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(From left) Oyster Society co-owners chef Ernie LaBrecque and Beverage Director Eli Dwyer
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Oyster Society is located at 309 N. Sycamore St. in Petersburg.
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Oyster Society embraces the theme of a secret society centered around bivalves.
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Much of the art and furniture has been donated or loaned by antique stores and residents in Petersburg.
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A giraffe skull hangs above the bar. The bar program will be spearheaded by co-owner Eli Dwyer.
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A seating area in the dining room
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A bearskin rug greets guests.
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Entering the soon-to-open Oyster Society in Petersburg feels like stumbling into a museum of oddities. If Oregon Hill shop Rest in Pieces dropped its stock of taxidermy and other curiosities into the dining room of neighbor and French-psychedelic den L’Opossum, this space might be the wildly wonderful result.
The reception area of the restaurant at 309 N. Sycamore St. is dotted with Victorian chaise lounges and a bearskin rug that serves as the unofficial greeter. The walls are barely visible behind countless artworks and relics, from a painting of Socrates to a length of snakeskin, while the 10-seat saloon-style bar is crowned by a giraffe skull. It’s intriguing and unusual, and it’s the latest dining concept to call Petersburg home. Set to debut by mid-August, Oyster Society will embrace seasonality, shucking and the spirit of secrecy.
“I want that kind of feeling where it is weird but cozy and you feel comfortable,” says chef and co-owner Ernie LaBrecque. “We’re dead serious about the food and cocktails, but the rest of everything is kind of tongue-in-cheek,” down to its skull-and-bones logo with an oyster shell in place of the skull.
Oyster Society exudes a maximalist, gothic-revival aura, a crisp and modern shell bedecked in velvet and peculiarity. LaBrecque is joined in ownership by investor Elliott Fausz and Bar Director Eli Dwyer, formerly of The Roosevelt.
“We met at Upper Shirley over five years ago,” Dwyer says of LaBrecque. “I was running wine pairings with the dinners, and we started talking more about the food and realized we had the same mentality.”
“When I decided to do this with my other partner [Fausz], Eli was the only person that I thought of [to join us],” LaBrecque adds.
Acquiring the building a few months ago, LaBrecque says he always envisioned operating an oyster concept. Paired with his natural affinity for the obscure — he lives in an 1898 Victorian home on Petersburg’s historic Centre Hill Avenue and has been collecting Odd Fellows and Masonic memorabilia for a number of years — and the desire to embark on a new project, when the former DJ’s Rajun Cajun space became available, plans fell into line.
“My big thing with these concepts is if I just pick a theme or a direction … that’ll inform the decor, the drink descriptions, an oyster-based thing. Kind of working within that gives it a backbone,” he says.
A Virginia native and self-proclaimed history dork, LaBrecque began working in restaurants at 14. A graduate of the bygone Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Pittsburgh, he has a resume that includes stints at Relay Foods, Pearl, The Hard Shell Downtown and Max’s Positive Vibe Cafe. After being furloughed during the pandemic from his gig at Upper Shirley Vineyards, he and his wife, KB, launched the buttermilk doughnut pop-up Beaunuts, which debuted in Petersburg as a brick-and-mortar business in 2021. The treat and hot dog shop is just a block away from the forthcoming Oyster Society.
LaBrecque’s collections have helped to customize the interior of the new venture, along with items from his father and grandfather and many local merchants. “This is the only town you could do this in; we’re surrounded by antique furniture stores,” he says, noting that the chairs in the restaurant were gifted by Oak Antique Mall and that Wilson’s Trading Post donated a number of items. “All local people have given us stuff we can use,” including most of the taxidermy in the space.
And while the dining room is a never-ending game of “I spy,” LaBrecque expects the food and drinks to garner equal attention.
Its namesake bivalves will be a major focus at the restaurant, prepared roasted and fried, raw with rotating accoutrements, and in stew. While local oysters will surely make an appearance, LaBrecque says he’s not committed to a particular region, focusing on sourcing from well-regarded small-batch oyster farms, be they in Virginia waters, from the Gulf of Mexico or beyond.
The crux of the menu offerings is six to eight small plates, options ranging from Tartare With Training Wheels — a sous vide medium-rare tenderloin with egg yolk mousse, fried capers, seasoned buttermilk, and pepper oil served with crispy puffed potato — to the Sea Board, which features house-smoked oysters, ahi bacon lox, blue crab boursin, house saltines, spreads and pickles. The Scallops in Pigs’ Clothing are baked in a bacon dough and topped with Dijon hollandaise.
Entrees won’t be listed on the menu, rather relayed verbally to diners, allowing for flexibility with four offered at any time. “We will always have a red meat, a poultry, a fish dish and 100% composed vegan dish,” LaBrecque says.
As for drinks, Dwyer is drawing inspiration from the classics, as well as from “The Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends,” a book of short stories centered on bizarre myths from the time.
“You read these and can find influences. OK, this was in London, let’s use a London dry gin, Jack the Ripper, you want to do something smoky,” he says. “We’ll have nice beer and wine but definitely want more of the bar program to be focused on craft. I haven’t seen a lot of craft cocktails happening here yet … and I think that’s what I’m most excited about in Petersburg.”
House cocktails will include an oyster-brined gin martini spiked with a seasonal mignonette and a smoked Old Fashioned with Lapsang Souchong tea-infused rye. Other libations are The Rum Ham — duck fat-washed Appleton Estate rum with mezcal, aperol, cantaloupe cordial, lemon and a prosciutto straw — and The Red Hand, which blends Four Roses bourbon, mezcal, hibiscus-habanero simple syrup and lime.
The duo also share that they will not operate with a general manager, instead employing a team of four to five servers who will make $10-$12 an hour, plus tips.
“We would rather take the salary money we would pay a [front-of-house] manager and spread that around,” LaBrecque says. “There will be two owners at site at all times, and we can tackle the more intense stuff, but I want other people, especially servers, to be able to treat their job here as a job, not a side hustle. Because of that I think we will lower our turnover and [boost] the customers’ overall experience.”
An outdoor area behind the restaurant features an assortment of tables, a garden planted with everything from rosemary to nasturtium, and a biohazard-grade coffin that has been converted into the ultimate cooler. LaBrecque and Dwyer say they envision oyster roasts in the future and a limited menu for al fresco dining.
Keep up with Oyster Society and plans for its opening on Instagram at instagram.com/oyster_society.
