“After more than two years in the works, sustainable, plant-centric restaurant Oyster Oyster has just officially opened”

courtesy Oyster Oyster located at 1440 8th Street, NW

Check out their daily menu here.

From a press release:

“After more than two years in the works, sustainable, plant-centric restaurant Oyster Oyster has just officially opened, serving four-course farm dinners, shroom cheese “steaks”, and Noma-inspired veggie burgers to the masses, to-go. A forward-thinking project from restaurateur Max Kuller (Estadio) and Chef Rob Rubba (formerly of Hazel), Oyster Oyster showcases vegetable cookery through mid-Atlantic agriculture, and is now offering take-out via Tock every Wednesday through Sunday.

While the space (located in Shaw’s City Market at O development) and team were expecting to open within just days of when COVID hit, they pumped the brakes to keep employees and potential guests safe, and monitored the following months closely. Now after almost five months, Kuller and Rubba have made the decision to open for take-out and share its innovative menu with hungry Washingtonians, the duo operating the entire restaurant alone daily to eliminate staff exposure.

Oyster Oyster is open Wednesday through Sunday, offering two different menus throughout the week. Every Thursday through Sunday, guests can enjoy the true Oyster Oyster experience from home, with four-course Farm Dinners: a veg focused, micro-seasonal, and hyper-local tasting menu designed for two. Offerings change daily but examples include peak-summer produce in dishes like Marinated Summer Squash with fresh herbs, fish pepper and 2-year fermented fennel; Corn & Chanterelle Custard with grilled corn, benne and pickled ramps (with the $8 option to add on shaved, preserved Virginia pecan truffles); Mushroom Flatbread with Appalachian cheese and pickled baby kohlrabi; and Spice Bush-Chili Okra with snake beans and eggplant croutons. Farm Dinners are $65 (serves 2), and can be ordered on Tock.

And Wednesdays will feature a weekly pop-up from Scrappy’s (the pandemic pop-up launched by Rubba and his wife Deb in March, initially serving bagels out of sister restaurant Estadio) – a special night with more casual, fun and funky a la carte offerings, like shroom-topped pizzas, king mushroom cheesesteaks, and sorghum/lentil veggie burgers on homemade vegan english muffins.

Everything is made in house, from freshly-baked breads, to kombucha and pickled and fermented vegetables. Centered around sustainability at its core, Oyster Oyster only sources local ingredients from small farms and co-ops in the mid-Atlantic (even its cooking oil), and all of its to-go packaging is truly compostable, committed to the restaurant’s ethos in all aspects. In addition to its vegetarian offerings, the restaurant also offers all-vegan options.

They also offer sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines at affordable prices (currently ranging from $22-$33), curated by wine director Sarah Horvitz to pair with the meals, along with canned craft beers and ciders ($4-$6).

Coming soon, Oyster Oyster plans on introducing its very own beer – a farmhouse saison rich in umami named ‘Adult Ponies’ made with oyster mushrooms, oyster yeast, local wheat and grain by Black Narrows Brewing out of Chincoteague Island, VA — plus bottled cocktails from bar director Adam Bernbach, coffee and house kombucha on tap, a ‘growler’ program (draft beers served in capped burgundy wine bottles to-go), and outdoor patio dining in the fall if the team feels it is safe to do so.

Oyster Oyster is open for take-out Wednesday through Sunday, with scheduled pick-ups from 5pm-7:30pm.“