Centrally located Richmond doesn’t really have a buy-off-the-boat community, but fortunately the city offers many ways to dip into seafood waters.

From masked oyster shuckers to seasoned seafood industry vets, here’s who to visit when you need your fruits de mer fix.

Matheson Oyster Co. bivalves at local restaurants

Sarah Matheson-Harris founded Matheson Oyster Co. in 2021 with her husband and brother-in-law in her hometown of Gloucester, Va.

Oysters, Matheson-Harris says, are good for the waters where they’re farmed since they filter the water around them. The company takes the environmentalism a step further by offering packaging that’s recyclable and/or compostable. Plus the oysters are delicious, she says.

Forget that old adage about not eating oysters in “r” months, Matheson-Harris adds. These days, refrigerated transportation makes farmed oysters a great food any time.

The company sells wholesale and delivers to about 50 chefs weekly, including Yellow Umbrella, Restaurant Adarra and Brittanny Anderson’s Pink Room, where the chef debuted a petite variety called Birthday Girl oysters.

Those clever names—including Wavelengths and Bonfires—are part of Matheson-Harris’ strategy to make oysters more approachable and fun.

“I think a great way to break down the barrier of entry is to make oysters more inviting and playful,” Matheson-Harris says. “I’m constantly thinking about the experience for the end consumer and what is something that they can put an emotional attachment on, that will take the fear away and make it a fun experience.”

She admits that oysters have a high barrier to entry because of the need to shuck them. “But also, if you’re not used to eating them, they’re not the most appetizing-looking things,” Matheson-Harris says. “I really like doing events where I get to be face-to-face with customers and teach them about oysters and about shucking. Shucking education is a really fun party trick, but it’s also empowering, especially for women.”

She’s done classes in Richmond and Washington, D.C. and educates folks about aquaculture as well as walking through the different tastes of oysters, similar to a wine tasting.

“I’d love to do more of this,” Matheson-Harris says. “What’s cool as a grower is [that] I’m friends with other growers all over. I can curate a unique list of oysters to taste.”

Dead Shell

If you see a masked oyster shucker at a local restaurant, do not be alarmed — that will be Jupiter Smiff, who is launching Dead Shell this summer.

Dead Shell, named after a spooky island surrounded by oyster shells that Smiff used to see when he was oyster farming near Gloucester, is a “mobile oyster saloon” that will be popping up at Richmond venues.

The name is part of the back story designed to make oysters an adventure. The saloon will have a bar, guest bartenders and “innkeepers” who will serve food including oyster po’boys, fresh oysters, stuffed oysters, a seafood platter and cookies from baker Books ‘n Butter, who Smiff says, “does crazy good cookies.”

“Everybody else you will see, but the one guy in the back with the butcher’s apron and the rain boots, you will know his name is Jupiter but I don’t want anyone to know my face,” Smiff says. “That’s part of the mystery.”

Smiff has already partnered with local restaurants like Pizza Bones and will team up with Star Hill Brewery June 28 for a release of the brewery’s new oyster beer, Briny Shucker.

Some of the profits from Dead Shell’s events will go to support education programs at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (also located in Gloucester).

“I want to push the limits of what you can do with oysters,” Smiff says. “I want to be able to educate, I want to be able to add some flavor profiles to the oysters with things people won’t expect.”

Follow Smiff on Instagram (deadshell_rva) for the latest.

Shoreline Seafood Market

David Whitby opened Shoreline Seafood in April 2024, but has worked about 25 years in the seafood business. Shoreline offers seafood from all over the world to buy fresh and tinned — and prepared seafood — including an omakase offering every Friday and Saturday night.

Whitby says his seafood is sustainable, much of it wild caught and none of it overfished species. Even the farmed fish is ecologically conscious, Whitby adds.

“We buy from good farms, like the farmed salmon out of New Zealand or British Columbia that are doing it the right way,” he says. “They don’t use chemicals on the cages for sea lice and, once a crop is finished, they move the cages like farmers rotate crops on land, so that it doesn’t deplete the nitrogen in the water.”

Whitby can make a fish convert out of people who claim to hate fish, he says.

“For a lot of people, maybe they had fish in the past that wasn’t fresh or cooked right,” Whitby says. “Get a mild fish like halibut that’s not a ‘fishy fish.’ Scallops are pretty hard to mess up and shrimp are easy, too. We usually have 14-15 kinds of fish in the case.”

Whitby says he loves helping home cooks try things they may not have tried before, like triggerfish.

“We always say to keep it simple, just some olive oil, salt and pepper with fresh herbs to finish it. Go back to Mamma Zu and everyone loved their rockfish. Well, that was just a really high heat oven, an herb blend and olive oil. I’m not a big fan of marinade or sauces. You have to appreciate the fish for what it is.”

You can visit Shoreline at 10614 Patterson Ave. Tuesday-Saturday.

Yellow Umbrella Market and Slack Tide Fish Co.

Fishmonger Travis Marshall has been with Yellow Umbrella for more than 20 years. Marshall says the relationships the market has built with suppliers are the key to Yellow Umbrella’s quality seafood.

“We have a distribution center in Maryland and they send us the best quality first. Everything is fresh, except Chilean Sea Bass (which is typically flash-frozen on the boat) and some of the flash-frozen shellfish,” Marshall says.

The Patterson Avenue location has about 15-18 varieties of fish, and the new Scott’s Addition store has about 12, all of it sustainably farmed or wild caught.

Marshall frequently sees customers whose doctors have recommended that they eat more fish for their health, he says, but they don’t know where to start.

“I say, ‘I’m going to make you a fish man. I’ll get you a nice piece of white fish and a recipe for a sauce’ and I’ll get them excited about fish. There’s so much junk on the market and smelly fish counters. Our fish counter doesn’t smell. We inspect everything that comes in and, if it’s not up to our standards, then we send it back. Not that we really have to do that, because of those long relationships,” says Marshall. “They know what we expect.”

Marshall says too many people were raised on frozen fish sticks and think that’s what fish is. Fresh fish is a whole different quality, he says, noting it’s worth the increased price.

“You get what you pay for. When you freeze fish, you break the cell wall, so when you thaw it, it’s watery, and white fish may have more of a fishy flavor,” he explains. “If you’re paying a premium for your seafood, it’s probably been flown or trucked in within a day or two of being in the water, and that’s what you want.”

The latest Yellow Umbrella in Scott’s Addition, located in the Ballast development, sits next to seafood-centric restaurant, Slack Tide Fish Co., which officially opens the first week of June.

“Slack Tide will be a full-service restaurant with global coastal cuisine and an emphasis on the Mid-Atlantic,” executive chef Caleb Shriver says.

Slack Tide also happens to serve up Matheson oysters at the raw bar.

Yellow Umbrella Scott’s Addition and Slack Tide Fish Co. are both located at 1320 Summit Ave.