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Mike Osinski

Mike Osinski holds up a large oyster at his Greenport oyster farm. Admittedly, this photo was not taken during an “R” month. (Credit: Vera Chinese)

Greenport in the off-season is ripe for oyster slurping and day tripping.

So says the New York Times in a recent piece that appeared online in the paper’s New York section on Wednesday, March 29

Oysters are at their best in months with an “R” in them, so prime bivalve season is nearing its end.

Mike Osinski, owner of Widow’s Hole Oyster Farm, took a Times reporter on a tour of his underwater farm and offered a sampling of his product.

“Slurping meaty, juicy Widow’s Hole oysters at the source instead of at Le Bernardin or Eleven Madison Park, where they are on the menus, can be a primal, salty pleasure,” the article states. “Learning how they are seeded, nurtured and tumbled with the tide enhances their flavor more than a squirt of citrus.”

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We agree. One time Osinski let me eat one of those four ounce bad boys, which is roughly the size of a piece of filet mignon, and it was magical. That salty goodness satisfies like nothing else.

Lucky for Osinski, he eats about a half dozen of the raw shellfish every day.

“When I’m a little hungry, I don’t want a potato chip, I want an oyster,” he told the Times reporter.

Osinski notes that the farm’s prized three-year-old oysters, the largest of the bunch, have been sold out since January. Most oysters are harvested at about 18- to 24-months-old.

Other business that get a shoutout in the piece include Aldo’s Café, Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. and Industry Standard.

Read the full story here.

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