The restaurant critic for The New York Times came to Halifax recently, but he wasn’t on the hunt for donair, fried pepperoni or other local fare. Frank Bruni was just passing through on his way to get some oysters and mussels in Prince Edward Island. His shellfish story was published yesterday, an entertaining read that mentions the amazing Flex Mussels, the authority of the PEI brand and the attraction of a destination farther-flung than even Halifax.
I was after the two island exports I encounter most often in upscale restaurants in New York, and I was determined to savor them at their source. Just as some people trek all the way to Piedmont for white truffles or Alaska for salmon, I journeyed to Prince Edward Island for oysters and mussels.
This is where the oysters that go by the designations or labels Malpeque, Raspberry Point and Colville Bay originate. This is what the initials P.E.I. in front of a mussel mean. A P.E.I. mussel is like Niman Ranch pork: a brand with real clout, a boast restaurateurs itch to make.
There were additional draws to Prince Edward Island, foremost among them the remote, land’s-end aura of the place. Although getting there requires only a flight of less than two and a half hours from New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia, followed by a 30-minute flight from Halifax to Charlottetown, the island’s capital, few Americans make the trip. For that matter not many Canadians bother.
The full piece, “Beckoned by Bivalves,” is here.
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2007.