OYSTERS! OYSTERS! OYSTERS! We know a thing or two about these delicious creatures. If you didn’t receive a copy of the Outer Banks Coastal Life magazine in your mailbox, below is a link to the article, “Restaurant to Reef” featuring Blue Water’s head chef, Evan Hayes. We are proud to recycle our oyster shells to help build a new reef. Thank you to North Carolina’s Coastal Federation for all you do to support our coast.
One of the biggest ambassadors from the kitchen is Evan Hayes, the executive chef at Blue Water. Before coming to Blue Water six years ago, Hayes might have enjoyed sitting around a burn barrel in the winter, shucking oysters with friends from time to time, but now oysters are a huge part of his life. He takes part in talks about oysters during events such as Taste of the Beach or the North Carolina Oyster Trail. He strives to buy locally farmed oysters to support local watermen. And golly does he schlep shells by the bucketload every night.
“I know we are a big contributor because I lug the shells out to the parking lot every day,” Hayes says with a laugh, estimating the Blue Water haul to be in the “tens of tons” each year. “Any given weekend day, we’ll have 30 gallons of oyster shells at the end of the day. It’s gone up exponentially the last two years with the amount of oysters we’re selling.”