Rushing up Freeway 1 previous rolling inexperienced hills and boats bobbing within the deep blue of Tomales Bay, you can virtually miss the seafood shack on the aspect of the street. However once you see the blissed-out crowds slurping oysters on picnic tables, you’ll know you’ve discovered the best place.
The Marshall Retailer, a restaurant in Marshall (inhabitants 400), simply north of Level Reyes Nationwide Seashore, is the platonic splendid of coastal Northern California eating. That windswept, rugged seafood spot on the water you dream of? Yep, it’s actual. It’s unfussy, the views are straight out of “Massive Little Lies,” and the meals is means, means higher than it must be.
On a current journey to the Marshall Retailer, my companion and I parked, took a left on the little weathered sea captain statue, walked previous the yellow and inexperienced surfboard and thru a gate to the sunny patio by the dock. It’s tempting to order all the menu. However once you’re simply two individuals, it’s important to make some robust selections, so we went with two plates of oysters and a bowl of clam chowder and known as it a day.
Minutes after settling into our desk overlooking Tomales Bay, two silver platters arrived: the Rockefeller, a decadent mixture of grilled oysters with garlic butter, parmesan and Toma cheese, spinach, and breadcrumbs served with grilled bread; and the smoked oysters, balanced atop crostini with Cowgirl Creamery Fromage Blanc cheese, chipotle aioli, chives and lemon. We slurped in reverent silence, chasing the briny bivalves with swigs of Anchor Steam beer.
The Rockefeller, with grilled oysters cooked in garlic butter, native cheese, parmesan cheese, spinach, and topped with breadcrumbs on the Marshall Retailer on Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
Madeline Wells/SFGATEThe Marshall Retailer was already regionally well-known as a weekend journey from the Bay Space, however a couple of months in the past, the entire world realized its title. In October, the little oyster oasis made it on the New York Instances’ finest 50 eating places in America.
“It was superior,” mentioned Marshall Retailer proprietor Shannon Gregory. “The photographer turned up, he mentioned, ‘Do you guys know what that is for?’ I mentioned I had no concept. He mentioned, ‘It is for the most effective 50 locations to eat in America for the New York Instances.’ I used to be like, ‘You’re kidding!’”
The nationwide press introduced in quite a lot of new faces, however after 15 years in enterprise, the Marshall Retailer had already attracted a worldwide viewers.
“I have been within the Frankfurt Airport and seen individuals with Marshall Retailer hats on,” mentioned Gregory. “… Now we have some Europeans that are available, and as quickly as they get off the airplane they don’t even go to their lodge. They only go straight to the Marshall Retailer.”
The outside of the Marshall Retailer on Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
Madeline Wells/SFGATEGregory, alongside along with his father Tod Buddy (who additionally owned the Tomales Bay Oyster Co.) and sister Heidi Gregory, first took over the Marshall Retailer from the earlier proprietor in 2006, again when it was a basic retailer that bought charcoal and jars of pasta sauce. Tragically, Buddy, a beloved determine within the Marshall neighborhood, handed away in 2017 after a ship accident.
The 2 siblings took over their oyster farmer father’s legacy: Heidi now runs Tomales Bay Oyster Co., and Gregory the Marshall Retailer, which serves oysters solely from their household’s oyster farm, just some miles down the street.
Gregory was born in Marshall, however moved to Australia, the place his mom is from, to attend boarding faculty. He labored in prestigious Sydney eating places for a few years, however ultimately, his dwelling state known as him again.
“My sister was residing in California and I went to go to her,” mentioned Gregory. “After which my dad was working for Hog Island [Oyster Co] … and I used to be like oh, that is sort of cool. So I did not proceed my flight again to Sydney.”
The view from the outside seating on the Marshall Retailer of Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
Julie W./YelpHe ended up working on the now defunct Cafe Rouge in Berkeley and the San Francisco Ferry Constructing location of Hog Island Oyster Co. Then, the earlier proprietor of the Marshall Retailer, a historic constructing erected by a Croatian household of boat builders and fishermen, requested his household in the event that they needed to take over the lease. So that they did.
“It took quite a lot of time for it to get going,” he recalled. “To start with, we had been doing within the wintertime $50 or $100 days. We’d promote a few packs of cigarettes and a few chowder and that’d be it for the day.”
However having labored at eating places in Berkeley and San Francisco, he had a good suggestion of what prospects needed. What Gregory needed: someplace welcoming and informal.
“I’ve labored in superb eating. It is not likely my factor,” mentioned Gregory. “… I imply, it is costly to go and eat oysters — why do you wish to go sit at some rustic restaurant on the bay and have dine-in service and have it’s dearer? I believe individuals like the truth that it is informal. Anyone can come right here. We’re not only for the blue collar employees, we’re not only for the wealthier individuals. We’re for everyone.”
An order of smoked oysters, served on crostini with Fromage Blanc cheese, chipotle aioli, chives, and a wedge of lemon on the Marshall Retailer on Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
Madeline Wells/SFGATEA plate of six oysters right here will nonetheless set you again upwards of $20, however the vibe is approachable, with pleasant counter service and picnic tables. It’s a neighborhood right here, and plenty of of Gregory’s employees are his mates’ children. The Marshall Retailer loves its locals — they’re those who saved the restaurant alive in the course of the pandemic.
However not like some Bay Space establishments, it’s additionally out-of-towner-friendly. “Our menu is at all times static,” defined Gregory. “As a result of we do have quite a lot of vacationers, it is at all times the identical. So once you come again three or 4 years later, you are still going to get the identical factor, the identical recipes, and almost certainly the identical individual cooking it.”
For those who make the journey to West Marin with a big sufficient group, Gregory recommends ordering considered one of the whole lot, from the ceviche tostadas to the crab sandwiches they serve throughout crab season. And shortly, prospects will be capable to deliver Tomales Bay dwelling with them, too: the Marshall Retailer is at present constructing its personal fish market downstairs, which can promote native oysters, rock cod, salmon, crab and smoked fish.
An order of half shelled uncooked oysters on the Marshall Retailer on Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
Lisa S./Yelp“There truly was once a fish market again there within the 40s,” mentioned Gregory. “So we’re simply form of rejuvenating a few of what it was once.”
It’s a intelligent method to meet all of the demand, notably on weekends, that are “at all times nuts,” says Gregory. Even after 15 years, he nonetheless appears bowled over explaining his seafood shack’s recognition.
“Yearly, it is slowly grown and grown and grown. And now, the New York Instances. Are you able to consider it?”
Folks order on the Marshall Retailer on Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
Madeline Wells/SFGATE
An order of the Kirkpatrick, with grilled oysters cooked with garlic butter, Worcestershire sauce, bacon, and topped with recent parsley on the Marshall Retailer on Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
Dana B./Yelp
Extra California Journey Tales
