Now showing: an oyster shuck-and-suck to kick off five days of movies and grubbing

A beautiful summer night, sandy waterside seating, 6,500 oysters, seven short films and a couple hundred hungry slurpers made for a pretty perfect kickoff to the fourth annual NYC Food Film Festival. The Suck N’ Shuck event, held at Water Taxi Beach at the South Street Seaport, featured all-you-can-eat bivalves—a throwback to the days when the critters abounded off the Manhattan shoreline. Arrayed on beds of ice were Malpeques and Beau Soleils from Nova Scotia as well as our personal favorite, Rhode Island Watch Hills. For a break between oysters courses, servers ferried trays of non-raw goodies like Angels on Horseback (bacon-wrapped oysters) from Jimmy’s No. 43 and yellowtail poke on rice crackers prepared by festival Executive Chef Harry Hawk. Plus, an open bar. Yes!

As the slurping began to slow (we, and others, discovered it may be possible to eat one’s fill of oysters), the crowd settled back to watch teams like Peter Hoffman and Susan Rosenfeld of Savoy and brothers Adam and Brad Farmerie—of AvroKo and Double Crown, respectively—compete in the night’s namesake event, the Suck N’ Shuck. After a neck-and-neck contest in which three people shed blood, Jimmy Carbone and his shucker, “Eddie Oyster,” prevailed with 24 oysters.

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Photos by Gabi Porter.

The drink offers a taste of the ocean in a glass.

We’re such purists about oysters that we typically consider them best enjoyed plain—maybe with a squeeze of lemon. However, we recently tried one cocktail that may be the mollusk’s natural mate. Oceana’s eponymous signature drink ($14) draws on the flavors of the sea, adding the zesty kick of citrus and heat that recalls condiments at the raw bar. The frothy mixture of fragrant shiso, tart lime and yuzu juices, piquant serrano pepper, Cointreau and egg white includes two wild-card elements: vodka infused with fjallagros (an Icelandic moss), which imparts a deep, woody flavor, and a seaweed garnish. All told, the drink is a hodgepodge of multicultural ingredients—much like Oceana’s food itself, which draws on traditions ranging from Greek to Thai. And, like oysters, the tipple’s best enjoyed icy cold. Oceana, McGraw-Hill Building, 1221 Sixth Ave at 49th St (212-759-5941).