by Tom Chillemi
New to this year’s Urbanna Oyster Festival, Rappahannock River Oysters LLC (RRO) of Topping will be serving a variety of their oysters at the wine garden area next to the Urbanna Post Office.
The taste of these aquaculture-raised specialty oysters vary from heavy salt, sweet and mildly salty—depending on where they were raised. A clue to their flavor is in their names, “Olde Salts,” Rappahannock River Oysters, Stingray Oyster and Barcat Oysters, which represents a partnership between the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and RRO, which is located in Topping.
RRO’s boutique oyster tasting will run from 11 a.m to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, November 5-6. Oyster lovers will be able to pair their favorite wines with different oysters served raw or steamed. They also will serve farm-raised “Olde Salts” middle neck clams from Chincoteague.
In 2001, brothers Ryan and Scott Croxton and their cousin Travis Croxton “re-invented” Rappahannock River Oysters LLC. Their great grandfather began the oyster company in 1899 near Tappahannock.
In a very short time RRO has won acclaim among oyster connoisseurs and discerning chefs of the finest metropolitan restaurants.
Their oysters are raised in water with different salinity that gives each variety a distinct taste. The oysters are farm raised and hand selected for appearance, and have a deep cup and overall quality to assure the client gets a very consistent oyster, said RRO director Anthony Marchetti.
Their oysters are shipped nationwide to finer restaurants in New York City, Los Angles, Houston, Dallas, and Hawaii. One order even went to Hong Kong.
Rappahannock River Oysters is featured in the book “A Geography of Oysters, a Connoisseur’s Guide to Eating Oysters in North America” by Rowan Jacobsen. The book identified RRO as one of 12 best oyster suppliers in the country.
RRO also is in the cookbook “Harvest to Heat Cooking with America’s Best Chef Farmers and Artisans” by Darryl Estrine and Kelly Kochendorfer. RRO was a selected favorite artisan oyster farmer.
Tom Colicchio, host of the Bravo TV show “Top Chef,” used a RRO recipe .
Rappahannock River Oysters are served in Tom Colicchio’s “Craft” family of restaurants, which are nationwide.
RRO also is featured in the October issue of Virginia Living.
