Hog Island Oyster Co – Napa

Ted and I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather here, and drive up to Napa today. The catalyst for this drive was that next Sunday is Easter, and we will be having Easter Brunch with his family. Last year, we had delicious Eggs Benedict with crab cakes in place of Canadian bacon, and it was a hit, so we decided that would be on the menu again. There is a small chain of bakeries in Napa County, Model Bakery, that has amazing English muffins, so we drove up to buy some, and while there, we had lunch at a neighboring restaurant, the Hog Island Oyster Company. They are another small chain, and have a location in the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco. I’ve never eaten there, as every time we’ve found ourselves in the Ferry Plaza, the line is crazy long. Today the fates were in our favor, as Hog Island had not yet opened, and there were only about 10 people in line waiting for tables when we opted in. We were seated quickly, given water immediately, and things continued to be great from there. The tables are ‘family style’, so you may end up with other parties at your table. This could be miserable, I am sure, but at about the time our food arrived, a father with his 3 young daughters sat down with us, and they were a lovely family. They were speaking both English and either Spanish or Portuguese, and it was delightful to hear how absolutely bi-lingual they were as the conversations (plural because when talking with three young ones, conversations tend to be a little circuitous.) switched back and forth in mid sentence. Languages are NOT MY THING, and I have zero skill there, so I am always really impressed when I hear conversations like this one.

Ted stuck with water, but I decided to have a glass of Sancerre. I wondered if it was rude to order French wine while in Napa valley, but decided that I didn’t care. I mean, if they’re going to serve it, I’m going to order it, so it’s on them.

We shared a dozen assorted oysters, which were briny and delicious.

For our lunch, Ted ordered the clam chowder, and I ordered the shrimp and grits. Both were truly delicious. The family next to us ordered the clam chowder, the shrimp and grits, and a grilled cheese sandwich (which looked amazing). Lunch was expensive, as one might imagine, but Ted said it was money well spent. It was a lovely day, and we may perhaps need to make it a tradition every spring…

After our leisurely lunch, having procured our muffins, we decided to stroll the area. The Hog Island Oyster Co is inside the Oxbow Market, a combination food court and marketplace, with a small grocery store, several specialty shops for things like books, cheese, wine, etc. It is also right next to the Napa River, and across and down the street from the Napa Valley Wine Train.

After a bit of a stroll, we drove around the downtown area a bit, and noticed that it is not as run down as it used to be, and has several cute boutiques. We had spent all of our money on muffins and lunch, so did not stop to check them out, but overall it was a lovely day. We came home and took a nap.

*Disclaimer – I took the picture of the oysters, but the beautiful pictures of clam chowder and shrimp and grits are not mine. I found them on the internet.