Dish Spotting: Whelks

Oysters, crabs, lobsters, mussels, and shrimp are raw bar staples, but recently we discovered a new entree onto the ice display.  They’re called whelks and we discovered them at The John Dory Oyster Bar.   Whelks are giant snails, plump, sweet and briny and pretty hard-to-find in New York.

We’ve always admired April Bloomfield’s finesse with pork at The Breslin and hamburgers at The Spotted Pig, but it wasn’t until the opening of the original John Dory that we discovered how gifted she is with seafood, too.   Bloomfield sources her whelks from Maine, serves them raw, paired with a pot of melted butter, flavored with parsley, garlic and an ingenious dose of cayenne. The warm butter is a great contrast to the chilled whelks, which come three to an order on a bed of crushed ice.  The raw bar at The John Dory is impressive, especially the chilled lobster with tomalley vinaigrette, but whelks are a rare discovery and well worth an order or two.  Try them with a glass of the on-tap Riesling or sparkling rose.