For most of the summer, you can find Maura Scudero shucking oysters. On a recent sunny day in Ketchikan, she and two Alaskan Oyster Shack staff members were popping open a dozen of the deep-cupped, palm-sized mollusks, dropping the half shells into a bucket.
Scudero owns the Alaskan Oyster Shack, a local restaurant situated on the corner of Newtown Wharf, attracting massive amounts of tourist traffic to the business’ walk up window. It’s the only restaurant in Ketchikan to sell just oysters — and all of their oysters are exclusively from Southeast Alaska.
Scudero, a longtime Southeast resident, takes pride in that.
“There’s not a lot of options for oysters, which is kind of crazy because we have incredible oysters and we have a lot of oysters,” Scudero said.
Scudero is trying to spread the word about Alaskan oysters. This summer, the business was even recognized in Food and Wine magazine as having one of the best dishes of the month, calling the business the best place to experience Southeast Alaska’s burgeoning oyster scene, just short of visiting an oyster farm.
It was also recently featured in Seattle Magazine.
But just last year, Scudero and her small team were shucking oysters on a pop-up table with a little handmade sign, unsheltered from the not-unusual torrential rainfall. Eventually, they moved indoors.
“Looking at pictures now, I’m like, I can’t believe anyone came up to us,” Scudero said. “It looks like we’re gonna hand you your orders with a side of asbestos or something. Like it does not look nice, but we still got people, and you know, it’s a trickle effect kind of thing.”
Alaska waters are too cold for oysters to naturally reproduce, but the cold water is good for growth. Farmers import seeds from down south and grow them in farms across Southeast.
Scudero has worked in Southeast Alaska’s mariculture industry for years in different capacities. She used to work in marketing for a mariculture company, where she would travel to kelp and oyster farms around Ketchikan, Wrangell and Prince of Wales Island. That’s how she got started.
All the places the Alaskan Oyster Shack harvests from are local and family-owned. She knows all of the farmers personally, and says part of showing people Alaskan oysters is also highlighting the communities they come from.
She can tell where the oysters come from just by looking at them — whether they’re from Tamasso Shellfish, Blue Starr, or Seagrove. Things like the size, shape, and depth of the cup give it away. The oysters are huge, which Scudero says is why they cost a little more than what they might in the Lower 48. Each farm delivers once a week and they stagger the shipments to always offer the freshest they can.
Almost everyone who works at the Alaskan Oyster Shack was born and raised in Ketchikan. Spencer Sullivan started working there after graduating high school and was looking for a summer job.
“I showed up and I’d never eaten an oyster. I’d never shucked an oyster. I don’t even know if I’d seen an oyster,” Sullivan said. “It probably took me a week to get it so people weren’t spitting out shells.”
He was one of the staff members shucking with Scudero on the pop-up table in the rain last summer. But halfway through the season, he started picking up information by listening to Scudero talk with farmers and customers. He tried to learn as much as he could.
Now, Sullivan’s a manager. He loves it.
“I always want to be down here,” he said. “It’s fun to hear people say they love our oysters and like they’d never tried an Alaskan oyster. It’s cool to give people that experience.”
When it’s slow, Sullivan and Scudero will experiment crafting sauces and mignonettes, which are all made in-house. Sullivan says you can put almost anything on an oyster. It might not always work, but he says it’s worth it to try things out.
:“You never know, it might just be like super good,” he said. “It could also be really bad.”
Sometimes, the weird works. The oyster shack’s blueberry basil mignonette adds a sweet element that is balanced and not overpowering. The spicy Thai chili sauce adds a complementary kick without being distracting. All sauces can also be accompanied with a squeeze of fresh lemon, supplied locally by Wolf Point Produce.
The Alaskan Oyster Shack recently expanded with a small location at Ward Cove, a developing cruise ship port just outside of town. Scudero doesn’t want to expand much further than that — at least not right away. It’s not a goal she has right now. She wants to focus on polishing and perfecting what they already have going.
“Great staff, great training. You know, we already have great oysters, so we have that all down,” she said. “And then, you know, who knows what the future holds?”
Like many local restaurants, the Alaskan Oyster Shack is only open regular hours during the summer months. But Scudero wants locals to know their oysters are not just for tourists. They offer punch cards and are open to pop-up events and collaborations.
For the visitors, she wants them to leave Ketchikan knowing the distinct taste of an Alaskan oyster.
