Christopher Tompkins’ dream for the final 5 and a half years was to open a Broad Road Oyster Co. location at Grand Central Market in Downtown Los Angeles. His want got here true on July 2.
“I used to be very excited to open at Grand Central Market,” Tompkins mentioned. “It’s an iconic location, and it simply goes to indicate that we’re welcomed down there.”
Tompkins has been fascinated with seafood since childhood. He grew up in upstate New York and later relocated to Boston surrounded by one of the best New England lobster rolls. Tompkins moved to California in 2016, and by 2017 he was working as a cellular catering seafood pop-up up and down the California coast.
“(The shoppers) had been stunned at how good the oysters and lobster rolls had been from a road nook,” Tompkins mentioned.
Being on the highway additionally gave Tompkins the resilience to open up his first restaurant in Malibu in the summertime of 2019. He works with fishermen from Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, the Pacific Northwest and Massachusetts to herald the freshest seafood.
“Every time we will work straight to assist help the distributors every day, that makes us really feel good, and it trickles all the way down to the tradition to the group members,” Tompkins mentioned.
Broad Road Oyster Co. has quite a lot of recent seafood dishes, with the principle dishes (known as “the hits”) together with a Maryland mushy shell crab sando ($29) with coleslaw and Fresno chile aioli on a brioche bun; fried clams ($27) with cayenne, malt vinegar and cocktail sauce; the preferred dish, the lobster roll ($25), served chilled with mayonnaise or heat with butter; fried soar shrimp ($21) beer-battered with lemon pepper and served with cocktail sauce; a basic burger ($14) with Niman Ranch beef, American cheese, onion, pickle and aioli on a sesame roll; New England-style clam chowder ($7-$13) with Nueske’s bacon; fries ($6) with Outdated Bay aioli; coleslaw ($6) with cabbage, carrot and apple cider vinegar; and selfmade Outdated Bay potato chips ($5).
“The lobster roll is what everyone seems to be lining up for as a result of it’s the best,” Tompkins mentioned. “We attempt to place out the highest-quality and freshest model of those staple seafood dishes however with a laid-back strategy.”
There’s additionally the oysters and uncooked bar, with the preferred being the seafood tower ($135) that mixes a mixture of oysters on the half shell, dwell Santa Barbara sea urchin, Regiis Ova caviar and wild caught jumbo shrimp; caviar service with completely different serving sizes ($40-$235); Pacific Northwest fried oysters ($27) made Southern fashion with Fresno chile aioli; Rockefeller oysters ($26) with spinach, garlic, Parmesan and breadcrumbs; wild shrimp cocktail with sauce ($24); and sea urchin ($23).
“We inform the client to come back on down and expertise the seafood tower as a result of it’s a set of the entire treasures from the ocean,” Tompkins mentioned.
Prospects may order quite a lot of on-tap West Coast beers and wine from Cellador Ales ($16), Wavy Wines ($13), Crowns and Hops ($9), Harland Brewing Co. ($9), Los Angeles Ale Works ($9), MadeWest Brewing Firm ($9), The Bruery ($9), Three Weavers Brewing Firm ($9) and Boomtown Brewery ($8), together with canned wines and ciders from Bardos Cider ($24), Jumbo Time Wines ($23-$25) and Las Jaras Waves ($21). A wide range of mushy drinks ($4-$5.50) are additionally out there.
“The fried oysters are additionally the proper dish to separate with a buddy whereas consuming a beer and consuming a lobster roll,” Tompkins mentioned.
Tompkins mentioned the philosophy at Broad Road Oyster Co. is to serve prospects at a low-brow strategy with a high-brow delicacies. Shoppers typically have a false impression that seafood ought to solely be served on a white desk fabric at an old-school steakhouse.
“We wish prospects to expertise the best seafood that they’ve had in Southern California,” Tompkins mentioned. “You could not suppose that I ought to seize from a road nook, however our approachability and enjoyable, informal setting is what we’ve to supply.”
Broad Road Oyster Co. additionally participates in Smorgasburg Los Angeles each Sunday and on the Miami location on Saturdays.
“We felt just like the luckiest individuals in Los Angeles, and it was a benchmark for Broad Road,” Tompkins mentioned.
Sooner or later, Tompkins sees extra Broad Road Oyster Co. areas opening alongside the coast of California.
He additionally lately opened one other restaurant in Santa Barbara and launched Broad Road Espresso Co., a espresso and gelato store in Malibu. He plans to open one other location by the top of the yr.
“We wish to proceed our means up and down the coast of California and are on an incredible path of doing so,” Tompkins mentioned. “We’re slowly rising and increasing our operations
Broad Road Oyster Co.
LOCATION: Grand Central Market, 317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. day by day
INFORMATION: broadstreetoyster.com
