If you like oysters, you cannot miss a trip to the Sunnyside Oyster Bar in Williamston, North Carolina. It is one of the few authentic raw bars in the country.

Sunnyside is an eastern North Carolina tradition and folks from all over the country come to taste these special, just-shucked oysters. Everyone sits around a horseshoe-shaped bar while the shuckers open your oysters for you-your choice: raw or steamed.

 

 

 

They do it the same way they have been doing it since 1935, when Charles Roberson, Sr. first opened his restaurant and called it Sunnyside.

 

 

 

As soon as you enter the front door, you can smell that famous Sunnyside Sauce, and it is served hot. 

Bermey Stevens, one of the owners, told me that only five people know the recipe. He grinned as he told me that it has ketchup, vinegar and a special ingredient that I could find at the grocery store.  He also told me that they paid almost as much for the recipe as they did for the oyster bar. He didn’t share the recipe!

 

I remember going to the Oyster Bar when my mother’s cousin, C.T. Roberson, owned it. Not much has changed. Each year the bead-board walls were painted a bright, gloss white, trimmed with bright green.

 

The walls are still bright, gloss white and the trim is still bright green. Actually, it has changed a wee bit, and I think that’s good. Now you can get a great glass of wine to go with those fabulous oysters. You’ll see a couple of pinball machines for the younger clients, but I do miss the Wurlitzer.

 

When C.T. owned the Oyster Bar, it was open only during the months that have an "R" in them: September through April. I figure that came from all those years before we had refrigeration; oysters spoiled easily. Now you can get your oyster fix all year. During the months without the "R", Sunnyside will be open one weekend a month.

 

The oysters come from all over the country, depending on the weather. Heavy rains in Idaho can affect the oysters in Louisiana. Most people like their oysters to be slightly salty, so the folks from Sunnyside keep a close eye on the weather. Some of the best oysters come from Apalachicola, but they also get oysters from Massachusetts, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and our own Core Sound.

 

You can get oysters raw or steamed, steamed shrimp, Alaska King Crab legs and scallops. A new concession is broccoli with cheese sauce. But don’t worry; you won’t see a trendy blooming onion or nachos in this oyster bar.

 

 

 

 

 

The oysters are steamed out back in galvanized buckets with gashes cut into them to allow steam to penetrate.

Your shucker will disappear through the back door and reappear with your peck (or more) of oysters. He then dumps them in the trough behind the bar where everyone sits. They can seat 32 oyster-eaters at a time.

The shucker then deftly opens each oyster for you, just as they have done for years.

 

 

 

 

 

Our shucker Nate has been shucking for 27 years right here at Sunnyside. Griff has been shucking for 38 years. He also has a day job with the city of Williamston.

 

Four years ago, some folks did the math and figured that Griff had shucked 1.37 million oysters at Sunnyside.

If you are serious about your oysters, you might order a Red Rooster; this is an oyster on a saltine cracker, with a dollop of horseradish, a hot pepper soaked in vinegar and a lethal dose of hot sauce.

 

 

 

Not for the faint of heart is the Oyster Shooter: in a shot glass you have a slug of beer, an oyster, 2 Tablespoons of Sunnyside sauce and a dash of hot sauce- then down the hatch just like any other shooter. Oysters aren’t really beautiful, but don’t tell all those folks at Sunnyside.

Sunnyside Oyster Bar is on the National Historic Register. It has been highlighted in the Raleigh News and Observer, Southern Living and Down East magazine.

If you go: Sunnyside Oyster Bar, 1102 Washington Street, Williamston, NC. Telephone 252-792-3416 www.sunnysideoysterbarnc.com and customerservice@sunnysideoysterbarnc.com

They are open every day at 5:30 from late August through April. Go early if you don’t want to wait for a spot at the bar. But the waiting is fun too.

For our friends in the Triangle, Sunnyside Too is now in Garner, N.C (919) 662-7994

Green Tip:  The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has launched an oyster shell recycling program and I am thrilled that Sunnyside is participating. When these shells are reintroduced into the coastal waters , they help establish new oyster reefs, thus producing more oysters and making a habitat for other beneficial organisms in the sounds and brackish waters of North Carolina. Oysters also help keep our waters clean: one oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day. I guess it is our turn to build some shell mounds or middens.

 

 

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Technorati Tags: shucking oysters, raw oysters, oyster bar, steamed shrimp, Sunnyside Oyster Bar, road food, Sunny Side Oyster Bar in eastern North Carolina, Southern Living magazine, Alaska King Crab legs, broccoli with cheese sauce, oyster shell recycling program, restaurants near Big Mill B&B, restaurants near Greenville, North Carolina

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The Cypress Grill is a place you just don’t want to miss; even if you don’t like fish. Sitting precariously on the banks of the Roanoke River in eastern North Carolina, it has welcomed diners for over fifty years.  Michael Stern, who does the Road Food column on National Public Radio calls it "the last of the old-time herring shacks." Mr. Stern’s specialty is finding wonderful out-of-the-way eateries.

The original building of board and batten cypress was built in 1936 as a fish camp for the men who would go to the river to hunt, fish and tell tales; we still have fish camps, folks who like to fish and folks who like to tell fish tales.

It is all about the fresh water herring that used to be so abundant in this fast moving, turbulent river. Sally and Leslie Gardner have been the owners of the Cypress Grill for 34 years. Crystal McLaurin along with family members and a staff of eight folks help Miss Sally in the kitchen.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       This is a family business; their five-year-old granddaughter Summer will tell you right off that she is the manager and I believe her!

 

For the past few years the herring population has dwindled dramatically and currently there is a moratorium on catching herring in the Roanoke.

 

Ted Gardner from Virginia Beach grew up on Gardner’s Creek (not far from the Cypress Grill) remembers when he could throw a net overboard almost anywhere on the creek and catch so many herring that it took several folks to haul in the catch. "We thought the herring would always be there." 

 

Last year the moratorium was temporarily waived for Jamesville’s annual Herring Festival on Easter Monday. We are all hoping that might happen again.

But don’t fret: they do have fresh herring, just not from the Roanoke. Miss Sally explains how they cook their herrings. (Forget what you thought you knew about herrings floating in cream sauce from Zabar’s). 

 

At the Cypress Grill the herring are scaled, cleaned and then "notched" almost to the bone. They use a home-made scaling machine to remove the fish scales.

They are then lightly breaded and cooked either Sunny-Side-Up or Cremated. A Sunny-Side-Up herring is fried crisp and tender. A Cremated herring is super-fried. After you remove the backbone you eat all the meat and any other bones, usually without even using a fork. All that cartilage has to be good for you, doesn’t it?

 

 

 

 

 

You can also get corned herring. I remember going to Cypress Grill with my father. He would buy several buckets of herrings for a penny a fish. We brought them home and corned them in the same old crocks that we used to brine the fatback in the days when we had hog killings on the farm.

 

 

Herring Roe is a delicacy that is popular at the grill. Often the Gardners squeeze the roe out of the fish themselves. Then they "meal" it, add country eggs and fry the roe cakes until crisp. They use only Abbitt’s Corn Meal, made right here in Martin County. Locals won’t use anything else.

 

Even if you don’t think you want to try herrings, you can get fried catfish, oysters and shrimp, all lighted breaded. They also have Rock Stew, and Miss Sally was quick to let me know that stew is not the same as muddle; muddle has crackers in it.  Her Rock Stew is made from river bass caught right in the Roanoke. She starts with onions, potatoes and seasonings in a bit of water. This is cooked and then she adds the Rockfish (stripped river bass) on top. This way the fish is not cooked to a poultice.

 

 

 

When I asked what was for desert, the waitress told me they had Chocolate Pie, Lemon Pie and Coconut pie made right there in the kitchen; she added that they had pecan pie too, but it was frozen. That let me know exactly what not to order. Their chocolate pie has gotten rave reviews.

 

 

The Cypress Grill has been written up in the New York Times, Southern Living, Smithsonian Magazine, Chritian Science Monitor and Our State. Jan and Michael Stern, writers for Gourmet magazine praised the Cypress Grill on National Public Radio’s Splendid Table, just for starters.

If you go: The Cypress Grill is in Jamesville, North Carolina about 10 miles east of Big Mill Bed and Breakfast, just off US Highway 64. (About 110 miles south of Norfolk and 110 miles east of Raleigh) It is open each year from early January until the end of April for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Take cash with you; they don’t take credit cards, but you won’t need much money. Your entire meal with sweet and a piece of that great chocolate pie will be under ten bucks. 252-792-4175

You have to experience this wonderful piece of Americana and local fare; it is who we are. We hope the Cypress Grill will always be there, but there aren’t any guarantees. For now, seeing that "Yes, we’re Open" sign makes me happy.

 

 

Technorati Tags: Cypress Grill, Jamesville, Eastern North Carolina, herring, Roanoke River Partners, Martin County, Williamston restaurants, Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, Herring moratorium, Herring Festival, Cremated Herring, Carolina eateries, fishing in the Roanoke

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Oh, but I love to pick up pecans. And I like to play with limbs and sticks in the yard; but mostly I like to roll in the sunshine and throw out a few sage remarks while Chloe picks up the pecans. (I am not sure if she enjoys this as much as I do.)

 

(Pecans and Chloe’s old Red Flyer wagon from years ago. Chloe loves that Pecan Picker gadget)

 

Our four pecan trees were planted by Chloe’s folks in 1922, so they are quite grand and stately. We haven’t had pecans for a few years, mostly because of the storms.

When Chloe was a kid she used to sell pecans and sometimes she sold as many as 15 bushels. She told me that in all her years growing up on the farm at Big Mill she had never been hit on the head by a pecan until yesterday. Now she is wearing a hat.

 

This year we have five bushels of nuts and I must inspect them all.  

  

Chloe is very fond of a potato crate and we store pecans in them. I see nothing noble about these crates. If I went in a car I used to have to ride in this ridiculous crate. It was humilating. Imagine showing up for an event in a crate like some Eastern North Carolina country hick. I am not the one who has a Redneck Woman license tag on my pick up truck. Now I have my own carrier but I want a nicer, padded one.

  

We are working on a Big Mill pecan biscotti recipe. I don’t much care for biscotti, but Chloe tells me they go great with our guest’s morning coffee here at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast.

Mouse flavored biscotti might be nice.

I want to thank all of you kind folks who sent me Christmas presents and treats…you are great!

 

    (the Big Mill Fur Person)

 

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Now that the holiday season is approaching, I have to try to shed the Bah Humbug attitude. The best way for me to do that is to make something pretty or make a gift for someone. My mother and I used to cook and bake fudge, brownies and cookies and we made all our decorations mostly from things we had available. We dipped sweet gum balls in the handy five-gallon buckets of silver roof paint. Wonder if it was toxic?

I just love the dehydrated orange and grapefruit slices; they look like stained glass when hung on a Christmas tree. The apples are also great for stringing garlands and for wreaths. Funny, but I have noticed that men love to eat these dehydrated apples; women walk right by them. And no one can deny loving that wonderful, fresh citrus smell.  

Commercial dehydrated fruit is often sulfured to aid in preservation and to retain color. I don’t use any sulphur.

To make these yummy dried fruits you will need a dehydrator**, a knife and some fruit, either oranges, grapefruit or apples.

 

Recipe for Dehydrated Oranges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

12-15 oranges (it just isn’t worth it to do fewer).  Any type of orange is fine. I usually look for the juice oranges because they are cheaper.

Using a sharp bread knife, slice the oranges crosswise and thin. Remove any seeds after you have sliced the orange. You will get 7-8 slices per orange. 

Place the orange pieces in a single layer on the dehydrating trays. Trays can be stacked on top of each other up to about 12 trays. Since the dehydrating process generates heat, it is a good idea to place the machine somewhere you might like to have the warmth. Do not leave the dehydrator unattended.

 

 Turn on the dehydrator to a medium setting. As the oranges begin to dehydrate, they will shrink so you can move them closer together, making room for new fruit. It could take all day for the oranges to be transparent and completely dry. If they are especially juicy, it might take longer.

 

 

Store in an airtight container until you are ready to display.

During the hot months, this fruit often attracts moths. Around April, I put my orange slices in the freezer and they will keep until the next season.  

 

 

 

–>  So, what are some of your favorite childhood Christmas memories?  Click on the "comments" link below and share your best recollections.  I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

 

 

 ** You can buy a dehydrator at stores like Wal-Mart or online for under $100. Cabelas sells the same one I use.

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Christmas decorations at the inn, Christmas at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, dehydrating fruit, Christmas decorations, preserving fruit, craft ideas

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