Oyster Week
Avant Comptoir de la Mer, Closerie des Lilas, Poissonnerie, Regarding Oysters, Le Coquillage at Château Richeux, MORE
ABOUT FOUND • Oyster Week
Few pleasures rival a perfect spring day in Paris. Add freshly shucked oysters, and it becomes something else entirely. For FOUND’s first Oyster Week, let’s turn to two Left Bank standouts where the pairing feels especially right.
There’s a magnetic pull coming from the oyster bar spilling onto the sidewalk at Avant Comptoir de la Mer, just off Odéon (above). The shucker, Thibaut Narme, is at work, while a select few diners sit on stools with glasses of wine. It’s hard to pass by.
The bar is the brainchild of Yves Camdeborde, one of the foundational chefs of the bistronomie movement. He knew that having it practically on the street would draw people in. They come for the oysters and end up discovering everything else.
Paris does this kind of place so well. Casual, at times a bit hectic, but exacting. Avant Comptoir looks loose and easy. The more time spent there, the more deliberate it feels.
Inside, it’s narrow. Really narrow. There’s a bit of squeezing, a bit of shifting, until a spot at the bar opens up. Pictures of the dishes hang from the ceiling, small cards clipped to wires. A point upward is enough. A few minutes later, the food arrives.
There’s a mound of butter the size of a child’s head next to a basket of good bread. The wines are excellent, and because of the closeness, conversations start on their own. A request to pass the jar of cutlery turns into a debate with a neighbor about what to order.
Avant Comptoir is the perfect stop on the way somewhere or on the way back. And not surprisingly, it can turn into a few hours, easily.
At the other end of the 6th, toward Montparnasse, the rhythm shifts.
La Closerie des Lilas is a Left Bank institution. Prettier than most, with its covered terrace and soft, slightly theatrical light. And yes, it has history. Picasso, Fitzgerald, Hemingway (who wrote parts of A Moveable Feast here) and later Beckett and Sartre.
But that’s not really the point. Right at the entrance sits a classic brasserie oyster bar. Metal trays, piles of shells, rough and mineral, catching the light. Behind the worn zinc counter is Bou Bou.
Boualem ‘Bou Bou’ Seddiki is known in Paris for his savoir-faire. He’s been doing this long enough to have won the Championnat de France for his oyster shucking and plating. He spends mornings sourcing: huîtres creuses, the familiar cupped oysters; huîtres plates, flatter, more delicate; Belon from Brittany, more mineral, more exacting. Some plein mer, raised in open water. Others fin de claire, finished in shallow basins.
But this is less a lesson than an appreciation. His favorite is the Utah-Beach. Larger, creamier, almost buttery. Tabasco is out of the question. Mignonette doesn’t really belong here. “A bit of pepper, if you want,” he says. “But that’s it.”
Closerie des Lilas has never chased reinvention. It doesn’t need to. The oysters arrive as they always have: cold, clean, and unadorned. The counter holds.
Two very different oyster bars in the same arrondissement. One pulls you in and keeps you moving. The other asks you to stop. –Sam Brenzel
→ Avant Comptoir de la Mer (6th arr) • 3 Carr de l’Odeon • Daily 12-23h.
→ Closerie des Lilas (14th arr) • 171 boulevard du Montparnasse • Daily 12-00h.
INTEL • Oyster Week
What’s your go-to spot for oysters and seafood?
→ LOUISE PERRY, chef, L’Oursin: First, La Mascotte in Montmartre. It’s very nostalgic for me. My parents used to go there for day drinking, and I remember the tanks with lobsters and langoustines. Going back today really reminds me why I got into cooking in the first place, and where my love for seafood, fish, and beautiful products comes from. Then there’s Poissonnerie Kennedy in Marseille. After a swim, it’s the perfect place to sit on their terrace in the courtyard, have some seafood, and drink one of their amazing bottles of white wine. Simple, but kind of perfect.
→ VICTOR VAUTIER, co-owner, Early June: In the 10th, Sur Mer by Cheffe Olive Davoux. She’s a neighbor and has now two restaurants in the neighborhood — a talented chef and the best products.
→ ADAM PURCELL, chef, De Vie: It has to be Terroir’s Poissonnerie on Rue du Nil in the 2nd arrondissement. We order our oysters through them for the menu. They always have a really nice selection from small oyster farmers around the coast of France. When the sun comes out, I like to grab a dozen and enjoy them with a squeeze of lemon by Canal Saint Martin.
What’s the coolest oyster experience you’ve ever had?
→ LOUISE PERRY: For the best oyster experience, honestly, it’s not in a restaurant. For me, it’s buying oysters from a fish shop while on holiday and opening them yourself on the beach. It feels like eating a bite of the sea, a bit of sunshine — that’s really what oysters are about for me.
→ VICTOR VAUTIER: Oysters at La Docena in Mexico City, surrounded by friends and new faces, during a quick 16-hour trip to surprise a friend for his birthday. The wind rustles through the room, which is totally open to the outside, so the breeze comes in. Huge platters of seafood arrive at the table, part of the mariscos tradition — seafood brought in fresh every day from all parts of Mexico. Pacifico beer, mezcal — we stayed there for hours. We were supposed to be four and ended up being eight, with friends dropping by to say hello and staying for a drink.
→ ADAM PURCELL: Sitting by the beach in Puerto Escondido, a local fisherman emerged from the sea with a net full of shellfish. We had a plate of them with lots of lime, hot sauce, and an ice-cold Michelada. –Caitlin Gunther
WORK • Friday Routine
Shucking on the Seine
GEORGETTE MOGER • author & host • Regarding Oysters
Neighborhood you live in: 11th arr
It’s Friday morning. What’s on the agenda for today?
I’ve just wheeled my wicker basket back from the Marche d’Aligre, where I’ve piled it with oysters, flowers, produce, cheeses, and charcuteries. I host a weekly oyster shucking and wine and spirits pairing salon in my living room called Regarding Oysters, but tonight I’m hosting my guests on a clandestine corner of the Seine for sunset shucking and a picnic. Afterward, I’ll take them to a tiny secret garden that once belonged to François Mitterrand. I’ve packed dessert cocktails and sweets from Tapisserie for the guests to enjoy. When we finish, I’ll leave them across the street at my friend Vanessa’s store, Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, so that they can shop for some treasures to bring back home.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’m fighting the urge to sleep in, but I get up to polish a chapter on my next book, an oyster-themed follow-up to Regarding Cocktails. There’s also some prep to be done for the evening. Tonight’s stormy forecast means my four guests will be attending here in my home. The salon is extra beautiful at dusk when it rains, filled with flickering candlelight, abundant grazing platters, and overflowing arrangements of flowers near the edible perfumes, which we’ll pair with our oysters. That precious 15 minutes before guests arrive is my favorite moment of hosting. I’ll sample the welcome cocktail, survey the mise en scene, put on my lipstick, and place cookies in the oven. My go-to recipe is one from David Lebovitz’s new cookbook, Ready for Dessert, that I add flaky salt and dried cherries to.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I love starting an evening out with an apéro at my favorite local spot, Bluebird. Paris nights are still a little chilly so I might go for something hearty at L’Alchimiste in the nearby 12th. It’s one of those tiny, disappearing family-owned bistrots where if you’re waiting under the awning in the rain, the host comes out with a warm apology for the delay and hands you a Kir. Later in the spring, I already know I’ll be perched at Le Dauphin with friends sharing oysters, gnarly weirdo pét-nats, and the most gorgeous artichokes.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Many of my guests are tourists, so their vacation days aren’t necessarily on weekends. This can mean I’m hosting on a Tuesday but off the next three days. On Wednesday, my beloved, Arnaud, made a gorgeous picnic with homemade focaccia and whipped feta for us to enjoy in Luxembourg Gardens before taking in the Leonora Carrington exhibit at the museum in the park.
Any weekend getaways?
Arnaud and I recently spent a long rainy weekend in the Loire Valley. We stayed at a stunning Airbnb on a truffle orchard with a massive kitchen and fireplace stocked with wood. The valley was flooded during much of our time there, forcing us indoors, just cooking and reading.
What was your last great vacation?
My first press trip as a journalist was in 2014 to French Polynesia. Admittedly, this set a high bar. Spending 10 days on motorboats, catamarans, and puddle jumpers puttering across the Society Islands opened my eyes; simply doing what I love, writing about locally produced spirits and traditional cocktails, could mean a way to see the world. Tahiti remains one of my favorite places I’ve ever traveled. In 2024, I went back as a visitor (not as a journalist) to see if everything had remained unchanged. It was just as I remembered it.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
My apartment. After the stress of renovating, it was so satisfying to find unconventional ways to fashion it together on a tiny budget into the dream home I always wanted. I went on a treasure hunt at Le Bon Coin, a secondhand site where I found everything from my stand mixer to a baroque secretaire desk to the Belle Époque clawfoot tub, the focal point of the salon.
PARIS WORK & PLAY LINKS: The era of ‘Fine’: is Paris losing its restaurant groove? • Talking with Adrian Bouchaud, French chef behind new Indian spot Gourou in the 11th • Celine Dion to make concert comeback at La Défense in Sept-Oct • This season, preppy fashion takes a trip to Paris • Appraising Matisse: 1941-1954: ‘breathtaking’ • Mayor Hidalgo’s legacy: Paris, the city that said no to cars.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Object
Everything but the pearl
Having not grown up in an oyster-loving family, it was a great pleasure to marry into one. Not just for the chance to learn how they grow or to taste them fresh off a dock, but because an obsession with oysters opens up a world of easy gift-giving opportunities.
For example, we all spent one summer experimenting with oysters on the grill. It’s a great way to prepare them, because a) there’s no need to shuck the oysters, as they pop open over the hot flame, and b) you can melt butter as they lightly cook, creating a more novice-friendly texture than a raw slurp. The following Christmas, my in-laws were delighted to receive a cast iron oyster grill pan, which cuts down on the mess (and loss of precious oyster juice).
Now, I see oyster-themed gifts everywhere. Inside a French antiques store in Upstate New York, I discovered an array of antique silver oyster trays, which sent me down a rabbit hole. They’ve become an increasingly popular product in the last few years, especially amongst ceramicists. They’re a little kitsch and a fun addition to the slurpable treat. I’m particularly fond of Michelle Morton’s ocean-inspired rendition, and the freeform variety from Gloob Ceramics in Brooklyn. While the tray from Virginia Sin is simple, that also means it’s a safe gift for any home. I wish I had friends getting married on the beach this summer so I could get a custom oyster platter from Chell Fish (above), an acceptable off-registry gift.
The other day, I found out that JLD, a brilliant knife maker who makes pieces for restaurants and sells a select few during occasional online drops, makes a small, stainless steel oyster knife with a walnut handle. It’s a major upgrade from the plastic variety that comes with fish market oysters – and a thoughtful present for the oyster-lover in your life. –Sylvie Florman
GETAWAYS • Brittany
World class
The waters where an oyster is raised are the defining element in how it tastes. Oysters grown in nearly enclosed bays, like the Etang de Thau in the Languedoc and the Bay of Arcachon in the Southwest of France, tend to be saltier than those raised in open waters with stronger currents. The algae content of the water also has a large impact on the flavor of an oyster, along with water temperature and the tides. Or in other words, the ocean is to oysters what soil is to grapes raised for making wine, the key to their taste.
Knowing all of this will help you understand why the oysters raised off the Breton port of Cancale in the Bay of Mont Saint Michel are some of the very best in the world. The powerful tides of the bay generously nourish the bivalves, making them firm and fleshy, with a hazelnut taste glossed with the salinity and herbaceousness of seaweed. They are, quite simply, an experience that every oyster connoisseur should have at least once, but preferably several dozen times or more, which is the route I’ve chosen.
There are two essential Cancale oyster experiences.
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