festival’s sponsors/participants, Gros Jambon, to soak up as much energy as we could. Once 2:30pm rolled around, a line-up that stretched out down the street could already be seen. People were so excited you would think they were waiting to get Axl Rose’s autograph. Once inside, all guests purchased food and drink tickets, not only to eat and drink themselves silly, but to support an amazing cause, The Open Pier Foundation. Dedicated to ocean preservation and sustainably awareness, their mission is to be focused on health and the environment, toxins and water, and, of course, our future. So we fully indulged and got 10 tickets each to start our day. Notable mentions go to the following:
– Brit & Chips for their uber-tasty fish and chips with a side of that delicious tartar sauce (we had to work the gym extra hard this week after this indulgence).
– L’Orignal for their delectable duck mixture (we forgot the name) and their secret bourbon lemonade that everyone was buzzing on.
– La Catrina, for providing us with an excess of every flavour of their fresh and seasonal popsicles made from fruits and veggies. How creative are they? Two words: maple bacon.
– Sailor Jerry had one snazzy rum stand/rock star-looking camper van that was decorated in pirate-ish tattoo art all over it.
– BEVO Bar + Pizzeria’s chocolate pizza was messy, but so damn mouth-watering that we couldn’t help but not care about the mess on our face.
– The Profishionals oyster stand was full of mother shuckers providing the freshest oysters on premise. It helped that all the guys working the stand were said to be “ruggedly handsome” by quite a few female guests.
– All this food, running around and drinking was exhausting after a while. Thankfully AQUAhydrate water was there fully stocked to cool us off every hour!
An oysterfest wouldn’t be complete without a shucking competition. With the first round starting, the competitors mostly came from culinary backgrounds, but amongst them we also found our dear friend, Sotheby’s real estate agent Karine Doche, with the rest of the pros (her hands looked like a Band-Aid ad after all the hoopla).
Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” came on and everyone started ferociously cutting those little guys open. With timers behind each competitor, the judging was taken very seriously and the crowds cheered on with major enthusiasm. Who knew shucking was an Olympic event?
The entire day was a complete and total conglomerate of friends, acquaintances, new and old faces, a feast for all senses with drinks spilling ‘til the night time, human limbo games, styling babies, dancing circles, hook-ups and pick-ups, and live music showdowns. The best way to sum it up? A mini Woodstock. All that could be heard at the end of the day was “Why can’t we have this every month – better yet, every week?” Well friends, you can always talk to Daniel and his entrepreneurial spirit, but after seeing him passed out after the mega clean up, he deserves a break. Until next year!
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Top photo courtesy Tony Ravenda