Walrus & Carpenter Oyster Picnic

The time has come, said Cornichon,
For bivalves on the beach:
The moon is full, the tide is out...
We'll have an oyster feast!

Okay, so it doesn't quite rhyme. And you have to know your Alice Through the Looking Glass to remember that "The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a Lewis Carroll nonsense poem about two unlikely buddies who invite a bunch of oysters to their midnight picnic...and eat them.

But it's not nonsense at all, a couple of nights ago, as oyster guru Jon Rowley leads an expedition of intrepid foodies from Seattle to the Taylor Shellfish oyster beds on Totten Inlet in the South Sound. Full moon, extreme low tide, f-f-f-reezing temperatures, and all the oysters one could gather, shuck and eat. A bonfire to keep body and soul together. Fresh-off-the-beach bivalves, notably Totten Inlet Pacifics and the thumbnail-size Olympias. Oyster-friendly wines, too, notably the Geyser Peak sauvignon blanc.

"The best oysters you'll ever taste," Rowley had promised. "A benchmark oyster experience." No kidding. Oh frabjous day, oh frabjous night!