Toronto’s long-running oyster-shucking championship is less than two weeks away, and this year’s competitors are facing a major first. The Shuck Stop: Ontario Oyster Shucking Championship returns to The Block on King St. W. on July 19, and for the first time in the competition’s 38-year history, Ontario’s top shuckers will have to tackle both East and West Coast oysters!
The East Coast oysters will come from Prince Edward Island’s Raspberry Point Oysters, while Fanny Bay Oysters will supply the West Coast oysters from British Columbia. The competition gets underway at 2 p.m., and Ontario’s top shucker will be honoured with the coveted Ontario Oyster Festival trophy.
This year’s event also has a major fundraising focus. All profits will go to the PEI Shellfish Association, which is working with the Wild Oyster Growers of PEI to help rebuild wild oyster beds, starting in Bedeque Bay.
The championship has deep roots in Toronto’s oyster scene. The late Rodney Clark started selling and shucking PEI oysters in Ontario before opening Rodney’s Oyster House in a basement at Adelaide and Jarvis in 1986.
Clark became a three-time Canadian oyster-shucking champion and helped popularize oysters in Toronto long before raw bars became commonplace across the city.
And because the apple (or oyster?) doesn’t fall far from the tree, his son, Eamon Clark, went on to become an 11-time Canadian Oyster Shucking Champion and a partner at Seahorse, a seafood restaurant and oyster bar in Summerhill.
The shucking competition is only part of the afternoon. Guests can also dig into oysters ($6 for four), whole chilled Atlantic lobsters from Rodney’s for $45 and a lineup of other seafood and sweet and savoury snacks!
The menu also includes Rodney’s chilled PEI blue mussel salad, a raw bar platter with shrimp cocktail, littleneck clams and wild sockeye salmon crudo, brisket sandwiches from The Carbon Bar and Ruru Baked Ice Cream. Drinks from participating wineries, breweries and distilleries will cost $6.
If you still have FIFA on the brain, the event will screen the World Cup final, which kicks off at 3 pm.
The Shuck Stop runs from 1 to 6 pm on Sunday, July 19, at The Block, 460 King St. W. Tickets cost $38, and the 19+ event is cashless.