{"id":5821,"date":"2025-02-12T17:05:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T22:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/?p=5821"},"modified":"2020-02-09T12:20:35","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T17:20:35","slug":"month-of-oysters-ichiumi-cellar-koreatown-manhattan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/month-of-oysters-ichiumi-cellar-koreatown-manhattan\/","title":{"rendered":"Month of Oysters: IchiUmi Cellar, Koreatown, Manhattan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes making Month of Oysters work is more a game of logistics and timing than taste and aesthetics.
\nTuesday night I had an evening meeting so I had to work around the timing and location of that commitment.
\nIt was an engagement worth accommodating. One of my favorite authors, Richard Russo<\/a>, asked for my help rounding up younger writers and publishing types to give feedback on what the Authors Guild<\/a> could do to be of better service to them. So I got to hang out for a few hours with Rick and about a dozen writers.
\n

\"Surreal
Surreal moments: getting author Richard Russo to take a selfie with me<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThe Guild is just outside Koreatown in Manhattan, so on my way to their office, I scanned BBQ restaurants, buffets and karaoke joints looking for oysters. Thankfully, among the tofu and dumplings, IchiUmi <\/a>on East 32nd Street\u00a0made themselves hard to miss.
\n
\"IchiUmi
A big, bright sign for IchiUmi Cellar announces its $1 oysters<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nI took the stairs down to IchiUmi Cellar and entered a dark, throbbing night club atmosphere. Not the kind of spot I’d usually hang out, but I was on a mission.
\nWhen I ordered my half dozen oysters, bartender Jason told me the $1 oyster deal ended at 8 p.m. — the giant sign outside said nothing about a time constraint — but I arrived just after 8 p.m. so he said he could still get me the deal. I already liked him.
\n
\"Bartenders
Bartenders Jason and John seemed pretty interested in what the 40-something Midwestern white lady was doing in a basement club full of Asian 20-somethings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThen I watched a couple of big trays of oysters come out and figured if I wasn’t the only one in this basement eating raw seafood, that was a good sign.
\nI asked what I should drink with them and Jason first suggested beer, which isn’t my thing, so he said they have Mondavi as house red and “whatever the white is.” I went with Mondavi, which was quaffable.
\nJason and his fellow bartender, John, didn’t know what the oyster variety was, but John thought it was “something Japanese.” The firm, clean, tangy oysters came with an unremarkable but fine cocktail sauce, lemon and chopsticks. I’ve never used chopsticks with oysters but when in Koreatown …
\n
\"IchiUmi
IchiUmi oysters<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nA few people have inquired how I feel after daily oysters, I think because most oyster eaters (and a good number of former<\/em> oyster eaters) have been felled by a bad oyster at one point.
\nI’m not even a week in and one observation is I feel less hunger. I’m not a girl who misses a meal, and today I skipped breakfast, yesterday I didn’t eat lunch, one day this weekend we didn’t have dinner. Maybe this would be the same with any serving of straight protein but I don’t think so \u00a0— I eat cheese and fish enough to feel a difference. I’m not skipping meals because I feel queasy, but because I feel sated.
\nDuring Month of Oysters, I am eating a half dozen oysters every day at a different oyster happy hour. I\u2019ll share my thoughts on the oysters, the service and the vibe, as well as\u00a0observations on how I feel. I\u2019ve read\u00a0so many articles about the physical and emotional benefits of\u00a0oysters<\/a>\u00a0and I\u2019m curious to see if I notice anything in a month.<\/em>
\nIchiUmi did not discount my oysters or drink, but did give me the happy hour price. They didn\u2019t have advance notice of what day I was coming, I did not disclose I was doing a review until after I was served and IchiUmi did not have prior review of the content of this post.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes making Month of Oysters work is more a game of logistics and timing than taste and aesthetics. Tuesday night I had an evening meeting so I had to work around the timing and location of that commitment. It was an engagement worth accommodating. One of my favorite authors, Richard Russo, asked for my help rounding up younger writers and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[55,56,58],"tags":[309,616,1140,1304,1472,1804,1886,1967,1968,1969],"yoast_head":"\nMonth of Oysters: IchiUmi Cellar, Koreatown, Manhattan - Newvine Growing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/month-of-oysters-ichiumi-cellar-koreatown-manhattan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Month of Oysters: IchiUmi Cellar, Koreatown, Manhattan - Newvine Growing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes making Month of Oysters work is more a game of logistics and timing than taste and aesthetics. 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