Naked Oyster
THROUGH THE PASS
Build it, and they will come. Offer a wonderful and ever-changing array of food within it, and they will come back. That’s generally how it goes for restaurants. Everyone loves to try the hot, new place. That gives eateries one, maybe two chances to make a good impression. Only the establishments that produce a top quality experience, from the food to the service, the ambiance to the price, will survive. In some cases, the formula is hit upon with such precision that it allows for an enterprise to achieve something rarer still: move it, and they will follow. Under the expert guidance of Florence Lowell, The Naked Oyster has done just that and continues to shine like the glistening liquor of the oysters they offer some 13 years since she purchased the bistro.
Lowell grew up in the small town of Lacanau, France. With a population of fewer than 5000, Lacanau is just west of Bordeaux and on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Surfers flock there for the large waves that roll in, but Lowell’s education took her far from home. First to Germany, and then on to the University of Texas in Austin where she earned her degree in geology. “I’ve always wanted to work with food,” she states. “Ever since I was little, but my parents were not overly enthusiastic about that,” she chuckles. “Geology was a good compromise.” After college, Lowell went to work in a local French restaurant, which stood in stark contrast to the usual offerings of barbecue joints and steakhouses that dotted the Texas landscape. Perhaps that geological background came in handy when it came to understanding the terroir of the grapes that produced the wine of which she became the sommelier. “They made me the sommelier because I knew more about wine than most of the other people working there,” she recalls. “Not that hard to do!”
It was in Texas that Lowell easily transitioned into the kitchen and began working with the technique of sous vide. Sous vide (French for “under vacuum”) cooks food in vacuum-sealed bags that are placed in a precisely controlled water bath. While practically unheard of outside of France and California back then, sous vide allowed Lowell to understand the need for focused attention to detail when it comes to food preparation. “You learn a lot about controlling temperature and flavors,” she points out. “The flavors will just bloom in sous vide, so you need to use the best product because bad flavors can bloom too!”
Meanwhile, on Cape Cod, former restaurateur Rick Angelini was opening an eatery called The Naked Oyster in Independence Park in Hyannis, to much acclaim.
A stop in Houston followed for Lowell, where she opened her own restaurant by taking over a recently shuttered establishment and making it her own. Houston is also where she met her husband, Dr. David Lowell. David accepted the position of medical director of a rehabilitation hospital in Sandwich, and David, Lowell and her two children, Julien and Stephanie Swanson, made the cross-country move to Cape Cod in 2004.
Upon washing ashore, Lowell set about finding a building that would be suitable for opening her restaurant. The search eventually led to The Naked Oyster, and her commercial real estate agent brokered a deal between Lowell and Angelini. Her first order of business was to do…nothing. “I wanted to sit back for a couple of months to see how things run,” she recalls. Lowell slowly began to inject her own tastes and choices with a few adjustments to the menu.
All was going well. The transition was complete, and Lowell was in full control of the bustling business that hadn’t lost a step in popularity. The expiration of the lease, however, was quickly approaching and a move was imminent. It’s not that Lowell wanted to leave. “We loved it over there,” she claims. “It was the end of the lease, and I had to pick up and go during the recession.” The year was 2010, and the question of “where” was answered by her long-time server, Frank Guzma. Along with working at The Naked Oyster, Guzma had been (and still is) on the sales floor at Puritan of Cape Cod on Main Street in downtown Hyannis. It was Guzma who suggested to Lowell that she should speak with his boss at Puritan, Rick Penn.
A plan was formed to cleave off the small space of the sprawling store that was home to the shoe department (first floor) and the ski shop (downstairs). “It was a funky space,” Lowell remembers. “It was long and narrow.” The design of the floor plan was just one of the challenges that Lowell faced. She needed to devise a kitchen that was extremely tight on space, and this was compounded by the fact that she had never designed a kitchen before in her life. Add in the other tasks of installing sewer and gas lines as well as a grease trap, and it’s amazing to think that the entire project was completed in six weeks and on budget. The true adventure was moving, in one piece, the magnificent marble-topped bar, which has always been the signature element of The Naked Oyster. Finding a contractor willing to move the bar proved difficult. “Everybody was afraid of cracking it,” Lowell recalls. M.J. Nardone Building and Remodeling stepped in and was able to move the stunning bar without incurring a single crack!
Lowell wanted to retain the cozy feel of the dining room, so the decision was made to break up the table area into two spaces with the bar separating them. Local Dennis artist Sarah Holl supplied the glossy artwork to adorn the brick walls and all was set for the grand re-opening. However, there was one aspect of the new space that needed immediate attention, and that was the sound. “We knew we had a boom box from the beginning,” Lowell points out. She found an artist to create the decorative fabric bunches that hang from the ceiling. They’re vibrantly colored, they absorb and soften the sound, and they are open for interpretation as to what they look like. The suggestions range from seashells to bloomers.
Tucked away in the basement is another level of secluded charm. At the end of the hall, past the storeroom and the prep kitchen, lies the private wine room. It is the ideal place to host special events, group dinners and exclusive business retreats for gatherings of up to 20 people.
It quickly became a family affair at The Naked Oyster as Lowell’s daughter Stephanie came on board a decade ago. As general manager, Stephanie controls the front of the house functions. From staffing, event scheduling and menu design and creation (including the recent adaptation in the listing of hand-crafted cocktails), Stephanie’s deft handling ensures the operation continually performs at the highest level. It’s clear that great lengths went into building a beverage menu which features something for every taste. Twenty different cocktails and martinis are only outmatched by a listing of wines that will pair perfectly with any dish and with a wide range of price points. Like to start the evening with bubbles? Well, pop the cork on a bottle of 2003 Dom Perignon or just enjoy a cold draught beer.
With a name like “The Naked Oyster”, it’s expected that lots of those delectable little gems of the sea will be served. “We were buying a lot of oysters,” Lowell states. So much so that it became prudent to take over an oyster grant in the waters of Barnstable Harbor. In addition to nearly 12-hour workdays six times a week, Lowell began working the grant three to four times a week to keep the restaurant supplied with its namesake item. These days Lowell has Jack Bacigalupo to work the grant and harvest the 80,000-100,000 oysters it produces per year. With over a dozen different raw bar menu entries featuring oysters, it’s easy to see the need to have your own supply. You can experience a world of flavors within the “Naked and Spirited” raw bar listing with the Oyster Moscow with caviar and sour cream, the Oishi Oysters that feature wasabi, ginger and soy sauce, or the Oyster Reposado that’s made with Fresno pepper, lime and tequila. A particularly refreshing oyster for the warm summer months is the Gimlet Oyster: a raw oyster with Hendrick’s gin, cucumber and lime added to the liquor of the oyster. The “Dressed and Baked” section has half a dozen baked oysters that have such a wide range of delightful combinations that it’s nearly impossible to choose just one. It’s a good thing that a baked sampler is offered so you can try them all!
The raw bar menu is a fairly stable lineup of fan favorites. The lunch and dinner menus, on the other hand, are the ones that get reworked with the change of seasons. A rather extensive overhaul took place in spring, turning away from the heartier items that are essential in bracing against the cold winds of winter, and moving to lighter entrees that feature a lot of flavor. It can take Lowell upwards of two months to craft a new menu. It all starts with a list. “I make a list for everything,” she laughs. A list of the proteins she wants to feature followed by a list of the spices and herbs she wants to use and a list of other ingredients to round out the side dishes of the entrees. From there, she begins to pair items together by trying different combinations, and slowly a listing of entrees begins to form. Once settled on a menu, Lowell lays out how she wants the entrees to be plated and instructs her kitchen staff on the proper preparation and presentation to ensure a consistent look and taste.
The menu is now full of different permutations that you don’t see very often. Instead of the ubiquitous clam chowder, how about a surprisingly light puffed duck soup? A duck stock base with duck confit, mushrooms and mirepoix delicately blend together under a dome of puffed pastry. Anyone bent on finding a heartier cream-based starter will be delighted with the oyster stew that combines six freshly shucked oysters (is there any other kind?) with sherry, cream and shallots. The groupings range from the familiar (haddock and lobster) to the more unexpected (scallops and bone marrow) and have something for everyone from the vegetarian to the pescatarian to the carnivore. The vegetarian Thai bowl is a perennial favorite, and the A La Plancha is a work of art with sea scallops, ahi tuna and gulf shrimp resting on a bed of risotto that share the palette-shaped dish with a grilled lineup of zucchini, bok choy, herbed carrots and tomatoes.
If the cravings lean land-based, then turn to the cast iron Mezcal sirloin which is an 18-ounce bone-in cut that covers the bases of sweet (candied sweet potatoes), smoky (Mezcal tomato sauce), spicy (grilled shishito peppers) and even gives you a moment of pause with a cool jicama slaw. Another gem is the house prepared duck legs confit with duck fat potatoes and haricot vert drizzled with a landaise sauce. It is all about the reductions at The Naked Oyster. No need to bathe a dish in a pond of sauce. The reductions pack so much flavor that only a sparing amount is needed to impart their essence. It is a menu to return to, for there are just too many new creations, along with longstanding favorites, to sample in one sitting.
Lowell fosters a spirit of collaboration and camaraderie by changing the old mentality of how a commercial kitchen is run, where long arduous hours and open hostility reign supreme. “I try to make it so employees only work 40-45 hours per week,” she states. “And there is no yelling and screaming. I don’t know how chefs can work like that,” she ponders. The staff can feel comfortable in being able to share ideas without fear of a tongue lashing or sauté pan flying toward them. “It’s a much more interesting place to work,” she adds. To Lowell, a smooth running (and quiet) kitchen all comes down to two elements: preparation and anticipation. To do that, all she has to do is make another list! “We make a list of what we’ll do that day, and it gets done. That’s it,” she shrugs. This calm work environment isn’t for everyone, however. Some past workers have come and gone because they miss the torture that they experienced coming up through the ranks.
In the nine years since the move to downtown Hyannis, The Naked Oyster has seen a steady growth of dining options along Main Street. It would be understandable if there was some ill will towards the competition, but in Lowell’s case, that’s just not so. She joins forces with her local culinary brethren for the annual “Long Table” fundraising event every summer to benefit the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District. A revitalized Main Street (with many eating alternatives) is good for all businesses, and the motorway got its biggest boost the day The Naked Oyster opened its doors. Even though “The Oyster” isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, their exciting new menu is only around for a limited time. Stop in before the next flavorsome one comes down the pike.
Naked Oyster
410 Main Street, Hyannis
508-778-6500 / nakedoyster.com
