The official Anderson's Neck blog with progress updates on our mission to Save the Bay One Oyster at a Time. We will notify you when we post new articles if you Join Our Mailing List.
Ok Yanks, it’s time you meet our awesome Canadian friends from The Whalesbone. Owner Joshua Bishop is a self made man whose flagship restaurant, The Whalesbone Oyster House is recognized for its sustainably sourced seafood. The Ottawa entrepreneur along with seafood supply manager Simeron Novak supply the best Ottawa restaurants with both oysters and fin fish via The Whalesbone Sustainable Oyster & Fish Supply. The Whalesbone has also recently added the Elmdale Tavern to its family after acquiring the 80 year old institution, bringing oysters to the menu, and renaming it the Elmdale Oyster House & Tavern.
We are honored to be supplying The Whalesbone and its bevy of restaurants with our Eagle Flat oysters. These folks just flat out get it. Here is a little excerpt to some questions I recently asked Josh, which gives a great window into their story.
How did The Whalesbone get started?
“the whalesbone started out of my folks kitchen in 2001 – the whalesbone oyster catering & co. was an operation which catered oysters exclusively to many events in the ottawa area, – i was quickly known as “the oyster guy”. this was with keen efforts to build a loyal following of oyster lovers – this was laying the groundwork to the “eye on the prize” which was to be the whalesbone oyster house – the rest as they say……. history.”
Oysters seem to be rising in demand in both Canada and the US, how do you see this evolving going forward?
“yes – we see oysters becoming more popular on menus across town – seemingly perhaps is the realization that you dont really have to do anything to an oyster from a “cooking” standpoint – they’re perfect on their own and so may lend to easier preparation than other items on a chefs agenda – additionally they are terrifically sexy and apparently sex sells, and so…….”
Why is sourcing sustainable seafood important to you?
“simply its a sign of our morals and ethics – in todays day and age of everything on the verge of collapse, how could you consider anything but???? you’d have to be a fool and we’re not a roster of fools.”
What are The Whalesbone’s plans for the future?
“to never stop growing, to never stop learning, to continue to educate and inform the masses of the importance of knowing the story behind the shellfish or finfish, to enjoy time with our families, to work hard and play harder, to live life better all the time, wow what a future eh???”
Anything else you want us to mention?
“oyster festival – the bytowne oyster festival – last sunday in june. the 29th. cmon y’all.”
And that my American friends sounds like an official invitation to a good time. So the ANOC team is packing our bags and gearing up for the Oysterfest in Ottawa. If that doesn’t have you convinced to book airfare already, check out this clip of the good times had at last year’s event.
http://youtu.be/yU0LmoljaIQ
These guys seem to live in the moment and pride themselves in running an authentic, sustainable operation. Well, we think that’s just awesome. See Josh tell The Whalesbone’s story in his own words in the following clip.
We can’t wait to meet our Canadian friends in person. I suspect we will share a few pints. And oh yeah, perhaps a handful of oysters…c’mon y’all!
