To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

You may not guess it, but Crassostrea virginica, the East Coast oyster, is a prime local dish, and Edible is highlighting it as part of Eat Drink Local Week. Mermaid Oyster Bar in Greenwich Village features the dish, and its chef, Michael Cressotti, took some time to detail it.

“We have roughly 12 different types of oysters — six West Coasts and six East Coasts,” said Cressotti. “And every day from 5:30 to 7:00, we call it a happy hour and a half. We offer a dollar oyster.”

Thanks to dozens of new fisherman raising oysters in Long Island, Cressotti now has more eastern options than ever for happy hour. Each variety has its own special taste depending on the salinity and temperature of where it was raised. Experts call that terroir.

“The Naked Cowboy's from the Long Island Sound, it has a deeper cup than the Tomahawk Bay, which is from Shinnecock Bay on Long Island, and the Bluepoint is just from the Long Island Sound,” said Cressotti. “It’s like you’re tasting the water in that area.”

At Mermaid, they change what they're shucking all the time. To help customers track the flavors of their favorites from both coasts, they created a smart phone app called “Oysterpedia.”

Those after a taste of the East Coast, however, need only check the shell.

“It's easy to distinguish a West Coast from an East Coast just by looking at it,” said Cressotti. “They kind of have like a fluted shell almost, like a ripple effect, and the cup of the shell tends to be deeper.

Because Mermaid shucks nearly 9,000 oysters every week, Cressotti's favorite is actually the briny Beausoleil from Canada.

“I like it because it's easy to open, and we sell a ton of oysters here,” said Cressotti.