In the Kitchen With: Chef Julia Sullivan

Chef Julia Sullivan opened her Nashville restaurant, Henrietta Red, to give her hometown a spot that’s as focused on a dish’s foundations as the finished plate. With her emphasis on fresh, seasonal product and quality ingredients, it’s little surprise that farmed oysters caught her attention. The James Beard Award Best Chef Southeast finalist credits her dad for introducing her to oysters and says college years at Tulane in New Orleans re-kindled the relationship. Then, when she discovered the diversity of farmed oysters, making them a core component of Henrietta Red’s offerings became a priority.

“One of my favorite things to do in while in culinary school in New York City was to go out to spots where you could try a lot of different oysters,” she says. “It’s like drinking good wine; you can open 20 bottles of the same grape and yet, no two are exactly the same. Oysters are such a fun way to explore different tastes, and I loved learning those distinctions. I wanted to share that with Nashville.”

Sullivan’s initial attraction to oysters was, like it is for many, the conviviality of slurping with friends. “Even if you eat oysters pretty often, it always still seems special,” she says. But her love of oysters has evolved since she opened Henrietta Red; today, the people behind the bivalves and the characteristics of their unique product mean even more. “I have loved meeting all the producers and learning more about what they do and why they do it,” she says. “That’s a big part of it, but my motivation in choosing and serving oysters now is also very much about taste, texture and presentation, the real culinary side of it. And looking at oysters from these perspectives makes me appreciate them even more. For such a simple little organism, there is so much about oysters that is fascinating to me.”

Another aspect of oyster aquaculture that’s appealing to Sullivan is the industry’s sustainability. “Oyster farming has become an interest of mine beyond the finished culinary product,” she says. “The more I understand the community of it, the good practices these farmers are enacting that are environmentally beneficial and the economics of it, the more I love it.”

Henrietta Red’s customers are loving Sullivan’s continuing interest in and support of oyster farms. Her sentiments have made Henrietta Red one of the top places to enjoy oysters in Music City. “The two things that set us apart are the number of oyster varieties we have – usually 10 to 15 – and how fresh they are,” she says. “We get them in six days a week. And I’m proud that the quality of our shucking is really high; if you eat an oyster that’s been massacred with the shuck, you lose the mouthfeel, and it’s not the same experience it could have been.”

Sullivan encourages everyone to eat more oysters more often, and not just at Henrietta Red. Below, she shares a recipe for a simple condiment that’s easy to make at home.

Meyer Lemon-Chili Mignonette

Yield 1 ½ cups

130 g Fine minced shallot
100 g Serrano pepper bruinoise (julienned and then sliced into small cubes)
536 g Champagne vinegar
536 g Meyer lemon juice
86 g Meyer lemon zest

Combine ingredients and let macerate for 30 minutes before serving. Can be refrigerated for up to two days.