Eats

The IND goes oyster touring

by Leslie Turk

Warning: The oysters you're about to taste may be too fresh for your taste buds.

Warning: The oysters you're about to taste may be too fresh for your taste buds.

That's the advice a large group of restaurateurs and reporters got when we boarded an oyster boat out of Empire just before 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Photo by Heather Miller

In conjunction with the Oyster Festival in New Orleans this weekend, Sal Sunseri, manager of the famed P&J Oyster Company in New Orleans, is leading the oyster tour, which is taking place on the boat of Mitch Jurisich, a third-generation oyster farmer. Mitch's son, Nathan, is the boat's captain.

Chef Peter Sclafani of Ruffino's in Baton Rouge and the new Ruffino's on the River in Lafayette is along for the ride. Why? Because he's been getting his oysters from Sal at P&J "forever."

The IND tagged along to learn about all the hard work that goes into one sack of the state's best oysters.

Check out IND Monthly's Facebook page for photos of the trip.